The Tabernacle of the Testimony

(Exodus 38:21) Adar II 1, 5776/March 11, 2016, Rosh Chodesh Adar II The book of Exodus closes this week with a tabulation of all the materials that went into the Mishkan and an accounting of all the work and types of work that went into the building of the Tabernacle. Every grain, every fiber is accounted for. All the materiel necessary for the Tabernacle is part of the Tabernacle. All the gold and silver and fabrics of blue and purple and red that G-d inspired the Egyptians to hand to their Hebrew slaves, has made its way toward the Mishkan, has reached its final destination. Every speck of matter and every spark of energy that made up and is part of the completion of G-d's world exists within the Mishkan. G-d was pleased and Moshe blessed G-d's people. G-d's creation is accounted for. A new name appears for the Tabernacle. It is called the Mishkan haEdut, the Tabernacle of Testimony. (Exodus 38:21) When G-d first instructed Israel to build for Him, He called it a Mikdash, a Sanctuary where He can dwell within His people. (ibid 25:8) Indeed, immediately upon the completion of the Mishkan, Moshe blesses his people and G-d's presence, His glory, like a thick cloud fills and envelopes the Mishkan, making it aMikdash, a testimony to G-d's Presence in the Mishkan, His Being in creation. (ibid 39:43; 40:34) But what else is the Tabernacle a testimony to? Certainly the Mishkan is a testimony to G-d's creation, because it is here that G-d's creation is completed. Not just one time in the cosmic timeline, but every day, constantly, as time itself is renewed each moment in the Mishkan. And when man steps into the Miskhan, into the Mikdash, with his prayer and with his offering, man, too, becomes complete. When man witnesses G-d's presence in the Mishkan, man realizes his place in the universe. It is here with G-d . His wanderings are over. The Tabernacle is a testimony to man: we exist. We have a place in G-d's creation. In the beginning of time G-d too created a Mikdash, a Tabernacle of Testimony. The Holy Temple rests in the place of the Garden of Eden, and its vessels and chambers are reminiscent of the reality of the Garden of Eden, from the Tree of Knowledge to the Cherubim. The dust from which G-d created man is the dust upon which sits the stone altar. The Garden of Eden too was a Tabernacle of Testimony, a Mishkan haEdut. The Hebrew words Edut and Eden share a common source: The letters Ayin Dalet = Eid = witness. The Tabernacle is a testimony to man's desire and to G-d's desire to try again to reside together, to be and exist in one moment and place. Man's desire matching G-d's desire is the highest and most refined detail accounted for in the Tabernacle, the final tent peg that makes the Mishkan a reality, that completes G-d's creation. In the original Garden of Eden, G-d's presence and man's will simply could not exist together. Here in the Tabernacle, here in the Holy Temple, man and G-d can and do exist together, it is the completion and realization of the purpose and meaning of the Garden of Eden, where G-d first placed the man He created. This is the testimony of the Mishkan haEdut, the Tabernacle of Testimony. It is energy that shapes and drives and informs matter in G-d's world, from the most distant black hole to the incessant labors of an ant. The Tabernacle is not the sum of its parts, all accounted for, but it is something far more vast. It is the light that shapes and drives and informs the service and the labor of the Tabernacle. It is both the glory of G-d and the blessing of Moshe. Together man and G-d have created a place where man and G-d can dwell together. Creation is complete. There is a place and room for all. -The Temple Institute