They shall build for Me a sanctuary, and I will dwell among them

(Exodus 25:8)

Adar 5, 5777March 3, 2017

You and I weren't there when G-d created the world. But Torah teaches us that G-d created the world in six days and on the seventh day, having completed His work, G-d blessed and sanctified His creation. And so it was for some two thousand years: G-d in His heaven and man on the earth that G-d created for him. But when G-d invites Moshe into the fiery mountaintop of Sinai, He makes to Moshe a new proposal: "They shall build for Me a sanctuary, and I will dwell among them." (Exodus 25:8)

G-d is proposing a major change in the status quo in His relationship with man, requiring a tectonic shift in the way creation runs itself. He is suggesting a new and permanent intimacy between Himself and Israel. No longer will Moshe need to ascend a trembling Mount Sinai and step inside a fiery furnace in order to have a word with G-d, but G-d will meet with Moshe, and, in fact with all Israel, in the confines of His Tabernacle, not just for one time in the life of humanity, but every day.

Moshe embraces G-d's gesture, but, as Midrash points out, he balks at the metaphysical impossibility of actually pulling it off:

"Moshe declared before the Holy One, blessed be He, 'Master of the Universe! Is it not written, Behold, the heavens and the heavens of heavens cannot contain You!' (Kings I - 8:27) And yet You say that they shall make a Sanctuary for You?! G-d responded to Moshe and said, Moshe, you are mistaken, it is not as you think. All that is needed is twenty beams on the north side, and twenty on the south side, and eight on the west side, and I will come down and abide My glory among them'."

Moshe was worried how puny, mortal, finite man could possibly accommodate the endless, infinite, eternal reality of G-d. His concern seemed most well founded, but G-d brushed it off saying, in effect, "Moshe, leave the metaphysical concerns to me. You just worry about building the structure that I am about to describe to you."

Nevertheless, Moshe's concerns were very real. At Sinai G-d made a covenant with Israel, changing forever His relationship with mankind. But now G-d is proposing a profound change in the structure of creation itself. G-d is saying, in effect, that He is walking back creation's completion, opening up the final rivets and unsealing the final seals with which He concluded creation on the sixth day, and inviting Israel to join Him in recreating creation's conclusion in a way that allows G-d's presence to rest in this world, within the very midst of His nation Israel!

It is an astonishing proposition, but G-d is quite serious, as Torah testifies, dedicating the entire rest of the book of Exodus to the intricate details of the construction and assembly of all the sacred service vessels and the Tabernacle itself. Raw materials, precise dimensions, and painstaking instructions; exact inventories and descriptions of every stage of the making of the Tabernacle, created by man and blessed by G-d, fill verse and chapter of Exodus, right up to its final words, which are a reprise of G-d's completion and blessing and sanctifying of creation, that we first read in Genesis, but now includes the missing piece: The sanctuary where infinite G-d meets mortal man, here on earth, not on a remote and fearsome mountaintop, but here, in the heart of the nation, approachable and attainable.

But G-d's proposal was just that: a proposal. Infinite, all-powerful, all-seeing G-d can only enter our world if we let Him in. G-d told Moshe not to worry about the metaphysical conundrum of "fitting" G-d's presence into a meager physical structure, but the metaphysical challenge of creating even that small space would fall squarely upon man's shoulders. G-d didn't ignore this challenge in his response to Moshe, according to our Midrash. He didn't ignore it, because He had already answered it!

"Speak to the children of Israel, and have them take for Me an offering; from every person whose heart inspires him to generosity, you shall take My offering." (ibid 25:2)

The metaphysical revolution needed to take place in order to invite G-d into our world takes place in our heart! When we give of ourselves for the betterment of an other, we are opening up a place in our heart for the other to enter, we are establishing a place in our world to welcome in the other. This is a metaphysical phenomenon that we are all familiar with. It is axiomatic that in giving, we receive, and anyone who has given of his or her time or possessions to help another knows well that what we receive in giving to others is immeasurable. When we open our hearts up to G-d, as He is teaching Moshe, we are creating a space so vast that even G-d's presence can enter. If G-d's presence can enter our own puny being, then surely His presence can enter the heart of an entire nation that dedicates itself to creating such a space: "All that is needed is twenty beams on the north side, and twenty on the south side, and eight on the west side, and I will come down and abide My glory among them'."

The children of Israel were given a unique opportunity at Sinai to put the final touches on G-d's creation, to change the world for the better, with G-d's blessing. We too live in a unique generation and have been granted the same unique and awesome opportunity to take up G-d's Sinai proposal and let Him in, not just into our hearts, but into the heart of humanity! a Holy Temple in Jerusalem is a game changer for mankind. The metaphysical magic needed to make it happen is found within our own selves: "Take for Me an offering; from every person whose heart inspires him to generosity, you shall take My offering... And they shall build for Me a sanctuary, and I will dwell among them."

-The Temple Institute