Parashath Tëtzavve (Exodus XXVIII,2-XXX,10) 3/2/12

A.

Our parasha continues the instructions concerning the Mishkan. Having completed the description of most of the Mishkan’s furniture, the discussion now turns to the production of the pure olive oil to be used in the mënora, the activities of the kohanim in tending the great lamp, and the garments to be worn by the kohanim whilst serving in the Mishkan, followed by their installation in that service.

I say “most” of the furniture, for after all this, suddenly: ועשית מזבח מקטר קטרת עצי שטים תעשה אתו: אמה ארכו ואמה רחבו ואמתים קמתו ממנו קרנתיו: וצפית אתו זהב טהור כו' (“And you will make an altar for the burning of incense; of shittim wood you will make it. An amma is its length and an amma its width, and two ammoth its height; from [its top], its horns. And you will cover it in pure gold....”; XXX, 1-3).

So, the question to be asked is: Why is this mizbah ha-zahav, this “golden altar” for incense, not included together with the other items intended to furnish the Mishkan which were described last week?

B.

In last week’s parasha we learnt that the Mishkan, and its later, permanent replacement in Yërushalayim, the Béyth ha-Miqdash, were Divinely conceived and ordered to constitute a model of the cosmos. Hence, Hazal proclaim that its erection was tantamount to a recreation of the universe (מדרש תנחומא פרשת פקודי סי' א'). For this reason, G-d said of Bëtzal’él ben Uri, tasked with the design’s execution, ואמלא אתו רוח אלקים בחכמה ובתבונה ובדעת וגו' (“And I filled him with the spirit of G-d, with wisdom [hochma] and with discernment [tëvuna] and with knowledge [da‘ath]....”; XXXI, 3), for, as King Shëlomo tells us, these are the three bases on which the universe was established: ד' בחכמה יסד ארץ כונן שמים בתבונה בדעתו תהומות נבקעו (“Ha-Shem with hochma founded the earth; He established the heavens with tëvuna; with His da‘ath were the depths split”; Proverbs III,20, וע"ע זוה"ק ח"ב רנ"א. ורל"א:). Hence, Hazal say, יודע הי' בצלאל לצרף אותיות שנבראו בהם שמים וארץ (“Bëtzal’él was knowledgeable in the combinations of letters by which the heavens and earth were created”; ברכות נ"ה:).

We further established that a human being, an adam, constitutes in himself a microcosmos, and that just as it is so, that the universe was brought into being in accordance with all the requirements of the Torah, as Hazal say; ,אסתכל קוב"ה באורייתא וברא עלמא (“The Holy One, Blessed is Hem looked into the Torah and created the universe”; בראשית רבה פ"א סי' ב'), and continues in existence only because Israel accepted the Torah and faith-fully observe it (התנה הקב"ה עם מעשה בראשית וא"ל אם ישראל מקבלים התורה אתם מתקיימין ואם לאו אני מחזיר אתכם לתהו ובהו [“The Holy One, Blessed is He made a condition at Creation: If Israel accept the Torah, you continue in existence; and if not, I return you to chaos!”; שבת פ"ח.], and: כה אמר ד' אם לא בריתי יומם ולילה חקות שמים וארץ לא שמתי [“Thus says Ha-Shem, If My covenant is not (in effect) by day and by night, I have not set in place the laws of heaven and earth”; Jeremiah XXXIII, 25), so it follows that there is likewise a direct correspondence between the Torah’s mitzvoth and every limb and organ of the human body, thus justifying their existence in the scheme of things.

Hence, the actual purpose of the miqdash was to serve as a focal point, establishing a feedback loop of the qëdusha generated by each adam mi-Yisra’él’s observance of the Torah’s mitzvoth, redistributing the qëdusha back to Israel, so that it would raise their level yet higher, in a continuous exchange intended to produce an ever increasing spiral of sanctity, bringing about the hashra’ath ha-Shëchina, the infusion of the Divine Presence into the heart of the universe, the miqdash itself.

As a model of the universe in miniature, a microcosmos, each individual member of Israel ideally experiences his own hashra’ath ha-Shëchina as a benefit of the feedback loop, a fact which finds subtle allusion in the Torah’s wording: ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם (“And they will make for Me a miqdash and I will dwell bë-thocham”; XXV8). The lat word is translatable as “in their midst”, but there are other ways to say that (e.g., bë-qirbam, beineihem, beinotham), which leads us to consider the alternate interpretation: “And I shall dwell within them”.

C.

The Sforno, in his comment on XXX, 1, notes that the above verse is immediately followed by: ככל אשר אני מראה אתך את תבנית המשכן ואת תבנית כליו וכן תעשו (“According to all that I show you, the plan of the Mishkan and the plan of its accoutrements [kélim], and so shall you do”). From this juxtaposition it follows that the constituent parts and accessories of the Mishkan profoundly represent the composition both of the greater cosmos and of the microcosmos, such that their contemplation and proper use prepares the way both for the individual and the collective hashra’ath ha-Shëchina.

G-d Himself implies this when He says to Moshe, concerning the kapporeth, the lid of the aron qodesh: ונועדתי לך שם ודברתי אתך מעל הכפרת אשר על ארון העדת את כל אשר אצוה אותך אל בני ישראל (“And I shall appear to you there at appointed times, and speak to you from atop the kapporeth which is upon the aron ha-‘éduth with everything which I shall command you for the bënei Yisra’él”; XXV, 22), which Moshe later passed on to Israel: זה הדבר אשר צוה ד' תעשו וירא אליכם כבוד ד' (“...This is the thing: What Ha-Shem has commanded you should do, and the glory of Ha-Shem will appear to you”; Leviticus IX, 6).

But not the golden altar; it is separated from the other kélim because it does not share their purpose. Rather, says the Sforno, its purpose is לכבד את הא-ל יתברך אחרי בואו לקבל ברצון עבודת עמו בקרבנות הבקר והערב (“to honor G-d after His arrival to accept favorably His people’s service through the sacrifices of the morning and evening”; cf. XXX, 7-8).

D.

‘Ad kan the Sforno. If the purpose of the kélim discussed in parashath Tëruma is the profound symbolism and emulation of the features of both cosmos and microcosmos to bring about the infusion and retention of the Divine Presence, the symbolism of the mizbah ha-zahav, I believe, reveals its purpose in the grand scheme of things. Our verse tells us that it is a mizbah miqtar qëtoreth, and the Talmud explains this phrase: מתקטר בקטורת אין כתיב כאן אלא מזבח מקטר קטרת מלמד שהמזבח הזה מקטיר את הקטורת (“‘smoking with incense’ [mithqattér bi-qtoreth] is not written here, but miqtar qëtoreth, teaching that this altar causes the incense to smoke [maqtir eth ha-qëtoreth]”; ירושלמי חגיגה פ"ג ה"ח), which the Torah Tëmima explains: שהי' נקטר באש של מעלה בלי סיוע אש של מטה (“that it would be made to smoke by a supernal fire, without support from a lowly [earthly] fire”; וע"ע קרבן העדה ופני משה שם בירושלמי).

The nature of qëtoreth is that the smoke spirals upward, and so, it seems to me, it is the perfect symbol for the ever-higher level of qëdusha being generated by the feedback loop, as the tzaddiqim first provide their input through (as the Alsheich, quoted by the ‘Arvei Nahal, observed on last week’s parasha) their performance of mitzvoth with exemplary love, awe, and wholehearted willingness, bringing about the gilluy ha-Shë-china and redistributing this enhanced level of qëdusha, induced by the supernal fire brought down with the gilluy ha-Shëchina throughout the nation, creating a wave of qëdusha spiraling ever upward.

In short, the mizbah ha-zahav serves to represent the ideal functioning of the perpetual qëdusha machine which the holy nation and the Miqdash together are meant to constitute.