by Azriel (Azi) Heuman

On February 9, 1986, Azriel Heuman of AT&T Bell Labs in Holmdel, New Jersey, posted a Torah commentary to net.religion.jewish addressing a puzzle in the structure of the book of Exodus. The Ten Commandments were just given at Sinai. Moshe ascends to receive the stone tablets. But before he returns — and before the sin of the Golden Calf that will shatter everything — the Torah inserts three full parshiyot about the Tabernacle. Why? Heuman draws on Rashi, Sforno, Nechama Leibowitz, the Ramban, S.R. Hirsch, and J.B. Soloveitchik to show what the Tabernacle means: not a concession to human frailty, but the answer to the deepest question — what does it mean to bring God into the world?

The Ten Commandments were given to Israel in the reading of Yitro (two weeks ago), as were all the rules set forth in Mishpatim (last week). At the end of last week's reading, Moshe ascends Mt. Sinai to receive the stone tablets — a kind of culmination of the Mt. Sinai revelation (the job is not finished until the paperwork is done). But there is a curious break in the narrative before Moshe actually returns with these stone tablets forty days later. This "break" consists of this week's reading (Teruma), next week's reading (Tetzave), and part of the following week's reading (Ki Tisa). The break contains the laws pertaining to the building and maintenance of the Tabernacle, the laws pertaining to the priestly clothes and service, and a continuation of the laws of Shabbat.

Why the "break"? Why did these laws have to be presented at this particular point?

Rashi quotes the Midrash Tanchuma that these laws were actually presented only after Yom Kippur, when the sin of the Golden Calf was forgiven and Moshe was given the second tablets. The Sforno explains that the Tabernacle was not part of the original plan, but rather became necessary only after the sin of the Golden Calf. The end of the Midrash Tanchuma, which Rashi quoted, further explains that the Tabernacle was firstly a testimony to the world that the sin of the Golden Calf was forgiven, and secondly a healing atonement. Nechama Leibowitz, relying on the Rambam's view of the Tabernacle, adds that the Tabernacle has a healing effect in that it satisfies the human need for tangible symbols — this unsatisfied need was what led to the sin of the Golden Calf in the first place. But why are the Tabernacle and priestly laws presented here if they were actually given later? Moshe is about to return with the stone tablets only to find the nation worshipping a Golden Calf. There is a principle: the Torah prepares the cure before the onset of the disease.

Nechama Leibowitz quotes the Ramban (I could not find the original Ramban) as rejecting the idea that the Tabernacle was an afterthought or a concession to human frailty. The chronological order of events is exactly as written. The narrative of the building of the Tabernacle is the main text — with the sin of the Golden Calf delaying its culmination. In this case, what is the underlying purpose of the Tabernacle, and why were the laws related to it taught when Moshe ascends Mt. Sinai to receive the stone tablets, to the exclusion of all other laws and lessons? S.R. Hirsch writes in his work Collected Writings that the key is the passage: "And let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them." The sanctuary coincides with G-d dwelling among Israel. Three times the sanctuary was destroyed — once at Shilo, where it stood for 369 years, and twice at Jerusalem. One can read Jeremiah, Chapter 7 to see why Shilo was destroyed. Subsequent destructions were for similar reasons — corruption, inconsistency, injustice. So the underlying purpose of the Tabernacle is to act as tangible evidence that G-d dwells among the nation and does not reject them.

J.B. Soloveitchik in his work Halachic Man develops this thought even further. He develops the idea of the "homo religiosus" personality — which strives to ascend from the world and reach a heavenly existence. He develops the idea of the "Halachic Man (or woman)" who travels in the opposite direction: who strives to bring His divine presence down into the midst of our concrete world. "Holiness does not wink at us from 'beyond' like some mysterious star that sparkles in the distant heavens, but appears in our actual, very real lives." Moshe ascends Mt. Sinai, but it is not the highest mountain. It required that G-d descend to meet him. Moshe then brings the stone tablets down the mountain — again the heavenly brought to the tangible world. The sanctuary was built: a symbol that the nation has brought G-d among them — through their actions and way of life.

Colophon

Written by Azriel (Azi) Heuman, AT&T Consumer Products, Holmdel, New Jersey. Posted to net.religion.jewish, February 9, 1986. Chaya Bleich, who also appears in this archive, is cited as a co-author in the closing; the two were a married couple posting together as "Azriel and Chaya Heuman." The TVBBA at the close is an abbreviation for tihyeh berekat Adonai or a similar closing blessing. The post closes with the Purim greeting Mishenichnas Adar Marbim Besimcha — "when Adar enters, joy increases" — placing this commentary in the month of Adar, in the weeks before Purim.

Scholars cited: Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki, 1040–1105); Sforno (Rabbi Obadiah ben Jacob Sforno, c. 1475–1550); Nechama Leibowitz (1905–1997), the Israeli Torah educator; Ramban (Nachmanides, 1194–1270); S.R. Hirsch (Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, 1808–1888); J.B. Soloveitchik (Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, 1903–1993), author of Halachic Man (1944).

Preserved from the UTZOO Usenet Archive (news038f1.tgz, batch b58) for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. Original Message-ID: [email protected].

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