The Tuning of the Mishkan
In my post last week on Parashat Terumah I suggested that the essential purpose of the Israelite’s desert sanctuary, the mishkan, was to create a place from which God would communicate, through Moses, to the Israelite people. That place was above the cover of the ark, between the two keruvim. When the account of Parashat Terumah is stripped of all of the details specifying the materials to be used to construct the mishkan—their dimensions, number, characteristics, arrangement, and relationships—only a few verses of the text remain. And those few verses tell the story of the sanctuary’s purpose quite clearly.
Parashat Tetsaveh continues the specifications of the mishkan with the descriptions of the priest’s clothing and the ordination rites for Aaron and his sons. The ordination process itself was a seven-day affair, requiring daily sacrifices and the cleaning and anointing of the altar.
Exodus 29:35 says, “Thus shall you do for Aaron and his sons … you shall ordain them through seven days.” The Hebrew reads:
וְעָשִׂ֜יתָ לְאַהֲרֹ֤ן וּלְבָנָיו֙ כָּ֔כָה כְּכֹ֥ל אֲשֶׁר־צִוִּ֖יתִי אֹתָ֑כָה שִׁבְעַ֥ת יָמִ֖ים תְּמַלֵּ֥א יָדָֽם׃
The commentators stress that God’s command is to be followed ca’cha c’chol, which is understood to mean more than just “thus.” It requires complete precision: just as I have commanded, meaning in every way, in every respect, in every detail. The Talmud, in Yoma 5a, makes the consequences of error in the process clear: “if they do not do this and a single thing is omitted of all that is prescribed in this section, their initiation to be priests must be regarded as not having taken place and their act of sacrifice is consequently invalid.”
In Exodus 29:37 we find that the purification of the altar also required seven days. And then the twice daily tamid offerings are specified. After that, the purpose of the sanctuary is once again stressed, “…For there I will meet with you, and there I will speak with you, and there I shall meet with the Israelites, and it shall be sanctified by My presence.”
The process of the creation and erection of the mishkan, and of the ordination of Aaron and his sons is described in several sections of the biblical text. Exodus ends with the account of Moses erecting the tabernacle, putting the tablets in the Ark, and placing all of the other elements in the tabernacle just as instructed by God. But a comment about the process found much later in the text, in the book of Numbers, has generated a great deal of comment in both the midrash and among the rabbis.
Numbers 7:1 reads, “On the day that Moses made an end (or finished) to setting up the Tabernacle, he anointed and consecrated it and all its furnishings, as well as the altar and its utensils.” The midrash asks what it means that “Moses made an end…” And it is specifically interested in the seven day period prior to the priestly ordination.
With respect to the ordination and dedication, Rashi comments that the process is repeated daily for seven days. We often talk about the ordination process as requiring some time for Aaron and his sons to fully accept and adopt their new roles. In Rashi’s view it seems there is an element of practice involved, of getting it right, or habituating the priests to their roles.
The midrash to Parashat Naso (Numbers Rabbah 12:15) finds that much more was going on during those seven days. Moses was very busy. “During all the seven days of consecration Moses put up the Tabernacle every morning, anointed it, offered the sacrifices, and took it to pieces (i.e. disassembled it every evening after the evening sacrifices.) On that day—the day described in Numbers 7:1—Moses did not take it down. That is what was meant by “made and end of” the process.
Rabbi Hiyyah ben Joseph, though, brought a different view. He said: Moses put it up and took it down twice every day, once in the morning and once in the evening. Rabbi Chanania said: three times each day, once for the morning sacrifice, once for the consecration ceremony, and once for the evening sacrifice.
The Rashbam makes this comment on the seven day period: “… during the seven days preceding the eighth day when Aaron would commence to officiate as High Priest assisted by his sons, Moses would erect the Tabernacle every single day, and he himself would offer sacrificial offerings. Each evening, he would dissemble the Tabernacle. On the eighth day, the first day of the month of Nissan, the Tabernacle would be assembled completely as described in Exodus 40:2 and 40:17. That was the date which marked the beginning of Aaron’s holding the office of High Priest.”
Let’s assume that there was a daily process of erection and disassembly. We won’t question whether the process was completed once a day or twice or three times. And let’s ignore the physical obstacles to one person’s being able to actually accomplish the task alone. What might the reason be for the repetition? Why might it be necessary for the sanctuary to be erected and disassembled multiple times prior to its dedication? And why might the process of anointing and preparing the priests be repeated multiple times before their ordination?
Rabbi Adin Steinstaltz begins his analysis of those questions with a story of a Soviet satellite sent to study Mars in 1988. The satellite was operated by solar energy and so had to make slight changes in its orientation from time to time so its solar cells would point properly toward the sun and the satellite’s batteries would recharge. A short communication from the controllers to the satellite, lasting only a few seconds, was needed to relay the command to change the orientation.
One day there was a typo in the command sent. A numeral was accidentally added in a string of text. Two days later it was found that the satellite’s orientation had changed improperly, and that its batteries had been depleted. All contact with the satellite was lost, and the mission that had taken years to develop was over. The lack of an effective mechanism to check a brief line of code sent to the satellite caused the catastrophic failure of an important and expensive multi-year mission.
Steinsaltz compares the Tabernacle to the satellite. He says “the Tabernacle was an instrument whose every part was made with great precision … this is what makes the Tabernacle an instrument for receiving the Divine Presence. If it is made a little differently, if the Menorah is placed even slightly to the side, (for example) it will not work…”
The Tabernacle, he writes “contains two vital components for forming the connection between heaven and earth. The first component is the vessels … the second component is the person who uses it.” Both had to be precise in form and operation.
As an instrument of communication between the Divine and the human, the tabernacle had to be accurately “tuned” or it would not operate. Consider the tuning of a musical instrument or of a race car. Repeated action reveals progressively smaller variations from the desired condition. Ultimately the note is sounded accurately or the power balance is found. Only then can the instrument produce the sound required or the car the power needed. In the case of the mishkan, accurate tuning required precision in all matters related to both the physical instrument and the humans who “played” it.
The purpose of repeating the processes of assembling the Tabernacle, offering the sacrifices, and anointing of the priests, was to achieve the accuracy required for it to function as the instrument of God’s communication with man.
Only perfection would suffice in such a matter.