Sunday, August 14, 2011

Chizuk from the Mishkan

The Toras Kohanim explains that when Moshe erected and took down the Mishkan throughout the week of miluim, this symbolized that he erected all seven future placements of the Mishkan: in the desert itself, at Gilgal, in Nov, in Givon, and in Shilo, as well as the first and second Batei Mikdash.
The Beis Yisrael, zt”l, explained this in a very powerful manner. “Despite the Toras Kohanim, the exact purpose of Moshe erecting and taking down the Mishkan seven times is still unclear. After all, what as the point of this elaborate symbolism?
“It seems to me that Moshe made a spiritual impression in each of these Mishkenos. This impression enabled us to keep going despite these destructions. To bring this down to Jews in every generation, there are always difficulties and hardships facing us both in spiritual and material concerns. Moshe himself erected and took down the Mishkan to imbue in us the ability to start again and keep moving no matter what challenges and falls we may face. Even if we are weakened in avodah and put upon from within and without, we will always be able to get back up again. As the verse states, 'שבע יפול צדיק וקם'—‘A tzaddik falls seven times and gets up.’”
Rav Nosson of Breslov, zt”l, explains in a similar manner. “Moshe himself put up and took down the Mishkan to give it the power to imbue holiness in even the most desolate spiritual wilderness. The Mishkan was erected all over the wilderness where we wandered, a place of snakes and scorpions. This gave us the strength to start again, no matter the form of spiritual desolation in which the person is caught. No matter where a person finds himself, he can always start again and reconnect to Hashem.
Rav Mordechai of Lechvitz, zt”l, taught a similar lesson. “Chassidus depends on understanding the importance of every spiritual action. It follows that one who loses track of the vast greatness of every good act has lost touch with what it means to be a chassid.
He concluded, “To put it bluntly, one who cannot daven minchah with enthusiasm immediately after committing the worst sin, chas v’shalom, has not yet stepped on the doorstep of true chassidus!”

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