VBM The "Tent of Meeting" and the " Tent of Service" and the Double Role of the Kohanim (Part 1 of 2) By Rav Elchanan Samet
A. A THREE-PART COMMAND
The preparation of the Mishkan is complete. Bnei Yisrael have brought their handiwork to Moshe, and when he sees that everything has been prepared as God commanded, he blesses them (39:32-43). Now God commands Moshe to erect the Mishkan:
(40:1-2) "And God spoke to Moshe, saying: On the day of the first month, on the first of the month, you shall erect the Mishkan, a Tent of Meeting."
This Divine command has three parts:
i. From verse 3 to verse 8, Moshe is commanded to erect the Mishkan and to arrange all the various vessels in it, putting each in its proper place and bringing it to completion by performing the specific service appropriate to it.
ii. From verse 9 to verse 11, Moshe is commanded concerning the anointment of all of the above with the special anointing oil.
iii. From verse 12 to verse 15, the Divine command concludes with instructions as to a series of activities that will make Aharon and his sons into Kohanim for God.
This traditional reading portion (40:1-16) concludes, in verse 16, with the words: "And Moshe did according to all that God had commanded him; so he did."
Then we find eight masoretic "parashot" describing Moshe's actions in fulfilling this command. The conclusion of each of the first seven is identical: "As God had commanded Moshe," while the eighth concludes with the words (33), "And Moshe completed the work." What work is being referred to? These portions describe the establishment of the Mishkan and its arrangement by Moshe as he was commanded in the first section of God's command, in verses 1-8. But we have been told nothing of the anointment of the Mishkan and its vessels, nor of the sanctification of the Kohanim! How then can the work be described as "completed?"
Is a description of these other parts of the command to be found elsewhere in the Torah? Certainly – in Vayikra 8 we find a description of the various actions performed during the seven days of inauguration – the period during which Aharon and his sons were prepared to become Kohanim. The command concerning the actions to be performed during those seven days appears in Shemot 29. And, interestingly enough, in Vayikra 8:1-11 we are told of an action that has no corresponding command in Shemot 29:
(Vayikra 8:1) "And Moshe took the anointing oil and anointed the Mishkan and all that was in it, and sanctified them.
(11) And he sprinkled of it upon the altar seven times and he anointed the altar and all its vessels, and the basin and its stand, to sanctify them."
The correspondence between these verses and the latter two parts of God's command to Moshe in our parasha (Shemot 40:9-11) is clear. Chapter 8 in Vayikra also describes the sanctification of Aharon and his sons, in keeping with the command in Shemot 29, and these acts of sanctification also include the fulfillment of the third part of God's command to Moshe, in Shemot 40:12-15.
We may therefore ask: Why is the fulfillment of God's command not described in its entirety within Sefer Shemot?
A. A THREE-PART COMMAND
The preparation of the Mishkan is complete. Bnei Yisrael have brought their handiwork to Moshe, and when he sees that everything has been prepared as God commanded, he blesses them (39:32-43). Now God commands Moshe to erect the Mishkan:
(40:1-2) "And God spoke to Moshe, saying: On the day of the first month, on the first of the month, you shall erect the Mishkan, a Tent of Meeting."
This Divine command has three parts:
i. From verse 3 to verse 8, Moshe is commanded to erect the Mishkan and to arrange all the various vessels in it, putting each in its proper place and bringing it to completion by performing the specific service appropriate to it.
ii. From verse 9 to verse 11, Moshe is commanded concerning the anointment of all of the above with the special anointing oil.
iii. From verse 12 to verse 15, the Divine command concludes with instructions as to a series of activities that will make Aharon and his sons into Kohanim for God.
This traditional reading portion (40:1-16) concludes, in verse 16, with the words: "And Moshe did according to all that God had commanded him; so he did."
Then we find eight masoretic "parashot" describing Moshe's actions in fulfilling this command. The conclusion of each of the first seven is identical: "As God had commanded Moshe," while the eighth concludes with the words (33), "And Moshe completed the work." What work is being referred to? These portions describe the establishment of the Mishkan and its arrangement by Moshe as he was commanded in the first section of God's command, in verses 1-8. But we have been told nothing of the anointment of the Mishkan and its vessels, nor of the sanctification of the Kohanim! How then can the work be described as "completed?"
Is a description of these other parts of the command to be found elsewhere in the Torah? Certainly – in Vayikra 8 we find a description of the various actions performed during the seven days of inauguration – the period during which Aharon and his sons were prepared to become Kohanim. The command concerning the actions to be performed during those seven days appears in Shemot 29. And, interestingly enough, in Vayikra 8:1-11 we are told of an action that has no corresponding command in Shemot 29:
(Vayikra 8:1) "And Moshe took the anointing oil and anointed the Mishkan and all that was in it, and sanctified them.
(11) And he sprinkled of it upon the altar seven times and he anointed the altar and all its vessels, and the basin and its stand, to sanctify them."
The correspondence between these verses and the latter two parts of God's command to Moshe in our parasha (Shemot 40:9-11) is clear. Chapter 8 in Vayikra also describes the sanctification of Aharon and his sons, in keeping with the command in Shemot 29, and these acts of sanctification also include the fulfillment of the third part of God's command to Moshe, in Shemot 40:12-15.
We may therefore ask: Why is the fulfillment of God's command not described in its entirety within Sefer Shemot?
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