The sections about the construction of the Mishkan
open with a call for a commitment of the heart: " . . . from
every man whose heart moves him, you should take My
terumoh" (25:2). The goal of this effort is: "And they
will make Me a Mikdosh, and I will dwell amongst them"
(25:8).
The Mishkan and the Beis Hamikdosh that was
eventually built (and the one that will be built) are clearly
private to Klal Yisroel and to Hakodosh Boruch
Hu. Their construction and the avodoh in them are
aspects of the deeply personal relationship that exists
between Klal Yisroel and the Ribono Shel Olom.
They are designed and built with the aid of nevu'ah
and they are open only to Klal Yisroel. Hakodosh
Boruch Hu is certainly concerned about His entire
creation, but the Beis Hamikdosh in the middle of
Eretz Yisroel is dedicated to His special relationship with
His people. The entire area, not to mention the special signs
— such as the freshness of the lechem haponim
(Yoma 21b) — and ten daily open miracles that took
place therein, made this unambiguously clear.
On the three annual holy days, the Jews lived fully enwrapped
in holiness. They spent their days at the Beis Hamikdosh,
and ate the meat of korbonos. They were in the
company of masses of people who had come together for the
common goal of going up to Hashem, as it were, three times a
year. In this Klal Yisroel was unique.
What about the rest of the year? Of course Shevet Levi, as
explained by the Rambam, was continuously dedicated to
Hashem, doing the Avodoh in the Beis Hamikdosh
throughout the year, learning and growing in Torah so that
they could teach and judge their brothers according to the
Torah.
But most of the time for many of the people, life seems
similar to that of their neighbors. True they davened
daily, and had the special Shabbos day, but much of life was
spent working the fields or engaging in commerce. Plowing is
plowing, and traveling is traveling and a deal is a deal.
Except for the few accents on Shabbos and yomim tovim,
the content of life seems to have been very similar to what
went on all around.
However, the rules of the game were different. Here too, the
special relationship between HaKodosh Boruch Hu and
Klal Yisroel finds expression. The Torah set down laws
that govern every aspect of trade and business. These laws
were given in parshas Mishpotim, which even precedes
the laws of the Mishkan. Social justice and proper
interpersonal relationships are an essential prerequisite to
the building of the Mishkan. A Torah- true community
must have its bein odom lechavero in order if it wants
to progress to building the Mishkan.
Of course, almost every society recognizes the importance of
bein odom lechavero. This is an area which many
societies have worked on. Perhaps it is worthwhile to learn
from them?
The Torah forbids this in the strongest terms. The Torah says
very clearly that we must put all of our judgments before
Torah decisors, or at least Jews. This is not just a
preference, but an absolute requirement. Tosim
lifneihem — you must place all your issues in
judgment before Jewish authorities whose wisdom and
principles are from the Torah. Rashi explains that one who
uses non-Jewish courts is mechalel Hashem. The
Shulchan Oruch is even stronger (Choshen
Mishpot 26:1): Even if they judge according to Torah law,
and even if both sides agree, whoever goes to a non-Jewish
court is a rosho and it is as if he blasphemed and
attacked the Torah of Moshe.
One who wishes to come as close as possible to Hashem will
seek to do everything according to the Torah that Hashem gave
us, whether he is building a Mishkan or trying to
decide whose ox was gored.
