pekudei2024

pekudei2024

Upside Down – Pekudei

 

אֵלֶּה פְקוּדֵי הַמִּשְׁכָּן מִשְׁכַּן הָעֵדֻת אֲשֶׁר פֻּקַּד עַל פִּי מֹשֶׁה עֲבֹדַת הַלְוִיִּם בְּיַד אִיתָמָר בֶּן אַהֲרֹן הַכֹּהֵן (שמות לח, כא).

The Mefarshim ask why it is necessary to repeat the word מִשְׁכַּן twice in the first passuk of our parsha? R' Bachyei on that passuk says –

לָמָּה שְׁנֵי פְּעָמִים מִשְׁכָּן? אֶלָּא לְלַמֵּד שֶׁהֵיכַל שֶׁל מַטָּה מְכֻוָּן כְּנֶגֶד הֵיכַל שֶׁל מַעֲלָה שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שמות טו) מָכוֹן לְשִׁבְתְּךָ פָּעַלְתָּ ה' וְגוֹ' אַל תִּקְרִי מָכוֹן אֶלָּא מְכֻוָּן.

Everyone thinks there are three Batei Mikdash. The first built by Shlomo HaMelech that was destroyed because of עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה, שְׁפִיכוּת דָּמִים וְגִלּוּי עֲרָיוֹת. The second rebuilt by Ezra (and later Herod) that was destroyed by שִׂנְאַת חִנָּם. The third that we are desperately waiting for, to be rebuilt בבי"א.

In fact, there are five Batei Mikdash in total. First is the Mikdash up in Heaven, the מִקְדָּשׁ שֶׁל מַעֲלָה, which Shlomo HaMelech called אֲפַרְסְמוֹן. Next are the three "earthly" Batei Mikdash (1st, 2nd, 3rd) which Shlomo HaMelech called אַפִּרְיוֹן (see הסולם על ספר הזהר, תרומה כ״א). The fifth and final Beit Mikdash is the Beit Mikdash within each and every one of us וְעָשׂוּ לִי מִקְדָּשׁ וְשָׁכַנְתִּי בְּתוֹכָם.

When the Beit HaMikdash exists here on earth, it is connected umbilically to the Beit HaMikdash up in Heaven, as David HaMelech says כְּעִיר שֶׁחֻבְּרָה לָּהּ יַחְדָּו (תהילים קכב, ג).

In this shiur we will try to explore the Heavenly Beit HaMikdash (as much as is humanly possible), described to us by Chazal.

The Gemara (Chagiga 12b) says that Heaven is divided into seven layers (that is where the expression "seventh heaven" originates). The 4th layer in Heaven is called זְבוּל. In this layer the Gemara says –

שֶׁבּוֹ יְרוּשָׁלַיִם שֶׁל מַעְלָה, וּבֵית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ שֶׁל מַעְלָה, וּמִזְבֵּחַ שֶׁל מַעְלָה בָּנוּי, וְהַמַּלְאָךְ מִיכָאֵל, הַשַּׂר הַגָּדוֹל, עוֹמֵד וּמַקְרִיב עָלָיו קָרְבָּן.

Just like we have Yerushalayim down here, there is a Yerushalayim up in Heaven, inside which is a Beit HaMikdash and a Mizbeach and the angel Michael, the guardian angel of Am Yisrael, stands and offers Korbanot on the Mizbeach.

In a previous shiur on Devarim 2021 we discussed the Divine blueprint with which HKB"H created everything, spheres within spheres. The מִּקְדָּשׁ שֶׁל מַעְלָה follows the same blueprint – Heaven, seven layers, in the fourth יְרוּשָׁלַיִם שֶׁל מַעְלָה, within that the מִּקְדָּשׁ שֶׁל מַעְלָה, within that the Mizbeach, etc. Spheres within spheres.

Chazal does not tell us what יְרוּשָׁלַיִם שֶׁל מַעְלָה looks like nor the Mikdash nor the Mizbeach. What we do know is that Michael in Heaven parallels the Kohen HaGadol down here on earth, except that Michael is not wearing בִּגְדֵי כְּהֻנָּה. Angels have no clothes, just three sets of wings שֵׁשׁ כְּנָפַיִם לְאֶחָד בִּשְׁתַּיִם יְכַסֶּה פָנָיו וּבִשְׁתַּיִם יְכַסֶּה רַגְלָיו וּבִשְׁתַּיִם יְעוֹפֵף (ישעיהו ו, ב).

What Korbanot is Michael offering on the Mizbeach? Tosfot on the Gemara (Zevachim 62a) brings two Midrashim with different opinions - נִשְׁמוֹתֵיהֶם שֶׁל צַדִּיקִים, or כְּבָשִׂים שֶׁל אֵשׁ. What these Korbanot are exactly, is the subject of a different shiur (bli neder).

Chazal tell us that everything in Heaven is upside down from the way it is here on earth.

We read about Rivka meeting Yitzchak for the first time. The Mefarshim say that Yitzchak was up in Heaven after the Akeida and was just returning. Since everything in Heaven is upside down, Yitzchak was descending back to earth upside down. When Rivka saw this strange sight, she fell off the camel (ריב"א בראשית כד, סד).  

The Gemara (Bava Batra 10b) says –

כִּי הָא דְּיוֹסֵף בְּרֵיהּ דְּרַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ חֲלַשׁ אִינְּגִיד אֲמַר לֵיהּ אֲבוּהּ מַאי חָזֵית אֲמַר לֵיהּ עוֹלָם הָפוּךְ רָאִיתִי עֶלְיוֹנִים לְמַטָּה וְתַחְתּוֹנִים לְמַעְלָה אֲמַר לֵיהּ עוֹלָם בָּרוּר רָאִיתָ.

Yosef, the son of R' Yehoshua became seriously ill and fell into a coma, teetering between this world and the next. בְּחַסְדֵי שָׁמַיִם he recovered and his father R' Yehoshua asked him "What did you see while you were up there in Heaven?"

Yosef replied "Don't ask! Everything in Heaven is upside down. All the neshamot are seated around HKB"H and basking in the light of the Shechina. You remember Shmulik the poor blacksmith who we all thought was an עָם הָאָרֶץ? Well, he is sitting in the front row seats. And you remember Berel the billionaire, who we all thought was such a philanthropist – he was in row 117. You will not believe what I saw – everything was הָפוּךְ עַל הָפוּךְ. What should have been up was down and what should have been down was up".

R' Yehoshua said to Yosef "Don't worry son. What you saw was a clear world – you saw things as they truly are".

R' Yehoshua continued "Was anything in Heaven the same as it is here on earth?" to which Yosef replied "The talmidei chachamim and tzaddikim are the same up there as they are down here!"

Chazal tell us that every component in the earthly Beit HaMikdash is paralleled by a "twin component" in the Heavenly Beit HaMikdash. Just as there is a Menorah down here, there is a Menorah up there. Just like there is a Shulchan down here, there is a Shulchan up there, etc.

This does not simply mean that the Heavenly Shulchan is identical to the earthly one, just "upside down", flipped 180 degrees, it also means that the form of the Heavenly Shulchan is different to that of the earthly Shulchan. When Rivka saw Yitzchak, it was not just that he was feet-up and head-down, he was also radiating a residual Heavenly light (like Moshe descending from Har Sinai), which dissipated after Yitzchak "landed".

Sefer Meir Panim says that this is why there are two opinions regarding the shape of the Lechem Hapanim – R' Chanina says it was a Teiva Prutza (a rectangular box without a lid) and R' Yochanan says it was a Sfina Rokedet (a dancing ship with a curved U-shape hull). So, which is the correct shape? The answer is – there is no correct opinion, they are both right! The fact is that neither Rashi nor the Rambam rule decisively on this machloket. The Sfina Rokedet is the shape of the Lechem Hapanim in the earthly Beit HaMikdash and the Teiva Prutza is the shape of the Lechem Hapanim in the Heavenly Beit HaMikdash. Each reflects a different reality. The straight Teiva Prutza reflects a reality of calm stability and truth while the curved/bent Sfina Rokedet reflects a reality of tumultuous turmoil (ships only "dance" in stormy seas).

This probably also applies to the machloket regarding the shape of the candelabra of the Menorah. One opinion says that they are curved (like the etching on Titus' Arch ימ"ש) and the other (Rambam) says they are straight (the Chabad Channukiya is modelled on this opinion of the Rambam).

Similarly for the other כֵּלִים.

Regardless of the different nuances in appearance and orientation, the כֵּלִים in both the Heavenly and earthly Batei HaMikdash are connected to each other. בְּסִיַּעְתָּא דַּשְׁמִיא in my new book (currently in the writing phase), which explores how the blueprint of the Beit HaMikdash is reflected in the human body both on the gross anatomical and also the cellular level, we see this for example, in the process of mitosis (cell division) which resembles two Menorahs connected to each other.

Right now, that connection is masked – it is there, we just can't see it. Although the eternal Heavenly Mikdash remains intact as it always has been and always will be, we are currently living in a reality where there is no earthly Mikdash in its originally intended form. Despite this, the connection remains even at this moment – the Heavenly and earthly Shulchan and Menorah, etc. The earthly כֵּלִים still exist and are intact, either hidden under Har Habayit in the catacombs created by Shlomo HaMelech, or in the Vatican. R' Dessler in Michtav Me'Eliyahu holds of the opinion that they are in Rome and that the Mashiach will first travel to Rome, the seat of power of Edom, retrieve the stolen כֵּלִים and restore them to the third Beit HaMikdash in Yerushalayim.

However, even when the 3rd Beit HaMikdash is rebuilt, the upper and lower components will not be identical, they will still have differences of appearance and orientation, because they reflect different worlds, each with a different purpose. The purpose of this world, the earthly Beit HaMikdash, is to do tikkun so that we can elevate ourselves in spirituality and strive to reach the ultimate level of the upper world. Down here the Lechem Hapanim and the candelabra of the Menorah are "bent". Our job is to aspire to achieve the level of these כֵּלִים in Heaven, where they are straight, in the עוֹלַם הָאֱמֶת.

As the Geulah is speedily approaching, this world is incrementally being "straightened out" so that it can once again be umbilically connected to the Heavenly Beit HaMikdash via the 3rd Beit HaMikdash here on earth. In this process, our world is acquiring increasingly clarity and parity, facilitating the required connection with Heaven.

Since everything in Heaven, the world of truth and clarity, is upside down to here on earth, as this process proceeds, things here on earth are increasingly going to appear upside down to what we are familiar with. This is a symptom of Geulah.

It is a total reversal of the downward spiral that began with the sin of Adam and Chava. It is a process of stripping away all the illusions we human beings have created, masquerading as "reality". It will culminate in a bursting forth of the אוֹר הַגָּנוּז which will banish all darkness and reset the world to its original state when HKB"H created it.  

We just celebrated Rosh Chodesh Adar II. The month of Adar is so called because it is the month א-דר, when HKB"H resides amongst us. It is a month when we celebrate everything that is upside down, וְנַהֲפֹךְ הוּא. The more surreal things seem, the closer HKB"H is to stepping out of the נִסְתָּר into the נִגְלֶה.

Am Yisrael have no fear, rejoice! This is a culmination of the prophecies. HKB"H loves us, ALL of us. He simply asks that we have faith in Him.

You may ask, how is it possible to rejoice? How many new widows and orphans have been added to the list in the last 5 months רַחֲמָנָא לִצְּלַן. How can we rejoice when babies, sons, daughters, old men and women are in the clutches of pure evil, experiencing hell on earth? How can we rejoice and celebrate knowing that?

This is Purim in a nutshell. Everyone thinks that Purim is a happy festival where the Simcha radiates from within. It is not.

Sukkot is a festival that radiates Simcha from within. Sukkot is called זְמַן שִׂמְחָתֵנוּ because the Simcha emanates from within. We have all done tshuva, have all been forgiven of all our sins on Yom Kippur and are starting the new year with a clean slate. Our storehouses are overflowing with grains and fruit, the rain has just started to fall. We are happy inside and this radiates outwards.

On Purim, or at least just before Purim, there is no Simcha, quite the opposite. One minute before Purim we are teetering on the brink of oblivion, the brink of a Holocaust.

Haman says to Achashveirosh - יֶשְׁנוֹ עַם אֶחָד מְפֻזָּר וּמְפֹרָד בֵּין הָעַמִּים בְּכֹל מְדִינוֹת מַלְכוּתֶךָ וְדָתֵיהֶם שֹׁנוֹת מִכָּל עָם וְאֶת דָּתֵי הַמֶּלֶךְ אֵינָם עֹשִׂים וְלַמֶּלֶךְ אֵין שֹׁוֶה לְהַנִּיחָם. "Where else can you find such a nation that is so fragmented, self-hating and rebellious as the Jews?" It is not so much an appeal to Achashveirosh as it is a קִטְרוּג to the real מֶלֶךְ – to HKB"H. "Look how they hate each other, how they are fighting all the time with each other, how they rebel against Your Torah! This is your Chosen People?"

When Esther sends Hatach to ask Mordechai לָדַעַת מַה זֶּה וְעַל מַה זֶּה, what she is actually asking is "Which זֶּה is this? Which cardinal sin? The sin of selling Yosef (הִנֵּה בַּעַל הַחֲלֹמוֹת הַלָּזֶה בָּא), or the sin of the egel (כִּי זֶה מֹשֶׁה הָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר הֶעֱלָנוּ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם לֹא יָדַעְנוּ מֶה הָיָה לוֹ)?" Mordechai sends a reply "Look what I am wearing - שַׂק וְאֵפֶר. It is the sin of selling Yosef, the sin of שִׂנְאַת חִנָּם (וַיִּקְרַע יַעֲקֹב שִׂמְלֹתָיו וַיָּשֶׂם שַׂק בְּמָתְנָיו)".

If that is the case, Esther's response - לֵךְ כְּנוֹס אֶת כָּל הַיְּהוּדִים. To remedy the sin of שִׂנְאַת חִנָּם you have to make Shalom between the יְּהוּדִים, do tshuva (fast and daven for three days) for rebelling against HKB"H and pray HKB"H forgives the sin.

A few short hours later there is salvation, a נַהֲפֹךְ הוּא. However, imagine the state of Am Yisrael at that very moment of redemption. The best way to describe it is to compare it to a trainload of Polish Jews on a cattle car en-route to Auschwitz. For three days they have been starved of food and water. How do you feel after fasting 24hrs on Yom Kippur? Multiply that by three. The train trundles into the Auschwitz station and suddenly the door of the cattle car opens and to everyone's surprise, instead of Nazi soldiers greeting them it is American soldiers who have just liberated the camp. "OK, everyone off the train. We are now going to celebrate, have an enormous feast and drink wine till we pass out! But first we are going to dress up in costumes and read the Megillah for 45 minutes and make a big noise every time Hitler's ימ"ש name is mentioned!"

What is the response of everyone on the train? They are elated, they have been spared. "There are no words to describe our joy, but before we get to the hamantaschen and Emerald Reisling, we all need to stop off at the local hospital emergency ward for infusions and defibrillating! Maybe later with the mishloach manot hopping and the barbeque!"

HKB"H says "No, I want you to stuff your face and drink until you cannot tell the difference between אָרוּר מָרְדְּכַי וּבָרוּךְ הָמָן and sing Charvona until you can no longer breathe".

Purim is not a חַג in which Simcha emanates from within. It is a חַג in which we need to force ourselves to have Simcha, by feasting, by drinking, dressing up in costumes, etc. The Simcha of Purim does not emanate from within, it penetrates from without.

We botched the חַג of Simcha that emanates from within. First, we botched Yom Kippur, when instead of doing tshuva for the שִׂנְאַת חִנָּם fest that raged prior to it, we deteriorated on Yom Kippur to depths that nobody had ever seen before. We all got a serious wakeup call a few days later, from which we are still reeling.

How is it possible to rejoice this Purim? We all feel like instead of feasting that we need an infusion and a defibrillator.

First, we need to לֵךְ כְּנוֹס אֶת כָּל הַיְּהוּדִים, make Shalom between the Jews. Then we need to fast and daven and do tshuva to make Shalom between the Jews and HKB"H. לַמְנַצֵּחַ עַל אַיֶּלֶת הַשַּׁחַר מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד.  אֵ-לִי אֵ-לִי לָמָה עֲזַבְתָּנִי.

Then we need to force ourselves to rejoice. That is what Purim is all about. That way Purim actually ends up as a celebration after all, it turns everything upside down, a נַהֲפֹךְ הוּא, from despair to redemption - and the result of this is the first of Nisan and our Geulah, the day the Mishkan was inaugurated.

Parshat Pekudei ends with the cloud of HKB"H's Shechina returning to earth and resting on the Ohel Moed. R' Bachyei says on this passuk (Shmot 40, 38) –

אָמַר הקב"ה בעוה"ז הִשְׁרֵיתִי שֶׁכִנָּתִי בֵּינֵיכֶם בבמ"ק וּבִשְׁבִיל עֲוֹנֹתֵיכֶם נִסְתַּלְּקָה מִכֶּם, אֲבָל לֶעָתִיד לָבֹא אֵינָהּ זָזָה מִכֶּם שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (וַיִּקְרָא כו) וְנָתַתִּי מִשְׁכָּנִי בְּתוֹכְכֶם וְלֹא תִגְעַל נַפְשִׁי אֶתְכֶם וְהָיִיתִי לָכֶם לֵאלֹהִים ע"כ, וּבֵאוּר הַדָּבָר כִּי לֶעָתִיד תַּחֲזֹר הַנְּבוּאָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל כְּקַדְמוּתָהּ, וְהַשְּׁכִינָה עַל מְכוֹנָתָהּ וִיסוּדָתָהּ, יִלְמְדוּ הַכֹּל דַּעַת אֶת ה' בְּשֶׁפַע חָכְמָה, וְלֹא יִלְמְדוּן עוֹד מִלְחָמָה, לֵב חָדָשׁ יִבָּרֵא וְלֵב אֶבֶן יוּסַר וְיִקְרַע, אֵין שָׂטָן וְאֵין יֵצֶר הָרַע, וְזֹאת נֶחָמָתֵנוּ בִּגְאֻלָּתֵנוּ זוֹ הָאַחֲרוֹנָה, לָשׁוּב בְּקֶרֶב יִשְׂרָאֵל הַתִּפְאֶרֶת וְהַכָּבוֹד כְּמִבְראשׁוֹנֶה, כִּי כֵן הִבְטִיחַ ישעיה ע"ה בַּחֲתִימַת סִפְרוֹ בְּמִבְחַר חֶזְיוֹנוֹ בְּמִלּוֹת (ישעיה ס) כִּי בָא אוֹרֵךְ וּכְבוֹד ה', וְאִם בִּגְאֻלָּה רִאשׁוֹנָה אָהַבְנוּ מַלְכֵּנוּ אֲשֶׁר טוֹב דּוֹדָיו מיַיִן, וְנִרְאֶה לָנוּ בִּכְבוֹדוֹ בְּחוּשׁ הָעַיִן, מִתּוֹךְ מְחִצַּת עָנָן בְּאֶרֶץ עֲרָבָה וְצִיָּה, וה' שָׁם הָיָה, כְּעִנְיָן שֶׁכָּתוּב (במדבר יד) אֲשֶׁר עַיִן בְּעַיִן נִרְאָה אַתָּה ה', הֲלֹא לֶעָתִיד לָבֹא תִּרְבֶּה הַשָּׂגָתֵנוּ יוֹתֵר וְהַכָּבוֹד עַיִן בְּעַיִן נִרְאֶה מִבְּלִי מְחִצָּה נִבְדֶּלֶת וּמִבְּלִי עָנָן מִתְרָאָה, כְּהַבְטָחַת הַנָּבִיא ע"ה (ישעיה נב) קוֹל צֹפַיִךְ נָשְׂאוּ קוֹל יַחְדָּו יְרַנֵּנוּ כִּי עַיִן בְּעַיִן יִרְאוּ בְּשׁוּב ה' צִיּוֹן.
 

HKB"H says "In this world My Shechina rested in the Beit HaMikdash, but because of your sins it departed. But as it says (Vayikra 26), in the future My Shechina will never move from you ever again. In the future, prophecy will return to Israel as of old and the Shechina to its foundation, the Beit HaMikdash. All will learn to know Hashem with prosperity of wisdom. You will no longer experience war. A new heart will be created and your heart of stone will be removed and shattered. The satan and yetzer harah will have no hold over you". This is our comfort, in this, the last Geulah – the glory and the honor will return to Israel's midst like in the beginning, as promised in the prophecies of Yishayahu (60, 52).

Thus ends sefer Shmot, סֵפֶר הַגָּלוּת וְהַגְּאֻלָּה.

Am Yisrael, take heart חֲזַק חֲזַק וְנִתְחַזֵּק.

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