Parshas Vayakhel

Rabbi Avraham Brandwein of Yerushalayim
Parsha Vayakhel #12 5763
(in translation)

With the help of Heaven:

With the help of Heaven:
Parshas Vayakhel

The Parsha begins, “(Vayakhel), And Moshe assembled the entire assembly of the Bnai Yisroel…” Rashi says that this was on the day after Yom Kippur, when he descended from the mountain. The Ramban explains that Moshe assembled all of the people, men and women, because all of them donated towards the building of the Mishkan (Tabernacle), and since Hakadosh Baruch Hu was appeased and forgave the Bnai Yisroel for the sin of the golden calf, they returned to their prior standing and to the love of their union with Hashem. Therefore, Hashem again commanded them on the Mishkan, in order for His Shechinah to dwell within them. (This concludes the words of the Ramban.)

First we need to understand the idea of the Mishkan. The Ramban at the beginning of Parshas Terumah explains that the main desire of the Mishkan was for there to be a resting place for the Shechinah, which is the Ark, and from there, Hakadosh Baruch Hu would command to Moshe what to teach the Bnai Yisroel. (This concludes the words of the Ramban.)

The matter is as follows: when the Bnai Yisroel stood at Mount Sinai, it is written that their filth had been removed from them, and that they were at the level of Adam prior to the sin. It is well known that the absolute revelation of the lights of the Torah can be revealed specifically through the concealment of His Glory, and so too by way of the physical, material world. In the spiritual realm, there are no letters, i.e. expression, to reveal the lights, since (revelation of light) only comes from a service of free choice. So too, by way of the physical world, there is a place to reveal Middos (emotional attributes), like love and fear, etc. And so too by way of the physical body, for when we overcome our egotistical desires; from the strength of such service, we merit the revelation of spiritual light. As long as Moshe was in existence, as the aspect of Da’as (Understanding, “to know”), which represents attachment, he would bind the Bnai Yisroel to their Father in Heaven. But after Moshe failed to come, they made a calf, upon which it is said, “The god which (they) will go before us.”

It is well known, that the ox is the aspect of the left side, which represents Gevurah (Strength), and the desire to receive the light from above to below, which is (receiving) just for themselves. But the true repair and path of Holiness for receiving the lights is in the manner of the three lines, which are the right, left, and middle. This means that the “left” serves to arouse the desire to receive for the drawing down of lights, and the “right” is the power and desire to emanate. Afterwards, (when) the lights are to be revealed, the “middle” line emanates them in a proper manner and in the proper place.

One of the causes of the breaking of the vessels was that the lights did not shine, as they should have. Therefore, the vessels dispersed. This is the concept of plurality (Rabim), being in an unrefined form (of disunity). This is what the calf symbolizes, that is only the left side by itself, and so too the plural (“they”) is used, that “’they’ will go before us.”

The repair for the sin of the calf is the Mishkan, as it is written in the Holy Books, that it was (designed) in the form of the composition of a person. The Holy of Holies represents the thought in man and there was the Ark. The Holies (Heichal) corresponds to the Middos in man. There was the Menorah (Candelabra), the Table, and the Incense Altar. They correspond to Chessed (Lovingkindness), Gevurah (Strength) and Tiferes (Beauty). Afterwards, the courtyard was where they would offer the sacrifices, which corresponds to the actions of man.

The repair for the sin of the calf was through the Mishkan, since the Keruvim (Cherubim) were there, as written in Yechezkel, that in place of the face of the ox is the face of the Cherub. The Cherubim were like the faces of a baby boy and baby girl, which represents a receiver and an emanator. This was on the Ark, where the Torah was, the middle line. Therefore, the Cherubim were a repair for the sin of the calf, for here the receiving and the emanation were done in a refined (unified) manner. The Mishkan was like one body, which is all attached together, not in a manner of disunity; this is called the Private Domain (Reshus HaYachid).

Therefore, here in the Mishkan, the Holiness could dwell on the material, physical world, in a refined manner, which signifies unity. And this is what is written in the Parsha, “(Vayakhel), And Moshe assembled all of the assembly of the Bnai Yisroel,” since unity is (an integral) part of the repair, since the calf made disunity.

And may it be the Will (of Hashem) that we merit unity, and then we will see the coming of the Righteous Redeemer (Moshiach), speedily in our days, Amen.