The reason that God wants us to help in the building of the Tabernacle is to show us that this is a partnership with God. That our job is to bring God down to this world through the commandments.
Quick D’var Torah — From Sinai to the Mishkan: Why We Have to Build
We now enter the second half of Sefer Shemot — the building of the Mishkan.
And a basic question should bother us.
God took us out of Egypt.
God split the sea.
God gave the Ten Commandments.
So if God wants a sanctuary… why doesn’t He just build it Himself?
Why ask human beings — former slaves in the desert — to construct His dwelling?
The Pattern We’ve Been Watching
If you follow the parshiot carefully, a progression appears.
- Yitro – establish courts → a functioning society
- Aseret HaDibrot – moral foundations
- Mishpatim – civil law, daily behavior
- Terumah–Tetzaveh – build the Mishkan
The Torah is not rushing toward spirituality.
It is building a nation.
First justice.
Then responsibility.
Then ethics.
Only then — holiness.
Because Judaism does not believe God lives in heaven alone.
God lives inside a society that behaves properly.
Why God Doesn’t Build It
The Mishkan is not a house for God.
It is a training program for humans.
If God built it — we would admire it.
But because we build it, we become partners.
“Ve’asu li Mikdash v’shachanti b’tocham”
Not in it — but among them.
God is not asking for architecture.
He is asking for participation.
Holiness only enters the world when humans invest effort — time, money, skill, and heart.
Bringing God Into the Street
There’s a famous story told about Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach.
A religious person says:
“God isn’t here — I’ll go to the synagogue to find Him.”
A secular person says:
“God isn’t here — therefore He doesn’t exist.”
Judaism says something else:
Bring God here.
Every mitzvah pulls the Divine Presence into ordinary life — business, family, community.
The Mishkan was never meant to keep God in one place.
It was meant to teach us how to carry Him everywhere.
The Modern Mishkan
A synagogue is called a Mikdash Me’at — a miniature sanctuary.
But just like the original Mishkan, it does not descend from heaven.
It runs on participation.
People daven — that brings holiness.
People volunteer — that brings presence.
People contribute — that makes it possible.
Electricity, heat, staff, programs — these are not “expenses.”
They are the beams and sockets of our modern Mishkan.
God’s presence doesn’t rest where people attend.
It rests where people invest.
The Takeaway
The Torah’s message is simple:
God did the miracles.
Now He asks us to build the relationship.
Not a one-way street.
A partnership.
We don’t just visit holiness.
We construct it.
(And that’s why supporting the community — however one can — isn’t fundraising.
It’s participation in building a dwelling place for the Divine.)
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