Parsha Podcast for Pekudei

THEN THE CLOUD COVERED. Logically speaking, when the tabernacle was erected and Moses went out, the cloud covered the tabernacle and the glory of the Lord filled it.

AND THE GLORY OF THE ETERNAL FILLED THE TABERNACLE, this means that it was filled completely with the Glory, for the Glory rested within the cloud inside the Tabernacle, just as it is said with reference to Mount Sinai, unto the thick darkness where G-d was. It states further on that Moses was not able to come into the Tent of Meeting — even to the door, because the cloud covered it, and he was not permitted to come into the cloud. Moreover, the Glory of the Eternal filled the Tabernacle, so how could he enter it? The reason for this was so that Moses should not go in without permission, but instead G-d would call him and then he was to come into the midst of the cloud, just as He had done at Mount Sinai, as it is said, and He called unto Moses on the seventh day out of the midst of the cloud, and then it says, And Moses entered into the midst of the cloud.
In line with the plain meaning of Scripture, it is because it is said, and the Eternal spoke unto him out of the Tent of Meeting that Moses did not enter the Tabernacle, but G-d called him from the Tent of Meeting and he stood at its door and He spoke to him. But our Rabbis have said: “One verse states, And Moses was not able to enter into the Tent of Meeting, and another verse states, and when Moses went into the Tent of Meeting [thus the two verses appear to be contradictory]! The matter is decided by the passage, because the cloud abode thereon.” For in the opinion of the Rabbis, the phrase and when Moses went into the Tent of Meeting, means that he went inside of his own accord without being called. Or it may be that because Scripture states there, and he heard the Voice speaking unto him from above the ark-cover, therefore it appeared to the Rabbis that Moses stood within the Tent before the ark-cover. Now as long as the Glory of G-d filled the Tabernacle, Moses did not enter it. Therefore they say that he only would enter after the cloud withdrew, meaning after it withdrew from covering the whole Tent, and the Glory no longer filled the Tabernacle. That was only on the eighth day of the installation when the Glory descended there, and as for the call that came to Moses, of which it is said, And he called unto Moses, that happened, in the opinion of the Rabbis, before [the eighth day, namely, on the first day of the installation], as I have explained above. It is possible that the verse before us which repeats, and the Glory of the Eternal filled the Tabernacle [when it had already stated, and the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting], alludes to the Glory that dwells within it.

Has it not already been stated: Do I not fill heaven and the earth (Jer. 23:24)? R. Joshua of Sikhnin said in the name of R. Levi: This may be compared to a cave situated at the edge of the sea. Though the sea rushes forth and fills the cave, the sea lacks nothing. Similarly with the Holy One, blessed be He, may His name be blessed, for though it is written: And the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle (Exod. 40:34), nevertheless His glory is above the heaven and the earth (Ps. 148:13). You should not say that the Holy One, blessed be He, compressed His Shekhinah only into the Tabernacle. He likewise compressed His Shekhinah into the ark that Bezalel had made, as it is written: Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth (Josh. 3:11). This indicates that the Holy One, blessed be He, was within it. Who other than Bezalel could have made it, since it says: And Bezalel made the ark?

ולא יכל משה לבא אל אהל מועד AND MOSES WAS NOT ABLE TO COME INTO THE APPOINTED TENT — But another verse says, (Numbers 7:89) “And when Moses came into the appointed tent [to speak with Him then he heard the voice]”! There comes, however, a third verse and reconciles these apparently contradictory verses, for it says here כי שכן עליו הענן “For (or when) the cloud abode thereon (on the appointed tent)”. Hence you may say: so long as the cloud was upon it “he was not able to come into the appointed tent”, but as soon as the cloud disappeared he entered it and spoke with Him (Sifra, Braita d'Rabbi Yishmael 18).

ויכס הענן את אהל מועד, “the cloud enveloped the Tent of Meeting.” At the revelation at Mount Sinai the Torah also reported that the mountain was enveloped in a cloud. Concerning the Tabernacle, the Torah writes that the attribute of Hashem called כבוד filled the Tabernacle, i.e. that this attribute was within the cloud which in turn was within the Tabernacle. When reporting on what happened at Mount Sinai, the Torah had written (Exodus 20,21) that Moses approached the dark cloud within which G’d (Elohim) was present. In our verse (35) the Torah explains Moses’ inability to enter the Tabernacle because the cloud rested upon it and the attribute of כבוד filled the Tabernacle. This means that unless G’d called to Moses inviting him to enter he could not do so. As soon as he would be called the fact that the cloud enveloped the Tabernacle was no impediment preventing Moses from entering. This is the meaning of the verse in Leviticus 1,1 where G’d called to Moses, and Exodus 24,18 where Moses entered the cloud because he had been called (24,12). The call: “Moses, Moses,” did not mean that Moses was to share the “space” with G’d’s attribute of כבוד; rather it was an indication to him that this attribute had departed from the Tabernacle or the mountain (as the case might be) so that Moses could now enter. The only part of G’d’s Shechinah which remained when Moses was called was the part which filled the space between the expanded wings of the cherubs on top of the Ark. Although the experience at Mount Sinai and the experience at the completion of the erection of the Tabernacle were almost nine months apart in time, you could view what happened here as “history repeating itself.” [This had become necessary due to the sin of the golden calf after which the Presence of G’d had left the vicinity of the encampment of the Israelites. Ed.] Nachmanides writes that it is quite possible that the second verse which speaks about the attribute כבוד filling the Tabernacle (compare verses 34 and 35) alludes to His glory which resides within that attribute. Thus far Nachmanides. I believe I should draw your attention to the fact that we are dealing with five verses (34-38) in each of which the ענן, “cloud” is mentioned. I believe these five are allusions to the five emanations, i.e. references to the five times the Torah speaks of קולות, sounds, thunder, at the time G’d revealed Himself at Mount Sinai (compare Berachot 6).The Talmud there stated that the Torah was given by means of five קולות, “sounds, voices.” Even though we have pointed out in that connection that Moses achieved an understanding of seven emanations, i.e. seven קולות, as I explained on my commentary on Exodus 20,1, the sages in the Talmud meant the five “hidden” קולות whose identities the Torah did not reveal at the time. The other two emanations which were spelled out, i.e. תפארת and כבוד, were not mentioned by the Talmud, as they have been mentioned in our verses, i.e. in Exodus 20,2 as ה' אלוקיך in connection with the revelation at Sinai, and as the words וכבוד ה' twice here in connection with the Tabernacle, in order to hint at the presence of the attribute תפארת which resides within the attribute כבוד.
This is what Nachmanides had in mind when he wrote that the Torah repeated the words וכבוד ה' another time. We find something very similar in connection with the Temple where we are told in Chronicles II 7,1-2: “it was when Solomon had completed to pray (during the consecration ceremonies) that the fire descended from the heavens and consumed the burnt-offering and the meat-offerings, and the attribute כבוד of the Lord filled the House; as a result the priests were unable to enter the House of the Lord as the attribute כבוד had filled the House of the Lord.” You have learned from all this that in our instance seven emanations, attributes, are referred to; the five times the Torah mentions the word ענן and the two occasions when the Torah speaks of the כבוד ה'. Just as seven emanations were part of the Sinai experience of the Jewish people, so seven emanations were part of what the people experienced during the inauguration of the Tabernacle. In both instances mention of these seven emanations is testimony to Moses’ spiritual attainments.

Rabbi Zerika raised a contradiction between verses before Rabbi Elazar, and some say that Rabbi Zerika said that Rabbi Elazar raised a contradiction: It is written in one place: “And Moses was not able to enter into the Tent of Meeting because the cloud dwelt on it” (Exodus 40:35), as Moses was unable to enter the cloud. And it is written elsewhere: “And Moses came into the cloud” (Exodus 24:18). This teaches that the Holy One, Blessed be He, grabbed Moses and brought him into the cloud since he could not enter on his own.

לעיני כל בית ישראל בכל מסעיהם [THE CLOUD WAS ON THE TABERNACLE] … IN THE SIGHT OF ALL THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL, THROUGHOUT ALL THEIR JOURNEYS — At every מסע which they made (according to Rashi this means: at every station at which they stopped) the cloud rested upon the Tabernacle in the place where they encamped. A place where they encamped is also called מסע (the literal meaning of which is “journey”). Similar is, (Genesis 13:3) “And he went on to his resting places (למסעיו)“ (cf. Rashi on this verse); similar also is, (Numbers 33:1) “These are the מסעי” — “the places of encampment”. Because from the place of encampment they always set out again on a new journey therefore all the different stages of their journeys (including the places where they encamped) are called מסעות.

כי ענן ה' על המשכן יומם ואש תהיה לילה בו, “for the cloud of the Lord would be over the Tabernacle by day, whereas by night fire would be above it.” We would have expected the Torah to write: ענן ה' ביום ואש (ה') תהיה בלילה. Why did the Torah mention the word “fire” in front of the word “night” when describing the presence of heavenly attributes as manifest in connection with the Tabernacle? The reason is that the Torah wanted to use both “day” and “night” as divine attributes, respectively. (The word “day” is an alternate name for the attribute of Mercy, whereas the word “night” is an alternate name for the attribute of Justice).
It is well known that the name of the attribute of Mercy often appears with the letter מ being repeated, such as in the word יומם, [usually translated as “by day.” Ed.] The basic letters in the word לילה are ליל, the letter ה at the end being the allusion to the attribute of Justice which is most active at night. You know that this attribute had been particularly active at night when it was applied to the firstborn of Egypt (Exodus 12,29). This is part of the mystical dimension of the words used in Scripture. When we read in Joshua 1,8 that G’d told Joshua to be busy with Torah both by day and by night, the wording is והגית בו יומם ולילה instead of והגית בו ביום ובלילה. The message is that the Torah, the subject of the instruction is composed of both the attribute of Mercy and the attribute of Justice. The Torah is divided between the written and the oral Torah, the former symbolizing the attribute of Mercy whereas the latter symbolizes the attribute of Justice. This gives you an idea of the Shechinah cleaving to the Jewish people. Both the Shechinah and the people dwelled in tents while the people were in the desert. This is part of what is meant in 33,8 ונצבו איש פתח אהלו, “they each stood at the entrance to his respective tent.” Bileam already praised the tents of the Jewish people in the desert as being something out of the ordinary when he said (Numbers 24,8) “how goodly are your tents O Yaakov.”
In verse 36 in our chapter here the Torah speaks of the Children of Israel adjusting their journeys in the desert to the movements of the cloud representing the Shechinah. This is only one more example of what we called the דבקות, the cleaving to one another of the Jewish people and the Shechinah. Here in our verse (38), the cloud is associated with כל בית ישראל לכל מסעיהם, “the entire house of Israel in all their journeys.” The Children of Israel were again mentioned twice in close succession seeing that the Torah had mentioned both the cloud and the fire.
How beautiful were the flags of the people of Israel in the desert, drawing attention to holy encampments equal to camps of holy angels in the celestial regions which surround the manifestation of the Shechinah in their domain. The very fact that this manifestation of G’d’s presence was visible equally to men and women testifies to the purity and sanctity of the whole people at that time.
When discussing Psalms 85,10: “His help is very near those who fear Him, to make His glory (attribute כבוד) dwell in our land,” our sages (Tanchuma, end of our portion) write that G’d said that whereas in this world He manifested His Presence amongst the Jewish people in the Holy Temple, a Presence which had to be withdrawn due to the sins of the people, in the world to come the manifestation of G’d’s presence would never again be withdrawn. This is based on Leviticus 26,11: “I will establish My abode in your midst; and My spirit will not reject you. I will remain as your G’d.” The meaning of these words is that in the future prophecy will be restored to the people of Israel as in former times, and the Shechinah will once more be in its regular place. All the people will learn intimate information about G’d in those days. The verse of the prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel promising both the elimination of war (Isaiah 2,4) and the gift of a new heart from G’d (Ezekiel 36,26) will then be realised. The “heart of stone” attributed to the Jewish people by Ezekiel will be replaced by a heart of flesh (ibid.). There will neither be a Satan nor an evil urge (the view of Nachmanides that man will be naturally good in those days, compare Rabbi Chavell).
These words have to serve as our solace and comfort during these long days of our exile. Hopefully, we shall all return to our former glory in the near future. Isaiah promised all this in the concluding chapters of his book (chapters 60-66) If, during the period after the Exodus we loved G’d and appreciated that His goodness was superior to the heady feeling one experiences after having drunk wine (Song of Songs 1,2), how much more intimate will our relationship with the Lord be after we experience the last and ultimate redemption! At that time G’d will extend His personal supervision of our fate to an even greater degree than had been the case in the past. We will then be able to see that attribute of כבוד with our own eyes, i.e. עין בעין נראה אתה ה' (Numbers 14,14), “You Hashem appeared eye to eye, etc.” The meaning of these words is this that there will no longer be an artificial barrier to our obtaining deep insights into the workings of G’d’s providence. Isaiah 52,8: proclaims: “Hark! Your watchmen raise their voices, as one they shout for joy; for every eye shall behold the Lord’s return to Zion,” will then finally be realized.