Rabbi David Etengoff
 
Dedicated to the sacred memories of my mother, Miriam Tovah bat Aharon Hakohen, father-in-law, Levi ben Yitzhak, sister-in-law, Ruchama Rivka Sondra bat Yechiel, sister, Shulamit bat Menachem, Chaim Mordechai Hakohen ben Natan Yitzchak, Yehonatan Binyamin ben Mordechai Meir Halevi, Avraham Yechezkel ben Yaakov Halevy, HaRav Yosef Shemuel ben HaRav Reuven Aharon, David ben Elazar Yehoshua, the refuah shlaimah of Devorah bat Chana, and Yitzhak Akiva ben Malka, and the safety of our brothers and sisters in Israel and around the world.
 
Our parasha begins with the construction of the Mishkan (the portable Desert Sanctuary): “Moses called the whole community of the children of Israel to assemble, and he said to them: ‘These are the things that the L-rd commanded to make.’” (This, and all Bible and Rashi translations, The Judaica Press Complete Tanach) Following this verse, one would expect the Torah to list the details inherent in the construction of the Mishkan. This is the case, for example, in the beginning of Parashat Terumah:

The L-rd spoke to Moses saying: Speak to the children of Israel, and have them take for Me an offering; from every person whose heart inspires him to generosity, you shall take My offering. And this is the offering that you shall take from them: gold, silver, and copper; blue, purple, and crimson wool; linen and goat hair; ram skins dyed red, tachash skins, and acacia wood; oil for lighting, spices for the anointing oil and for the incense; shoham stones and filling stones for the ephod and for the choshen. And they shall make Me a sanctuary and I will dwell in their midst according to all that I show you, the pattern of the Mishkan and the pattern of all its vessels; and so shall you do. (Sefer Shemot 25:1-9)
 
Our parasha, however, deviates from the above approach. Instead of presenting the constitutive elements of the Mishkan and how it is to be designed and assembled, the Torah discusses the sanctity of Shabbat and the specific proscription of igniting a fire on this most holy of all days:

Six days work may be done, but on the seventh day you shall have sanctity, a day of complete rest to the L-rd; whoever performs work thereon [on this day] shall be put to death. You shall not kindle fire in any of your dwelling places on the Sabbath day. (Sefer Shemot 35:2-3)
 
Rashi (1040-1105), basing himself upon the Mechilta, the halachic Midrash to Sefer Shemot, explains why these seemingly incongruous pasukim (verses) were included at this juncture: “Six days: He [Moses] prefaced [the discussion of the details of] the work of the Mishkan with the warning to keep the Sabbath, denoting that it [i.e., the work of the Mishkan] does not supersede the Sabbath.” The Torah, therefore, is teachinng us the ultimate holiness of Shabbat. Even the construction of Hashem’s dwelling place on earth must cease at the onset of this most consecrated day.
 
Everyone encounters Shabbat and its kedushah (holiness) in a different way. Each of us has a favorite time. For some, it is the Friday evening meal that is preceded by Lecha Dodi in Shul, and ushered in with the singing of Shalom Aleichem and Aishet Chail. For others, it is the morning Tefilah (Prayer) service in the synagogue, replete with the Torah reading and followed by the second meal. Personally, I am most profoundly affected by the final meal of the day, Seudah Shlishit. Many of our Sages have noted that this is the last bastion of kedushah that separates us from our weekday activities and their uncertainties. Speaking very personally, it is the time when I most strongly feel the neshamah yitarah (the extra soul) that the holiness of Shabbat bestows upon each of us. As such, the singing of Mizmor l’Dovid (A Song of David) and Yedid Nefesh (Beloved of My Soul), in conjunction with divrei Torah (words of Torah), often transports me to the highest heights that I am able to achieve during my subjective Shabbat experience. In some very powerful ways, these are transformative and majestic moments that help me reconnect to Hakadosh Baruch Hu.
 
Many have suggested that the singing of Mizmor l’Dovid during Seudah Shlishit captures the essence of the ideal Jewish religious experience. The psalm speaks of peace, serenity, and inner calm:

A song of David. The L-rd is my shepherd; I shall not want. He causes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Even when I walk in the valley of darkness, I will fear no evil for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff-they comfort me. You set a table before me in the presence of my adversaries; You anointed my head with oil; my cup overflows. May only goodness and kindness pursue me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the L-rd for length of days. (Sefer Tehillim 23)
 
My rebbi and mentor, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik zatzal (1903-1993), known as “the Rav” by his students and followers, in his seminal essay entitled Ish HaHalacha (Halakhic Man, 1944), depicted the following relationship that obtains between Seudah Shlishit and Psalm 23:

…it is true that during the third Sabbath meal at dusk, as the day of rest declines and man’s soul yearns for its Creator and is afraid to depart from the realm of holiness whose name is Sabbath, into the dark and frightening, secular workaday week, we sing the psalm “The L-rd is my shepherd; I shall not want, He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside the still waters (Ps. 23), etc. etc., and we believe with our entire hearts in the word of the psalmist. (Halakhic Man, translation, Lawrence Kaplan, footnote 4, page 142)
 
In the Rav’s analysis, however, “…this psalm only describes the ultimate destination of homo religiosus (religious man), not the path leading to that destination.” For Rabbi Soloveitchik, Judaism “…is not, at the outset, a refuge of grace and mercy for the despondent and desperate, an enchanted stream for crushed spirits, but a raging, clamorous torrent of man’s consciousness with all its crises, pangs and torments.” He explicitly urges us to understand that the path leading to peace and serenity “… is not the royal road, but a narrow, twisting footway that threads its course along the steep mountain slope, as the terrible abyss yawns at the traveler’s feet.” Judaism, when approached with spiritual and intellectual honesty, helps one navigate: “…the straits of inner oppositions, and incongruities, spiritual doubts and uncertainties” of life. The individual: “ … cries out of the depths of a psyche rent with antinomies and contradictions, out of the bottomless pit of a soul that struggles with its own torments…” Life, for the thinking religious Jew, is, therefore a trial-filled journey replete with the innumerable challenges of a searching soul. Little wonder then, that we long for the inner peace portrayed by the psalmist, a peace that is most closely approximated on the holy Shabbat, when we are free to focus upon our spiritual growth and yearning for closeness to Hashem.
 
May we be zocheh (merit) to experience the holiness and life-transforming potential of Shabbat, and thereby move closer to the ultimate harmony we long to achieve. V’chane yihi ratzon.
 
Shabbat Shalom
Past drashot may be found at my blog-website: http://reparashathashavuah.org
They may also be found on YUTorah.org using the search criteria of Etengoff and the parasha’s name.

The email list, b’chasdei Hashem, has expanded to hundreds of people. I am always happy to add more members to the list. If you have family or friends you would like to have added, please do not hesitate to contact me via email [email protected].

*** My audio shiurim for Women on “Tefilah: Haskafah and Analysis,” may be found at: http://tinyurl.com/8hsdpyd

*** I have posted 164 of Rabbi Soloveitchik’s English language audio shiurim (MP3 format) spanning the years 1958-1984. Please click on the highlighted link.

 
Rabbi David Etengoff
 
 
Dedicated to the sacred memories of my mother, Miriam Tovah bat Aharon Hakohen, father-in-law, Levi ben Yitzhak, sister-in-law, Ruchama Rivka Sondra bat Yechiel, sister, Shulamit bat Menachem, Chaim Mordechai Hakohen ben Natan Yitzchak, Yehonatan Binyamin ben Mordechai Meir Halevi, Avraham Yechezkel ben Yaakov Halevy, HaRav Yosef Shemuel ben HaRav Reuven Aharon, David ben Elazar Yehoshua, the refuah shlaimah of Devorah bat Chana, and Yitzhak Akiva ben Malka, and the safety of our brothers and sisters in Israel and around the world.
 
There is a famous machloket (argument) between Rashi (1040-1105) and the Ramban (1194-1270) as to whether the Mishkan (Portable Sanctuary) was created before or after the horrific incident found in our parasha of the Chet Haegel Hazahav (the Sin of the Golden Calf). Rashi strongly supported the exegetical principle, ain mukdam umeuchar b’Torah (there is no chronology in the Torah). As such, he maintained that the order of the parshiot in the Torah does not reflect their chronology. Therefore, he suggested that the mitzvah of building the Portable Sanctuary (Sefer Shemot 25:8) came after, and as a direct response to, the Sin of the Golden Calf – even though this commandment appears in an earlier parasha. According to this interpretation, the Mishkan’s purpose was to serve as a place of renewed spiritual encounter between G-d and man, and thereby rebuild the relationship that had been almost irrevocably destroyed. In stark contrast, the Ramban maintained yaish mukdam umeuchar b’Torah (there is chronology per se in the Torah). Therefore, according to his position, the commandment to build the Mishkan had nothing whatsoever to do with the Egel Hazahav (Golden Calf). This is the case, since in his view, the order of the parshiot does represent their chronological order. Thus, the commandment to construct the Mishkan was like tefillin or lulav – a beautiful way to serve Hashem, rather than a Divine response to the Sin of the Golden Calf.
 
According to Midrash Tanchuma 19, the Egel Hazahav was a miraculous creation that came into being via the black arts of Egypt, i.e. via sorcery. Rashi quoted this notion in his commentary on Sefer Shemot 32:4:
a molten calf: As soon as they [the Jewish people] had cast it [i.e. the gold] into the fire of the crucible, the sorcerers of the mixed multitude who had gone up with them from Egypt came and made it [the Golden Calf] with sorcery. (This and all Rashi and Bible translations, The Judaica Press Complete Tanach, underlining and brackets my own)
 
 
The origin of the Golden Calf was the polar opposite of that of the Menorah placed in the Mishkan. Both Rashi and the Ramban suggest that G-d, rather than man, was the creator of the Menorah. In Sefer Shemot 25:31 we read: “…The Menorah shall be made of hammered work; its base and its stem, its goblets, its knobs, and its flowers shall [all] be [one piece] with it.” The Hebrew word employed for “shall be made” is “taiasah,” a passive form of the verb, instead of an active form such as “and you shall make” (“v’asita”), as we find in the very beginning of our pasuk. Rashi formulated the significance of this grammatical change in the following manner:

the Menorah shall be made: By itself. Since Moses found difficulty with it [i.e., figuring out how to form the Menorah], the Holy One, blessed is He, said to him, “Cast the talent [equivalent to sixty-four pounds of gold] into the fire, and it will be made by itself.” Therefore, it is not written: taaseh but taiasah. -[Midrash Tanchuma, Behaalotecha III] (Underlining my own)
 
The Ramban closely followed Rashi’s explanation. Therefore, in his glosses on Sefer Bamidbar Parashat Behaalotecha, which discuss the daily lighting of the Menorah, he explained our phrase, “the Menorah shall be made,” as referring directly to Hashem: “[The Menorah] was created via the Holy One blessed be He – by itself.” Thus, according to the Midrash, the creator of the Menorah was none other than the Creator Himself! Beyond a doubt, this is a truly amazing and profound statement.
 
We are now in a position to compare and contrast the creation of the Golden Calf with that of the Menorah. First the similarities:

1. They were both produced from gold.
2. They were both formed as a result of gold being placed into a fire.
3. Both objects were miraculous in that their very creation defied the laws of Nature.

Now the differences:

1. The Golden Calf was created through sorcery and consummate evil. As noted in cognate sources, its builders actively sought to return the Jewish people to hedonism and idol worship.
2. In contrast, the Menorah was fashioned in total purity and holiness by the Almighty as a remarkable act of chane, v’chesed, v’rachamim (favor, kindness, and mercy) – for the entire Jewish people.

 
I believe a fascinating and novel idea emerges if we adopt Rashi’s position that the mitzvah of the Mishkan was a response to the Chet Haegel, and view it in light of our analysis regarding the creation of the Golden Calf and the Menorah. As we have seen, the Egel Hazahav was the epitome of idol worship and, therefore, the antithesis of everything good and holy that Hashem desires in this world. Moreover, it was created with sorcery – the ultimate tool, so to speak, of the Yatzer Harah (Evil Inclination). In short, the Golden Calf represented the nadir of our relationship with G-d, whereas the Menorah - one of the constitutive elements of the Mishkan – represented the strengthening of our relationship with the Holy One Blessed be He. Its function was to shed light throughout the Portable Sanctuary, enabling the Kohanim to operate with a newfound vision of hope and purpose. I believe this is precisely why Hashem, rather than man, was its creator. Moreover, in my view, the Menorah was the ultimate counterbalance to the Golden Calf. How so? Just as the Torah’s purpose is to bring spiritual light and meaning to the world, the Menorah brought physical and spiritual light to the Jewish people and, by extension, all mankind. As Shlomo Hamelech (King Solomon) taught us so long ago: “Ki ner mitzvah v’Torah or” (“For a commandment is a candle, and the Torah is light,” Sefer Mishle 6:23). Since Hashem created and gifted the Menorah to us, we may authentically view it as the ultimate symbol of reconciliation and rapprochement between Him and our people. At long last, we achieved complete kapporah (atonement) for the excesses of the Chet Haegel. Once again, our relationship became shalame (complete) and indivisible.
 
With G-d’s help, may we witness the rebuilding of the Beit Hamikdash (Holy Temple) and once again be zocheh (merit) to witness the Menorah in all its glory, and feel Divine light shine upon us forevermore. V’chane yihi ratzon.
 
Shabbat Shalom
Past drashot may be found at my blog-website: http://reparashathashavuah.org
They may also be found on YUTorah.org using the search criteria of Etengoff and the parasha’s name.

The email list, b’chasdei Hashem, has expanded to hundreds of people. I am always happy to add more members to the list. If you have family or friends you would like to have added, please do not hesitate to contact me via email mailto:[email protected].

*** My audio shiurim for Women on “Tefilah: Haskafah and Analysis,” may be found at: http://tinyurl.com/8hsdpyd

*** I have posted 164 of Rabbi Soloveitchik’s English language audio shiurim (MP3 format) spanning the years 1958-1984. Please click on the highlighted link.

 
Rabbi David Etengoff
 
Dedicated to the sacred memories of my mother, Miriam Tovah bat Aharon Hakohen, father-in-law, Levi ben Yitzhak, sister-in-law, Ruchama Rivka Sondra bat Yechiel, sister, Shulamit bat Menachem, Chaim Mordechai Hakohen ben Natan Yitzchak, Yehonatan Binyamin ben Mordechai Meir Halevi, Avraham Yechezkel ben Yaakov Halevy, HaRav Yosef Shemuel ben HaRav Reuven Aharon, David ben Elazar Yehoshua, the refuah shlaimah of Devorah bat Chana, and Yitzhak Akiva ben Malka, and the safety of our brothers and sisters in Israel and around the world.
 
The second Beit Hamikdash (Holy Temple) was destroyed over 1900 years ago. Thereafter, with prophetic insight, Chazal (Our Sages of blessed memory) established the blessing of Boneh Yerushalayim  (Rebuild Jerusalem) in the Shemoneh Esrei (the Silent Prayer). This enactment had a very direct purpose, namely, to maintain strong and everlasting feelings in our hearts for the rebuilding of the Holy Temple. This theme is repeated, as well, in the Birkat Hamazon (Grace after Meals) with the selfsame goal in mind. In sum, we must never forget the past glory of the Beit Hamikdash in order that we may long for its imminent rebuilding.
 
Beyond question, Chazal did their best to keep the anticipation of a soon-to-be rebuilt Beit Hamikdash alive in the hearts and minds of our people. Yet, even with these daily reminders, many Jews feel distant from the parshiot in the Torah that deal with the construction of the Mishkan (the Portable Desert Sanctuary), the specifics of the Bigdei Kahunah (special garments of the Kohanim), and the extensive details of the Korbanot (offerings in the Holy Temple). For many, these topics remain closed books that at one and the same time appear to be distant from their lives and beyond understanding. Indeed, as early as the 12th century, the Rambam (1135-1204) decried the widespread lack of attention to the study of the Korbanot, and hence, ignorance of this subject matter, in his time:

The subject of the Korbanot, because of our ever-growing number of sins, has already been abandoned. No one even bothers to study their laws except for a very small minority of people. Moreover, their subject matter is virtually ignored as a topic of study (v’ain inyanav nizkarim techufot lifnei ha’adam) – which would have allowed them to be remembered – even though one has already seen them. In addition, no one reviews them since there is no practical reason to do so. Moreover, no one bothers to ask questions regarding any aspect of this subject. As a result, the Torah scholar and the ignoramus are equal in their ignorance of these laws. Then, too, the majority of Torah students know nothing about the Korbanot – even in regards to that which is explicitly stated in the many verses of the Torah. (Introduction to Tractate Zevachim, translation my own).
 
In the early part of the last century, the great Torah sage, Rav Yisrael Meir Hakohen, known as the “Chafetz Chaim,” (1838-1933) echoed the Rambam’s words in the introduction to his work, Torah Ohr:

We see, as a result of our many sins, that the study of this entire Order of the Mishnah [i.e. Kodashim] is completely ignored. It is nearly impossible to find anyone who studies it. Even someone who studies it does not view it with any depth (except for one in a thousand from the most select of the generation). Moreover, even someone who studies the entire Talmud on a page-by-page basis does not apply himself to the depths of his cognitive abilities to know the subject matter and halachic decisions with true clarity. Instead, such an individual is satisfied with a passing knowledge of this material, as if he were merely reading Parashat Hakorbanot. (Translation my own)
 
It is clear from the writings of these Torah giants that these laws need to become a focus of study, and returned to their former glory – not by the few, but by all of Klal Yisrael (the Jewish People).
 
With the above thoughts in mind, I would like to analyze the Urim and Thumim that were placed in the Choshen Hamishpat (Decision Breastplate). Our parasha devotes no less than 15 pasukim (verses) to an intricate and extensive description of the Choshen Hamishpat (Sefer Shemot 28:15-29). At the conclusion of this passage, the Torah commands the Kohen Gadol to wear this garment as a permanent remembrance before G-d: “Aaron will thus carry the names of Israel's sons on the Decision Breastplate over his heart when he comes into the sanctuary. It shall be a constant remembrance before
G-d.” (Sefer Shemot 28:29, this and all Torah translations, Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, The Living Torah) The Urim and Thumim are placed into the Chosen Hamishpat to render judgment: “Place the Urim and Thumim in the Decision Breastplate, and they shall be over Aaron's heart when he comes before G-d. Aaron will then carry the decision-making device for the Israelites before G-d at all times.” (Ibid., 28:30)
 
While there are a variety of opinions as to how to understand what the Urim and Thumim were, two parallel Talmudic passages clarify their purpose:

It was taught in a baraita: “Why were they named Urim and Thumim?” “Urim,” [from the Hebrew ohr, light] because they enlightened the Jewish people. “Thumim,” because they helped perfect the path before the Jewish people. This means that when the Jewish people were perfect and complete (temimin) they would show the Jewish people the [correct] path [upon which to tread]. (Talmud Yerushalmi, Yoma 7:3, translation my own)
 
It was taught in a baraita: “Why were they named Urim and Thumim?” “Urim,” since they enlightened their words, “Thumim,” since they completed [i.e. perfected] their words. (Talmud Bavli, Yoma 73b, translation my own)
 
Rabbi Baruch Halevi Epstein (1860-1941), in his trail-blazing Torah commentary, Torah Temimah, explained these Talmudic portions by noting that a reciprocal relationship obtained between G-d and the Jewish people pertaining to the accuracy of the information revealed by the Urim and Thumim. When we acted with wholeheartedness in our relationship with G-d, the answers we would receive were absolutely true. When we failed to do so, however, the responses we received from the Urim and Thumim were incomplete. As such, the Urim and Thumim effectively shaped our behavior:

This means that [the Urim and Thumim] taught the Jewish people to be pure in their behaviors and ethical characteristics. Absent this quality, the answer that we would receive from the Urim and Thumim would lack clarity and precision.
 
Unfortunately, we live at a time in Jewish history that is devoid of the Beit Hamikdash, Korbanot, Bigdei Kahunah, and all the glory that they entailed. Nonetheless, I believe that the Urim and Thumim can still serve as our guide, albeit, in their absence. In my estimation, they continue to teach us a vital message for our time, namely, the obligation to undertake and perform all mitzvot and ma’asim tovim (laudatory acts) truly l’shame shamayim – with wholehearted intent to serve G-d and bring honor to His name. As Antignos taught us in Pirkei Avot (Ethics of our Fathers) so long ago:

Antignos the man from Socho … was known for saying: “Do not be like the servants who minister to their master on the condition that they will receive a reward. Instead, be like those servants who serve their master without the expectation of receiving a reward. And may the awe of Heaven be upon you.” (1:3, translation my own)
 
May Hashem give us the wisdom and spiritual strength to live righteous lives dedicated to honoring and sanctifying His name through our words and deeds. Moreover, may our generation witness the coming of the Mashiach (Messiah) and the rebuilding of the Beit Hamikdash soon and in our days. V’chane yihi ratzon.
 
Shabbat Shalom
Past drashot may be found at my blog-website: http://reparashathashavuah.org
They may also be found on YUTorah.org using the search criteria of Etengoff and the parasha’s name.

The email list, b’chasdei Hashem, has expanded to hundreds of people. I am always happy to add more members to the list. If you have family or friends you would like to have added, please do not hesitate to contact me via email [email protected].

*** My audio shiurim for Women on “Tefilah: Haskafah and Analysis,” may be found at: http://tinyurl.com/8hsdpyd

*** I have posted 164 of Rabbi Soloveitchik’s English language audio shiurim (MP3 format) spanning the years 1958-1984. Please click on the highlighted link.
 

 
Rabbi David Etengoff
 
Dedicated to the sacred memories of my mother, Miriam Tovah bat Aharon Hakohen, father-in-law, Levi ben Yitzhak, sister-in-law, Ruchama Rivka Sondra bat Yechiel, sister, Shulamit bat Menachem, Chaim Mordechai Hakohen ben Natan Yitzchak, Yehonatan Binyamin ben Mordechai Meir Halevi, Avraham Yechezkel ben Yaakov Halevy, HaRav Yosef Shemuel ben HaRav Reuven Aharon, David ben Elazar Yehoshua, the refuah shlaimah of Devorah bat Chana, and Yitzhak Akiva ben Malka, and the safety of our brothers and sisters in Israel and around the world.
 
Our parasha contains the mitzvah to build the Aron Kodesh (Holy Ark):

They [i.e. the Jewish people] shall make an ark of acacia wood, two and a half cubits its length, a cubit and a half its width, and a cubit and a half its height. (Sefer Shemot 25:10, this and all Bible and Rashi translations, The Judaica Press Complete Tanach, underlining and brackets my own)
 
The Hebrew original of the words in this commandment, “they shall make an ark of acacia wood,” (“v’asu aron atzai shittim) is stated in the plural. Subsequently, however, each of the pasukim (verses) pertaining to the Holy Ark’s construction are written in the singular (25:11-17). This leads one to ask, “Why is the overall mitzvah  of constructing the Aron Kodesh written in the plural construct, whereas all of the details pertaining thereto are composed in the singular?” The Ramban (Nachmanides, 1194-1270) quoted the Mechilta, the halachic Midrash to Sefer Shemot, in his answer to our question, “[The details of the Holy Ark's construction are written in the singular,] since Moshe [as an individual] had the status of the entire Jewish people.” (This and the following translations, brackets and underlining my own)
 
The Ramban continued his response with a fascinating insight based upon Midrash Shemot Rabbah 34:2:

And it is possible that the text deployed the singular grammatical construct in order to suggest that the entire people were joined together, as if one, in the building of the Aron Kodesh, since it was “the holy place of the dwellings of the Most High,” (Sefer Tehillim 46:5) and everyone strongly desired to have [a portion in] the Torah [which was represented by their involvement in the Aron Kodesh's construction.]
 
The statement, “the entire people were joined together, as if one,” is highly reminiscent of the famous pasuk (verse) that preceded Kabbalat ha-Torah (the Receiving of the Torah): “They journeyed from Rephidim, and they arrived in the desert of Sinai, and they encamped in the desert, and Israel encamped there opposite the mountain [Mt. Sinai].” Rashi (1040-1105) noted that the expression, “and Israel encamped,” is found in the singular construct rather than the plural, which we would have expected. He offered the following Midrash Mechilta-based explanation: “Heb. וַיִחַן, [the singular form, denoting that they encamped there] as one man with one heart [for the purpose of receiving the Torah.]” In light of this interpretation, it appears that the universal participation of our forebears in the construction of the Aron Kodesh was nothing less than a reenactment of Kabbalat ha-Torah, and a rededication to the Torah and its Mitzvot. This, I believe, was clearly demonstrated by their singular and united dedication to providing the Torah and the Luchot ha-Brit (Tablets of the Covenant) with their divinely prescribed holy vessel, the Aron Kodesh.
 
The Ramban also noted that personal choice was the driving force behind our nascent nation’s involvement in the construction of the Holy Ark:

One manner of participation in this process may have been the individual's donation of a golden vessel for the Aron Kodesh. Alternately, someone may have chosen to directly help Betzalel in his task [of designing and fabricating the Holy Ark]. Then, too, someone may have had special intention [to connect himself/herself to the process of creating the Aron Kodesh – even though they did not actually do anything financially or physically.]
 
This volitional and individual mode of participation in building the Aron Kodesh parallels the highly personal nature of the tefillah (prayer) that took place within the Mishkan, and later on in the Beit Hamikdash. My rebbe and mentor, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik zatzal (1903-1993) beautifully explicated this point in one of his public drashot:

The Beit ha-Mikdash as a locus for prayer is one of Judaism's central themes. Even though the Talmud tells us that tefillah corresponds to korbanot (offerings), there is a fundamental distinction between the two. Korbanot may be offered through a proxy, while tefillah may not. The difference lies in the fact that the efficacy of a sacrifice is a function of compliance with its halachic norms. If Halachah is followed, G-d will accept the sacrifice. On the other hand, tefillah must include a personal experience of closeness to G-d. This experience cannot be fulfilled by proxy. Since Judaism defines tefillah as standing in the presence of the king, prayer presupposes closeness to G-d. (Darosh Darash Yosef: Discourses of Rav Yosef Dov Halevi Soloveitchik on the Weekly Parashah, Rabbi Avishai C. David, editor, page 175, underlining my own)
 
With Hashem's help and our fervent desire, may each of us be zocheh (merit) to stand before Him in heartfelt prayer in His soon to be rebuilt Beit Hamikdash. V'chane yihi ratzon.
 
Shabbat Shalom,
 
Past drashot may be found at my blog-website: http://reparashathashavuah.org
They may also be found on YUTorah.org using the search criteria of Etengoff and the parasha’s name.

The email list, b’chasdei Hashem, has expanded to hundreds of people. I am always happy to add more members to the list. If you have family or friends you would like to have added, please do not hesitate to contact me via email [email protected].

*** My audio shiurim for Women on “Tefilah: Haskafah and Analysis,” may be found at: http://tinyurl.com/8hsdpyd

*** I have posted 164 of Rabbi Soloveitchik’s English language audio shiurim (MP3 format) spanning the years 1958-1984. Please click on the highlighted link.