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The collection of materials for the Tabernacle in (Exodus 35:1-35) is, in the Hebrew Bible, a straightforward account of voluntary giving. The Targum Jonathan inserts miracles that...
It wasn't just about hammering tent pegs and hanging curtains. There was a whole ritual, a consecration, full of wonder and divine intervention. One of the most fascinating aspects...
Parashat Pekudei opens with an accounting of the Tabernacle's materials (Exodus 38:21), but the Kedushat Levi (Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev) sees something far deeper than a l...
For forty long years, as they wandered, they had a constant companion: a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night. The Torah tells us, in (Exodus 13:21), "And Yahweh w...
We read in the book of Numbers that "all those counted were six hundred three thousand, five hundred and fifty" (Numbers 1:46). But numbers in the Torah are never just numbers, are...
It’s a story rich with symbolism, divine presence, and, believe it or not, even a little tension about who gets to offer what. , shall we? According to Bamidbar Rabbah 13, it all b...
Our story comes from Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Exodus. It centers on a seemingly simple verse: “The Tabernacle of the Testimony, as the...
These are the accounts of the tabernacle (Exod. 38:21). Scripture states elsewhere: Thou hast also delivered Me from the contentions of My people (II Sam. 22:44), and it is written...
Jewish tradition teaches us that this feeling might be more than just a lucky coincidence. It might be the very presence of the Divine. Shemot Rabbah, a classic compilation of rabb...
The instructions for building the Tabernacle in (Exodus 25) read like an architectural blueprint in the Hebrew Bible. The Targum Jonathan adds theological meaning to nearly every m...
The Targum Jonathan on (Deuteronomy 12) is obsessed with a single idea: the place where God's Shekinah (שכינה), His divine presence, will choose to dwell. The Hebrew text says "the...
According to Legends of the Jews, drawing from various Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)ic sources, the Israelites were so generous in their donations for the Tabernacle t...
And it plays out in a beautiful way in the story of Moses. According to Ginzberg’s retelling in Legends of the Jews, Moses, ever humble, believed his work was done once the Mishkan...
Jewish tradition recognizes this feeling, and even offers a powerful response: the idea of spreading a tabernacle of peace. Where does this idea come from? It appears in a seemingl...
We pray to God. But…does God pray? And if so, to whom? The mystics have wrestled with these questions for centuries, and the answer, perhaps unsurprisingly, is layered and fascinat...
But there’s so much more to it than just a spiritual "reset" button. on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, tradition tells us that God sits in judgment of everyone. Then, on Yom K...
We get glimpses, whispers, from our tradition. And some of them are Take this one, about the skin of the Leviathan... So, picture this: the World to Come, Olam Ha-Ba (the World to ...
It’s not random. There's a beautiful and intricate choreography to our relationship with the Divine. Take, for example, the dedication of the Mishkan, the Tabernacle. The Book of N...
We often think of prayer as a one-way street, us reaching out to the Divine. But what if the Divine is also reaching out, also… praying? The Yalkut Shimoni, a compilation of Midras...
It wasn't just a one-day event. According to Sifrei Bamidbar, the book of Numbers, the seven days leading up to the dedication were a whirlwind of activity. Imagine this: Every sin...
The text starts with a seemingly simple phrase, “Et hamishkan” – "the Tabernacle.” But according to this Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), it's so much more than it seems...
It wasn't just a matter of unfolding some tents and calling it a day. The Torah tells us, in (Exodus 40:17), that it was "in the first month during the second year, on the first of...
The Book of Numbers, Bamidbar in Hebrew, is full of details about the Israelites' journey through the wilderness. And in chapter 7, we find a fascinating account of the dedication ...
It’s not always just for emphasis. Sometimes, there’s a deeper, almost heartbreaking reason. Take the word mishkan, "Tabernacle," in the Book of Exodus. We find it stated twice in ...
These are the accounts of the tabernacle (Exod. 38:21). Scripture states elsewhere: Lord, I love the habitation of Thy house, and the place where Thy glory dwelleth (Ps. 26:8). Thi...
A new vessel filled with old wine. Another explanation of The Tabernacle of the testimony (Exod. 38:21). R. Simeon the son of Yohai said: There is no testimony other than the Torah...
These are the accounts of the Tabernacle (Exod. 38:21). Scripture states elsewhere: A faithful man shall abound with blessings; but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be unp...
These are the accounts of the tabernacle, even the tabernacle of the testimony (Exod. 38:21). The Tabernacle bears testimony to the entire world that He forgave them for the episod...
These are the accounts of the tabernacle … and the bronze of the offering (Exod. 38:21, 29). The bronze of the offering (tenufah) refers to the bronze vessels given to a bride, for...
And they brought the tabernacle unto Moses (Exod. 39:32). May it please our masters to teach us: What things were instituted for the sake of peace? Thus do our masters teach us: Th...
And they brought the tabernacle unto Moses (Exod. 39:32). It is written elsewhere in reference to the verse: He withdraweth not His eyes from the righteous; but with kings upon the...
We all know about the Exodus, the parting of the Red Sea, and even receiving the Ten Commandments. But what about the nitty-gritty details of setting up their new life, their new r...
That feeling, that heavy weight of responsibility, might give you just a glimpse of what Aaron, the High Priest, must have felt on that momentous day of the Tabernacle's consecrati...
(Ibid. 21) "And the L–rd went before them by day with a pillar of cloud": We find there to have been seven clouds: here, (Numbers 14:14) twice, (Ibid. 9:19), (Exodus 40:36), (Ibid....
The Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Psalms, wrestles with this very idea in Psalm 42. It speaks of God "passing through the camp with an a...
The passage in Bamidbar Rabbah 12 kicks off with a seemingly simple word: "Vayhi" – usually translated as "it was." But in the world of Jewish interpretation, nothing is ever just ...
And the answer, again and again, comes back to this: God is everywhere. It's right there in the scriptures. As it says, "His presence fills all the earth" (Isaiah 6:3). We're not t...
One powerful answer lies in the concept of the Shekhinah (שְׁכִינָה). The Shekhinah, often described as the divine feminine presence, the immanent glory of God, has a fascinating a...
R. Akiva says: "succoth" refers to the clouds of glory, as in (Isaiah 4:5) "And the L–rd will create on the entire base of Mount Zion and on all of its branchings a cloud by day an...
We often picture them trudging through sand, but the Torah tells us there was something else accompanying them: a cloud. Actually, maybe more than one cloud. The verse in Bamidbar ...
The Hebrew Bible mentions a cloud over the Tabernacle. The Targum Jonathan turns it into a sentient navigation system—a pillar of divine fire and glory that dictated every movement...
The Torah says do not fear superior armies. Targum Jonathan says something far more radical—all the enemy's horses and chariots "are accounted as a single horse and a single chario...
These are the accounts of the tabernacle (Exod. 38:21). It is written elsewhere in allusion to this verse: Thou throne of glory, on high from the beginning, thou place of our Sanct...
For example, Bezalel, who built the ark, was extolled before the Holy One, blessed be He, and the angels. He was praised in the upper regions and in the terrestrial regions, as it ...
The tabernacle of the testimony (Exod. 38:21). This refers the Torah in which they labored. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: Because of the Torah and the sacrifices, I will rescu...
You're in good company. Even Moses, the great lawgiver, felt that way. : God Himself tells Moses, "Go, deliver Israel!" And what's Moses's response? "Who am I?" He essentially says...
It's more than just a pretty tent, you know. It's a story of atonement, of divine presence, and of a relationship between God and the Jewish people that’s been unfolding for millen...
A experience. God unveils before him the very blueprints for the Mishkan, the Tabernacle – that portable sanctuary that would house the Divine Presence during the Israelites' wande...
