One fascinating passage in Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Exodus, sheds light on this through a rather striking image.

The passage opens with the phrase, "The Tabernacle of Testimony." Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai uses this as a springboard to discuss a dark moment in Jewish history: Hadrian's desecration of the Kodesh Hakodashim, the Holy of Holies. According to Rabbi Shimon, Hadrian, in his arrogance, blasphemed God within that sacred space.

Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba then connects this event to a plea from King David. David, wrestling with the seeming impunity of the wicked, cries out to God. "Master of the Universe," he says, "may it be considered before You in this way: Had they been able to chop down cedars and fashion ladders, they would have ascended on High." In other words, David asks God to see Hadrian's actions as if he and his men were literally trying to wage war against God Himself.

Where does David get this imagery? As it is written in Psalms 74:5, "Let it be known as bringing axes upward in a thicket of trees." It's a powerful picture of direct assault.

But, David continues, they can't reach You, so they turn on us. "They devised a plot, but they are unable," as Psalm 21:12 tells us. "They come upon us," as Psalm 79:1-2 laments: "God, nations have entered Your inheritance, they have defiled Your holy Temple.… They have given the corpses of Your servants as food to birds of the heavens, the flesh of Your devoted ones to beasts of the field."

Why does this happen? Why does God seemingly allow His people to suffer? Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba offers a chilling explanation: "It is because it was taken as collateral on our account." This ties directly back to the phrase, "These are the reckonings of the Tabernacle, the Tabernacle of the Testimony."

Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba then shares a parable to illustrate this point. Imagine someone who is an enemy of the king, desperately wanting to overthrow him but lacking the power. What does he do? He doesn't attack the king directly. Instead, he attacks the king's statue. But even that is too dangerous, so he chips away at the wall supporting the statue, reasoning that if he undermines the foundation, the statue will fall.

According to Shemot Rabbah, idolaters are like that enemy. They want to attack the Holy One, blessed be He, but they can't. So, they attack Israel. The passage then quotes Psalm 2:2: "The kings of the earth have assembled, and rulers are gathered together against the Lord and against His anointed one." But, they are unable to directly attack the Lord. So, what do they do? They attack Israel. "Let us snap off their chains and throw off their bonds," they say, meaning, let us uproot Israel from the world.

When will this happen? "When they have nothing to give as collateral [lemashken]." If Israel had nothing to offer as collateral, they would be uprooted from the world. But the Tabernacle, the Mishkan, serves as collateral for them. That is, "These are the reckonings of the Tabernacle [hamishkan]." But, Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba urges us, don’t read it that way. Read it instead as “the collateral” [hamashkon]. The Tabernacle itself becomes a kind of guarantee, a pledge offered to protect the people.

So, what does this all mean? It suggests that suffering, even on a national scale, can be seen as a kind of cosmic transaction. Israel, in its relationship with God, offers something – perhaps their devotion, their observance, or even their very existence – as collateral. When they falter, when they stray from the path, that collateral is, in a sense, "called in."

It's a sobering thought. It implies a profound responsibility, a constant awareness of the covenant between God and the Jewish people. But it also offers a glimmer of hope. Even in the darkest of times, the Mishkan, the Tabernacle, represents a promise, a guarantee that Israel will endure. This interpretation from Shemot Rabbah reminds us that our actions have consequences, that our relationship with the Divine is a dynamic and ever-evolving one, and that even in suffering, there is a purpose, a reason, and ultimately, a path towards redemption.