I will sanctify the Ohel Moed and the mizbe’ach…I will dwell among the Bnei Yisrael…that they shall know that I am Hashem their G-d Who took them out of the land of Egypt to dwell among them.[2]
There is a good deal to unpack here. First, these pesukim seem to be completely unnecessary. The verses immediately preceding these already stated that the Ohel Moed would be “sanctified with My Glory,” meaning His Presence. Why repeat the same bottom-line teaching – and in far many more words, at that? Second, having stated that it was the Ohel Moed that was sanctified with the Shechinah, how can the Torah do an about-face and say that He would dwell not in it, but among them? Finally, the pesukim lead up to what seems like the goal of the process: knowing about the Exodus from Egypt. What connection does yetzias Mitzrayim have with any of this?
An explanation emerges from one of the most fundamental principles about the mishkan: there is an eternal mishkan within the hearts of Klal Yisrael. Our pesukim here in effect speak of two kinds of mishkan. One is the Tabernacle of the Wilderness. In this mishkan, Hashem relates that He has sanctified it with His Glory/Presence – particularly, in the Ohel Moed. But the Torah goes on to speak of a second mishkan – one that continues even when the mishkan has been dismantled or the beis hamikdosh destroyed. This more important kind of mishkan allows for those who merit it to experience the Presence of Hashem within them – each person according to his spiritual level.
Yetzias Mitzrayim fits neatly into this paradigm. Hashem’s election of the Jewish people in Egypt lifted them from the 49th level of tum’ah, and propelled them to the 49th level of taharah. By this, they not only positioned themselves to receive the Torah at Sinai after seven weeks, but enabled themselves for all time to host the Shechinah in their hearts. Yetzias Mitzrayim thus promoted the very purpose of Creation, as described by R. Chaim Vital: “It arose in Hashem’s Will to create a world in which He would confer good upon His creatures. Through this good, they would perceive His greatness, and merit becoming a vehicle bearing testimony to Him.”
The prophet Yechezkel speaks of this.[3] “My mishkan/dwelling place will be among them; I will be a G-d to them, and they will be a people to Me.” He guarantees that His dwelling place will continue to be within us. In this way, He will be our G-d, and we will always be His nation. Yechezkel goes on to say that the nations will know that Hashem sanctifies Yisrael, i.e. it is the people whose sanctification is crucial, not the physical mishkan. “Then the nations will know that I am Hashem Who sanctifies Israel, when My mikdash will be among them forever.”[4]
- Adapted from Be’er Moshe, by the Ozherover Rebbe zt”l ↑
- Shemos 29:44-46 ↑
- Yechezkel 37:27 ↑
- Yechezkel 37:28 ↑