Sukkah and Mishkan

When one begins Masechet Sukkah it's hard to miss how hard the Talmud tries to learn out the different middot of the Sukkah from the Mishkan. It's a little bit ridiculous how extreme the examples and stretches of connections to the text get. Why all this pulling and stretching?

The Noam Elimelech towards the end of his commentary on Sefer Shemoth explains that the word Mishkan is from the word HamShachah, meaning to draw out or draw down. The Mishkan is peculiar in that it was always meant as a temporary edifice. In this sense the Mishkan represents the Reshimu, the imprint of the eventual drawing out of HaShem's godliness into the world.

The function of the reshimu is to give direction and shape, to flesh out the light that will flow into it. Just as liquid takes the shape of its container, the supernal light comes down taking the shape of the reshimu into which it is drawn. The creation of the world itself was a process of HaShem shining His divine light into the reshimu He had created through first clearing a (figurative) space in which to create the world.

From this perhaps we can see why Sukkah is learned out from the Mishkan. They share the same goal. In our yearly life, the Sukkah is the imprint of how we are going to relate to HaShem through our surroundings. From Shemini Atzeret and onwards through the rest of the year we are working on drawing down HaShem's light into the reshimu that was created over the seven days of Sukkoth.

hollowing out an altar

Regarding the layout of the Mishkan, the Noam Elimelech explains the proximity of the Mizbeah, (the altar) the Shulchan, (the table of the show-bread) and the Menorah. (the lamp)

The Menorah reminds us of HaShem's greatness and then the Shulchan reminds us of our lowly physical needs, the Mizbeah shows that to rise up to HaShem you need to cycle between these two other states. This is the meaning of the "sovev" the platform around the Mizbeah upon which the Kohanim were meant to walk which was called "sovev" or "to circle."

He relates this to the passuk דרשו את ה' בהמצאו - seek HaShem where he can be found. Because HaShem can only be found by virtue of His own tzimtzum, we must seek him out through our own personal tzimtzum.

This echoes nicely something I said in a previous post. Avakesh also posted on the topic of tzimtzum two days after my own post. [Which either means I'm channelling ASJ's ability to connect to the collective subconscious of (at least) the jblogosphere or that it is somehow a response to my own posting, perhaps fearful that I was getting lost in my own terminology.]

trade old lies for new foundations

Life is a constant war between the good and the bad middoth. (attributes) Each individual is always working on putting their energy into the good middoth (humility, kindness, charity, justice, etc.) and breaking free of their ingrained more natural animal traits. (selfishness, hubris, jealousy, etc.) We slip so often in this conflict as to make us doubt whether we're gaining any ground at all.

The Noam Elimelech gives us a little tip that's both a strategy and a baseline from which to judge our progress: The root of all bad middoth is sheker, lies. If we cling to the truth with all our might, then our bad middoth have no solid footing. If we strike out from a platform of truth we have the upper ground.

The Mishkan, Tabernacle, was made out of the posts, kerashim, that made up its wall. Keresh, (קרש) board, is the same letters as sheker, (שקר) lie, but in a different order, showing that keresh is the opposite of sheker. If we surround ourselves in the truth, the anti-sheker, then we become a dwelling place, a mishkan, for HaShem's divinity in this world.

From here on out we can look honestly at ourselves and see how often we fall into lies. Be they innocent ones or the more serious guilty variety, any lie at all is weakening our position and reinforcing our bad middoth.

I think it is appropriate to bring this connection here:
There are a number of sources that describe Tefillin as the weaponry of Bnei Yisrael. When we bind our Tefillin we are girding ourselves for battle. Now we know that Tefillin are tantamount to the entire Torah as it is written in the Tefillin themselves (parashath Kadesh li kol b'chor) "It should be for you a sign on your hand and a rememberance between your eyes, so that the Torah will be in your mouth." We also know that Torah is emeth, objective truth. When we bind our Tefillin we can have in mind to bind ourselves, surround ourselves, in the truth of Torah, to undermine and uproot all of our negative middoth, that we can serve HaShem and create for Him a dwelling place "with all your heart, all your soul, and all your might." (as it says in Shema Yisrael, another of the parashioth in the Tefillin)

forever bound

I was learning Hesed l'Avraham (1:23) this morning on the way to work, something I only get to do if I don't have to drive. He was speaking about the Shechinah and the Mishkan, and it occurred to me that many parents can identify (l'havdil) with HaShem's desire to maintain a presence with their children no matter where they may go. Hence, the Shechinah goes with us even into Galut.

Which lead me to see the cellular phone in a whole new light. The cellphone is, l'havdil, the aspect of the Mishkan in our daily lives. Through it, we may remain in contact with those closest to our heart and soul no matter where we go.