The Human Miracle
G-d Is a Great Builder; But It’s Man’s Handiwork That Is "Fit To Print"
Dedicated by David and Eda Schottenstein
in the loving memory of a young soul Alta Shula Swerdlov
daughter of Rabbi Yossi and Hindel Swerdlov
and in the merit of Yetta Alta Shula, "Aliya," Schottenstein
In the Beginning
As a result of a near mutiny, the overbearing and arrogant captain was forced to see a psychiatrist by order of the Commodore.
As soon as the captain settled down on the couch, the psychiatrist began the session by asking:
“Why don’t you start at the beginning?”
The captain said, “Okay. In the beginning I created heaven and the earth…"
Two Creations
In the beginning of Genesis, the Hebrew Bible devotes 31 verses to describe how G-d created the entire world. “In the beginning G-d created the heavens and the earth.” In striking contrast, the Torah portions of this week—and the subsequent weeks—devote 371 verses to describe how the Jews created the Tabernacle, or Mishkan, in the desert.
This seems profoundly strange.
The universe spans some 176 Trillion Billion miles, and is an awesomely complex structure. After millennia of research, we have not yet scratched the surface of its untold depth and unbound mysteries. We have not even mastered the secrets embedded in a single cell. The Tabernacle, on the other hand, was around 150 feet long and 75 feet wide, and was an impressive structure, but essentially a small tent; a mini mobile "shteibel."
Why would the Torah be so expansive about the creation of a humble albeit splendorous tent in the desert and yet so terse about the creation of the cosmos with all of its infinite depth, majesty and grandeur? Does it make sense? 31 verses for creation of the world, and almost half the book of Exodus for the creation of a mobile sanctuary!
Mortality into Eternity
This strange contrast conveys something profoundly important about the Torah’s perspective on life. For an infinite G-d to create a home for finite man is not a big deal. But for a finite man to create a home for an infinite G-d—that is a revolutionary notion. It constitutes the essential revolution of Judaism that from the fragmented pieces of our hearts we can construct a home for the Divine; that the ordinary stuff of human life can be carved into a dwelling place for the Almighty; that G-d craves to dwell in the space we designate for Him in the barren desert of human consciousness.
Creation of the universe is G-d's miracle—the miracle of converting energy into matter. Creation of a structure to house the Divine in a desert is man's miracle—the miracle of converting matter into energy; the wonder of a human being surpassing himself, transcending his finite egocentricity and turning his life into a home for the Divine—that story is deserving of close to 400 verses!
This is the essence of the Tabernacle story, which occupies almost half the book of Exodus and on the surface seems so remote from our present lifestyle: that a human being, through his or her minute and limited deeds, words and thoughts, can create a home for G-d in his or her daily life; that a frail and vulnerable human being is capable of creating a space in his or her heart for the living presence of G-d. This is the miracle of Torah.
Half-Ness
This explains two enigmatic details about the Tabernacle story: 1) The obsession with details and nuances that seem irrelevant. G-d seems overly concerned with pegs, nails, beams, hooks, sockets and curtains. 2) Most of the measurements are half sizes not whole ones. Why not wholesome measurements?
Yet this captures the essence of the narrative. Our lives are defined by details, and most of them seem mundane. And we always do things in “half,” never complete, as we are fragmented creatures and there is always something left to complete the work. This, then, is the message of the story: our disjointed and fragmented lives, the many diverse details of our mundane life, can all become a home for the absolute and undefined reality of G-d.
(This essay is based on the discourse Gedolim Maasei Tzadikkim 5685 (1925), by the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson).
same when a person "decides" to marry/build a family?!?
Wanting and taking the decision to built a "bayit neeman beIsrael" - a real one - stands for a miracle!! transform matter (EGO)in a positive energy is called too beit mikdash katan...
Any ... New Yorker will admit that taking this decision IS A MIRACLE!
Shavua Tov
creating vs changing
In the matter of the mishkan, there is an entirely different purpose and intention at work. The Torah is training us to become masterful in our own lives.
For that to occur, focus, the attention to detail, precision, commitment,
discipline and a host of other traits have to be mobilized, in the con- struction of the mishkan and by extension carried into our lives.
The primary exemplars for this are the Kohanim. Their work, in the mishkan, could not be haphazard, could not lack the punctilious clarity and deliberate application of the rules. We, in turn, as a mamleches Kohanim, take on the practice of being rigorous in our observance of the rules covering life, in the hope that we become impeccable in our own daily comportment, no less so than the Kohanim were in pursuit of their tasks in the Temple.
With the creation of the universe, God acknowledges
the objects that had been converted from primordial energy, and gives them names
(which is an aspect of creating, distinguishing the something from the everything by naming it). With the mishkan, the process was to refashion what already existed into something which would have a different function (that's called change, not creation). However, the creative aspect lay in the fact that there had not existed a mishkan prior to this one and, thus, we see innovation, creativity,
and a whole new vocabulary brought into being.
size of universe
speed of light = 186,400 miles per second
seconds per year = 60*60*24*365 = 31,536,000
light therefore travels 5,878,310,400,000 miles per year
estimated age of visible universe is 15,000,000,000 years. (But that's looking out in any direction, which is the radius. Therefore, to get diameter, multiply that by 2.)
186,400 miles per second * 31,536,000 seconds per year * 30,000,000,000 years gives the above answer, if I did the math correctly.
Every once in a while I think about how Hashem supervises each moment of every individual and collection in all their relations and knows their entire history. It's impossible to really relate to that in any way, but knowing it's true does help me sometimes realize just how awesome He is.
Warmest Regards
The Human Miracle
Love and Shalom.
great
Best,
Ephraim
The Human Miracle
ב"ה b"H inyan: really the G-dly miracle
This is really the G-dly miracle, of course, and it is paralleled in the beginning words of the Birkos HaShema:
"yotzer Or uvoreh Choshekh, ossay Shalom uvoreh et HaKol", for as both parts of what are being made one in the cover - the one from the Holy of Holies and the one from the Holy are covered with Cherubim woven into them, symbolizing that all degrees of holiness in the Heavenly spheres come together in G-d's service (Sforno), the Artscroll Stone edition in note 6 on page 455 goes on to say that "the concept that the Tabernacle shall become one is an indication that all elements of Creation - Heavenly and human alike - should work together for a common goal". HaShem, as stressed in the words above from the Birkos HaShema, is the G-d of Or and of Choshekh, all shades of good and evil and all creatures and creation involved. The Mishkan was a mini-version that contained this whole that our eyes, ears and all our senses can never encompass.