Torah & Tea for the portion of Pekudei, which is also Chazak—we are finishing Sefer Shemos, so Hashem should give us strength. Rosh Chodesh is in just a couple of days, on Thursday and Friday, and then next Shabbos we are already just about one week away from Purim.
I would also like to mention my father, of blessed memory, because next week is his yahrtzeit. In a leap year, I commemorate him twice—once in Adar Rishon and once in Adar Sheini. Since there are different opinions regarding which Adar applies, one can observe it in both. And again, we are already one month before Pesach, before Nissan. March has arrived as well, and hopefully the weather will begin to improve. But the main thing is that there should be peace in Eretz Yisrael, peace in Ukraine, and peace for Jewish people everywhere.
I think the whole world is watching, and this may have a major effect on what happens next in the broader world. If the democratic nations can place enough pressure, especially financial pressure, on tyrants, perhaps there can be some small resolution. In any event, that is beyond our scope.
Let us learn a little from Parshas Pekudei. We will take one lesson from the beginning of the parsha and one lesson from the end.
At the beginning of Pekudei, the Torah opens with an accounting of the Mishkan. In the previous weeks—Terumah, Tetzaveh, Ki Sisa, and Vayakhel—the Torah discussed Hashem’s instructions to Moshe regarding the building of the Mishkan: the structure itself, the vessels, the garments of the Kohanim, and especially the extra garments of the Kohen Gadol, as well as the contributions of gold, silver, copper, and all the materials needed for the construction.
Pekudei serves as the summary of all that came before. It gives an accounting of the materials that were collected and how they were used. In modern terms, we could say it presents an accounting sheet, an expense and income sheet, a balance sheet, showing how everything was handled.
The Torah says, “Eleh pekudei haMishkan, Mishkan haEdut”—“These are the accounts of the Mishkan, the Mishkan of testimony.” The word “Edut,” testimony, means that the Mishkan testified that Hashem rested among the Jewish people and that He forgave them for the sin of the Golden Calf. According to Rashi, the whole purpose of the Mishkan was to show that Hashem had become appeased and would dwell among the Jewish people once again.
But the wording is unusual. Why does it say “Mishkan” twice? It could have said simply, “Eleh pekudei Mishkan haEdut.” Why repeat the word?
Rashi explains that the repeated word alludes to “mashkon, mashkon”—two collaterals. A mashkon is collateral, as when someone takes a loan and places something as security. The repetition hints that the Beis HaMikdash would be taken twice as collateral.
The Mishkan itself was the temporary dwelling place in the desert. It was portable, dismantled and reassembled during the forty-two journeys of the Jewish people. Later, after the Jewish people entered Eretz Yisrael, there were long periods before the Beis HaMikdash was finally built in Jerusalem. Along the way there was Mishkan Shiloh and other transitional stages, but eventually the Beis HaMikdash was built.
The first Beis HaMikdash was destroyed by Nevuchadnezzar. Then came the story of Purim, which took place between the destruction of the first Beis HaMikdash and the building of the second. Afterwards, the second Beis HaMikdash was built, and much later it too was destroyed. Chanukah took place during the era of the second Beis HaMikdash. So there were indeed two destructions.
Rashi says that the double expression “Mishkan, Mishkan” alludes to those two times when the Mikdash was taken as collateral. Taken as collateral for what? For the Jewish people to repent and return. A collateral is only temporary. It means that what was taken really belongs to the original owner, but is being held until the matter is corrected. So too, the Beis HaMikdash is not truly lost forever. It is being held, as it were, until it is returned.
The Rebbe points out something very interesting about the difference between the Mishkan and the Beis HaMikdash.
The Mishkan that Moshe Rabbeinu built had eternity in its actual structure and vessels. One may wonder: what happened to all the beams, the vessels, the Aron, the Luchos? The Gemara and other sources explain that the original vessels and structures were hidden away underground when they were no longer in use. They were not destroyed. They remain intact. Why? Because anything made through Moshe Rabbeinu, under the direct command of Hashem, carries an eternal quality. Moshe was the faithful servant of Hashem, and what was done through him had permanence.
By contrast, the Beis HaMikdash did not retain that same permanence in its structure and vessels. The vessels were plundered, the Temple was burned, and much of it was lost or destroyed. Why? Because it was not built by Moshe Rabbeinu. The first Temple was built by Shlomo HaMelech, and the second by those who returned later. Those structures lacked the same kind of eternal physical permanence.
Yet in another sense, the Beis HaMikdash has greater permanence than the Mishkan. The Mishkan traveled. It moved from place to place. None of its locations were permanent. But once Hashem chose the place of the Beis HaMikdash in Jerusalem, that place became eternally holy. It is prohibited to build the Beis HaMikdash anywhere else. The location is permanent, because it was chosen by Hashem Himself.
So each one has an advantage. The Mishkan had eternity in its actual structure and vessels. The Beis HaMikdash has eternity in its place.
The Rebbe explains that the Third Beis HaMikdash will combine both advantages. It will have the permanence of the Mishkan and the permanence of the Beis HaMikdash. It will never be destroyed, because it will be built through Hashem, and its place is already eternal.
On a practical level, even though we do not yet have the physical Beis HaMikdash, we do have a Mishkan within ourselves. Every Jew has a sanctuary for Hashem within the soul. If we allow Hashem into our heart, into our home, and into our lives, then we create a dwelling place for Him.
That is also true of a shul, a place of Torah, prayer, kindness, and holiness. These are all miniature sanctuaries, batei mikdash me’at. But one does not have to limit this to the synagogue alone. The Rebbe encouraged that a person make his own home into a small sanctuary.
That includes having a mezuzah, holy books, a pushka for tzedakah, and acts of kindness within the home. In fact, the Rebbe encouraged people to actually attach the tzedakah box to the wall, so that the wall of the home itself becomes part of the structure of holiness. The home becomes a home of kindness and kedushah.
We also see this in places like Ukraine today, where the shuls and Jewish communities are feeding people, helping orphans, caring for the elderly, and assisting those in need. In that way, they are turning their communities into sanctuaries from which goodness spreads outward.
So while we do not currently have the revealed Beis HaMikdash, we still have the ability and the responsibility to build a sanctuary for Hashem in our souls, in our homes, in our shuls, and in our deeds.
And now, as we are in Adar, we know that “mishenichnas Adar marbim b’simchah”—when Adar enters, we increase in joy. This year there are two Adars, so in a sense there are sixty days of simchah. The Rebbe explains that the joy begins with Adar Rishon, but certainly when Adar Sheini arrives, the month in which Purim falls, the joy increases even more.
The Gemara says that if a person has a court case or difficulty, Adar is a favorable time, because the mazal of the Jewish people is strong. That applies not only in external conflicts, but also in our inner struggle with the yetzer hara. The way to overcome the yetzer hara is through simchah—with joy, celebration, and spiritual vitality. And from Purim we move toward Pesach, from one redemption to the next, from one miracle to the next.
Now let us turn to the end of the parsha.
At the end of Pekudei, after the Mishkan has been completed and all the vessels are in place, the Torah says that the Cloud covered the Ohel Moed and the glory of Hashem filled the Mishkan. The revelation of Hashem was so intense that even Moshe Rabbeinu could not enter. The verse says, “V’lo yachol Moshe lavo el Ohel Moed”—Moshe could not come in, because the Cloud rested upon it and the glory of Hashem filled the Mishkan.
The next parsha, Vayikra, begins by resolving this: “Vayikra el Moshe”—Hashem called to Moshe and brought him in. But before we get there, the Torah concludes Sefer Shemos with three verses that seem out of place. Those verses speak about the travels of the Jewish people: when the Cloud lifted, they journeyed; when it remained, they stayed. By day the Cloud was over the Mishkan, and by night there was fire in it before all the house of Israel throughout their journeys.
What does this have to do with the Mishkan being filled with Hashem’s glory?
The Rebbe explains that this is actually the culmination of the whole parsha. The point of the Mishkan is not only to reveal Hashem when everything is standing in place, when holiness is obvious, when the Cloud is visible and the revelation is open. The true purpose is that the effect of the Mishkan should accompany the Jewish people even when they are traveling, even when the Mishkan is folded up, even when they are in motion, even when the revelation is not obvious.
It is easy to feel inspired when one is in shul, in prayer, in learning, in a moment of spiritual elevation. But the real test is what happens when the Cloud lifts and life becomes a journey. Can a person still find Hashem then? Can one still carry the faith, inspiration, and holiness into confusing times, hidden times, and dark times?
That is why the Torah ends with the travels. It is telling us that the Mishkan is not only for moments of open revelation. The Mishkan must influence us even when we do not see the revelation clearly. Even when Hashem seems hidden, we are meant to carry the awareness that He is still with us.
Hashem sometimes plays a kind of hide-and-seek with us. We ask: Where are You? Why do You hide? Why do difficult things happen? Why does it seem that we cannot see You? These are real questions. But the Torah teaches that even in those moments, we continue the journey with emunah. The Cloud may not be visibly resting in one place, but it is still guiding the journey.
In fact, the Rebbe says that the real accomplishment is when a person is able to find Hashem even in dark places. When holiness is obvious, it is easier to feel connected. But when a person finds Hashem even in concealment, then he has reached something deeper. Then he shows that there is truly no place devoid of Hashem.
This is the deeper meaning of connecting the finite and the infinite. At the beginning of the parsha, everything is counted and measured—“pekudei,” an accounting. Yet at the end, the infinite glory of Hashem fills the Mishkan so powerfully that Moshe cannot enter. The purpose is to bring the infinite into the finite, to bring Hashem into the details of life, even into journeys, difficulties, and places where He seems hidden.
That is also connected to korbanos and to the service of refining the physical. The whole purpose is not only to experience holiness in openly holy places, but to bring Hashem into the physical world, into challenges, and even into darkness. Just as in the Purim story, Hashem’s presence was revealed in a time of danger and concealment, so too the Mishkan teaches us to find Hashem not only in the sanctuary, but on the road as well.
This becomes a source of encouragement. If we know that even our journeys are guided, if we know that Hashem is watching over us, then the journey becomes easier. The Gemara says, and Tanya brings it as well, that if Hashem did not help us, we would not be able to overcome our struggles. Hashem is there to help; we only need to reach out to Him.
Summary
Parshas Pekudei teaches two powerful lessons. First, the Mishkan and the Beis HaMikdash are both eternal in different ways, and the future Beis HaMikdash will combine both forms of permanence. Second, the purpose of the Mishkan is not only to reveal Hashem when holiness is obvious, but to give us the strength to carry that awareness into the journey, even when Hashem seems hidden.