Parsha Topic
The Potential Mishkan
There is a big question that people ask about the parshiyos of Vayakhel and Pekudei. The entire contents of Vaykhel seem to be a repetition of what was already stated in Terumah, and the contents of Pekudei, i.e., the Priestly Garments, were already stated in Tetzaveh. Why did the Torah teach again that which was previously taught in sufficient detail?
The following question will lead us to the answer. There is a verse that says:
Chazal say that this verse enumerates the seven ways by which Hashem runs His world, the seven midos. The seventh is malchus. Why does the verse repeat the words “Hashem” before this last one? Those very same words were already stated at the beginning of the verse.
The answer is that everything has two aspects to it, as will be explained. Chazal say about the above-quoted verse:
We see that everything Hakadosh Baruch Hu created above, He created below.
Every trait in the world has two stages to it. For instance, the trait of chesed, which is called “gedulah” in the above-quoted verse. If we try to define this trait as it manifests itself in the human soul, we will find that it has two parts.
The first part is the potential of chesed. This is the trait in its essential state. It is understanding and appreciating chesed, as well as possessing a true desire to do chesed. Every good Jew, if he is asked, “If you had money, what would you do with it?” will not answer, “I would buy a really fancy car.” His first answer will always be, “I would do chesed with it.” This stems from the essential trait of chesed that is part of human nature.
The second part of the trait of chesed is its practical application. This is the actual ability to perform acts of chesed. Once a person has acquired the first part, once he has the potential for chesed, once he wants to do chesed and understands what it is, he will surely perform acts of chesed if he has the ability to do so.
Potential and actual are two different parts. A person could have profound understanding of chesed, gevurah and all the other traits, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he has the ability to bring them to actuality.
Bringing things from potential to actual – that is what the trait of malchus is all about. This trait is called malchus in the above-quoted verse. A melech is not someone who has the necessary talents and qualifications to be a king. It is someone who possesses the power to actually do things.
Chesed is one of the traits by which Hashem runs His world, and also with Hashem there are two parts to it. There is the part of “Hashem desires chesed,” which is Hashem’s Will to bestow unlimited goodness upon His creatures. And then there is the part of actualizing His Will, of performing acts of kindness. This is the aspect of Melech. A king is someone who has the ability to do.
Malchus is practical rulership, governing. As regards Hashem’s ways, this means practically implementing His various traits as they are stated in the above-quoted verse. This is the midah of malchus.
Only malchus actualizes Hashem’s ways in the world. This is why the verse repeats the words “Hashem” before the midah of malchus. There are two parts – the potential and the actual – and each is introduced by the words “Hashem,” which mean, ”You, Hashem, have....” In other words, ”You, Hashem, have” the potential of chesed and gevurah etc. And ”You, Hashem, have” the ability to actualize it all.
Getting back to the original question: the parshiyos of Terumah and Tetzaveh have the command to make the Mishkan, the Menorah, the Priestly Garments, etc. They say, “You shall make....” These commands to make the Mishkan are the potential for the Mishkan. They are not the actual Mishkan. The parshiyos of Vaykhel and Pekudei are the practical aspect. They are the actual doing, the actual making of the Mishkan. Here it says, “And he made....” The Mishkan is complete only when it has both parts, the potential and the actual.
It's not just the Mishkan
This is a general rule with everything in the world. There is the “potential” and there is the “actual.” For instance, let’s say someone wants to know how to ride a bike. It’s not so deep; you can know what to do in a few minutes. You sit on the seat and rotate the pedals. That’s basically all there is to it. Knowing how to drive a car is a little harder but it still doesn’t take very long. You have the gears or the transmission, you have the brakes, and that’s about it. But all this is true regarding “potential” bike riding or car driving.
Besides this, you have the actual riding or driving, and that’s something else altogether.
This is a universal principle. There is a difference between a person who knows theoretically what hasmadah is and a person who actually learns Torah constantly. There is a difference between someone who knows theoretically how to bake a cake and someone who actually bakes the cake. The practical realization of the matter is something else altogether.
In Kabbalah, this gap between the potential and the actual is described by the metaphor of the sun and the moon. In our world, the light of the sun is always much greater than the light of the moon. The light of the moon is pagum, it is deficient. This represents the gap between the potential and the actual. The potential is always much greater than the actual implementation. Thus we pray in Kiddush Halevanah that the light of the moon should return to be like the light of the sun, as it was in the Six Days of Creation.
The sun is the source of the light. The sun’s light reflects off the moon, and the moon is the one that has the main influence on the world. When we say that the light of the sun reflects off the moon, it means that practically speaking, the trait of malchus, which is associated with the moon, is a mere reflection of the sun’s true power. The sun is like a king who is strong and wise but his influence on the kingdom is weakened and does not reflect his true potential.
Every one of us has a lot of potential. We have the desire to learn Torah, we understand that Torah learning requires constancy, and so forth. But all this is our potential.
Kabbalah describes this also in terms of male and female. The male aspect is the source, the potential, from which the actuality flows. We lack nothing in essence, in potential. In theory, we know everything. But the feminine aspect needs to receive it and “give birth” to it, in other words, to bring it into actuality.
We need to take all our good desires and intentions, and all our understanding, all that well-developed theory, and actualize it. To work at being a true masmid and davening with proper kavanah as we know theoretically that we should.
The practical implementation is not the same as knowing intellectually what Torah and avodah is all about, and sometimes the potential and the actual are just too far from each other. What we need work on is bridging that gap.
