At the beginning of this week’s Parsha the Possuk states: “These are the numbers of the Mishkon, the Mishkon of the Testimony, which were counted at Moshe's command; [this was] the work of the Leviim under the direction of Issomor, the son of Aaron the Kohen”. The Alter Rebbe explains in Likkutei Torah that the words in our Possuk ‘Mishkan Ho’Eidus’ refer to the spiritual intent of Yichudah ilo’ah as in the first Possuk of Shema unifying the letter ‘Yud’ with the letter ‘Hey’ of HaShem’s holy Tetragrammaton.
There is a well-known teaching (Zohar I:18b) to the effect that the first verse of the Shema prayer corresponds to the spiritual level known as Yichuda Ilo’ah (higher-order unity). This level is that of the union of the letters Yud and Hei of HaShem’s name, the level we have identified with the Mishkan Ho’Eidus that was made at the command of Moshe. After this initial verse of the Shema, we go on to recite, “and you shall love HaShem ... with all your heart.” This refers to the type of love that is aroused within our emotional attributes through intellectual contemplation, the level associated with the Mishkan alone (i.e., not Ho’Eidus). This is called Yichuda Tato’ah (lower-order unity).
However, to enable us to reach the Shema’s lofty levels of worship, the Sages included in our prayer service the preparatory stage called P’sukei D’Zimra, “songs of praise [to HaShem].” Without these songs, we would not be able to attain the level of Yichuda Ilo’ah in the initial verse of the Shema. Song uplifts a person, raising him or her to a higher level spiritually. This was the function of the Leviim in the Beis HaMikdosh: they would sing holy, Divinely-inspired songs and play musical instruments to raise the spirits – literally – of the worshippers and enable them to succeed in their spiritual quest. That is also why it was the Leviim’s task to carry the Mishkon, to raise it aloft and bear it from place to place.
Now, how does this work – that through the “Levi” quality of P’sukei D’Zimra, the Songs of Praise, we are capable of reaching Yichuda Ilo’ah at prayer? To answer this, we must understand the nature of the Levi songs themselves. It is written (Yechezkel 1:14), “The living creatures [of Heaven] ran and returned like the appearance of lightning.” Rashi explains this to mean like the flame of a furnace, in the sense that such a flame is constantly flickering in and out. This is likewise a feature of the G-dly soul (Nefesh Ho-Elokis) in every Jew, about which it is written (Mishlei 20:27), “The candle of HaShem is the soul of Man.” Our souls, too, burn like a flame with inspiration for HaShem, first one type, then the other, in a continually repeating cycle by which we rise ever higher in our yearning for HaShem. Song also rises and falls, rises and falls, and the holy Levi songs were calculated to resonate with our souls’ natural “running and returning” to HaShem and help it along, inspiring and raising it ever higher to Him.
Likewise, they raised and carried aloft the Mishkon: this is the concept mentioned earlier concerning how the “lower Yerusholayim” would rise up (through the service in the Beis HaMikdosh during the Holiday pilgrimages) and unite with the “higher Yerusholayim.” In our prayers as well, the Songs of Praise elevate our souls from a lower-level of love for HaShem – that based on our own understanding and therefore compared to the Mishkon – to the higher level of love, by the time we reach the first verse of the Shema, associated with the term Mishkon Ha’Eidus. (Likkuteitorah.com)
The Dual Unifications in the Shema and the Role of the Leviim
The words in our Possuk ’Pekudei HaMishkon’ refer to the spiritual intent of ‘Yichudah Tato’ah’ unifying the letter ‘Vov’ with the second letter ‘Hey’ of HaShem’s holy Tetragrammaton as in the Possuk: “And you shall love HaShem, your G-d.” [The third Possuk of the Shema]. This refers to a love which is kindled by intellectual contemplation and mental meditation.
However, even before reciting the Shema in the Shacharis morning prayers, the men of the great assembly established a section of prayers called 'P'sukei DeZimra’ which mirrors the Avodah of the Leviim in the Beis HaMikdosh reciting Psalms and singing Songs in a manner of ‘Rotzoi’ and ‘Shov’.
This Avodah of 'P'sukei DeZimra’ serves as a preparation to [enable one to] elevate one’s soul to the extent that one should be able to unite the Divine unifications of the Shema.
Integrating Spiritual Yearning with Torah Study
However, the purpose [of this] is to draw the aforementioned ‘Rotzoi’ and ‘Shov’ into a state [such] that it could be contained within a receptacle and this is achieved by the study of Torah in a ‘Bittul’ like manner. This is alluded to by mentioning ‘בְיַד אִיתָמָר’ – ‘under the direction of Isomor’ because the name אִיתָמָר is formed using the same letters as the Talmudic word אִיתְּמַר which is used frequently in the Talmud and it means 'it was learnt or it was stated’ almost as if it was automatically stated. This means that the person who articulated these words was [so] absolutely nullified to the words, that they are recognised not to have come from him at all but are words of Torah which themselves were just spoken as the Talmud states: ‘the word of HaShem this is the Halocho [which becomes articulated] automatically and by itself’.
This is the concept of the words in the Shema וְדִבַּרְתָּבּ ָם “Speak of them” that come after the Possuk וְאָהַבְתָּof and it is about this that the Torah tells us בְיַד אִיתָמָר בֶן אַהֲרֹן הַכֹּהֵן “under the direction of Isomor, the son of Aaron the Kohen”. As is known, Ahron symbolised [Great love] אַהֲבָה רַבָּה and he bequeathed all [the B’nei Yisroel] with this ability in order to accomplish [such an] Avodah.
The Alter Rebbe concludes; that through the state of Ahron which is the concept of אַהֲבָה רַבָּה [Great love] the impetus for ‘Isarussa Dil’Tatoh’ is drawn down upon us.
