MOSHE RABBEINU’S REFUSAL TO DO THE AVODAH ON THE EIGHTH DAY OF THE MISHKAN
“And it was on the eighth day that Moshe called to Aharon and his sons and to the elders of Yisrael”. The Targum Yehonasan explains, “It was on the eighth day [specifically] in order to include Aharon and his sons. In addition, the eighth day was the completion [of the Tabernacle]. It was the first day of the month of Nissan, when Moshe erected the Mishkan but did not disassemble it, and he did not serve anymore on the Altar.
Thus Moshe called to Aharon and to his sons and to the elders of Yisrael.”
The eighth day of the inauguration of the Mishkan was Rosh Chodesh Nissan, and on that day, the Mishkan was assembled. In the first seven days, Moshe served [as Kohen Gadol] and offered sacrifices on the Altar.
On the eighth day, however, the Targum Yehonasan states that he did offer any sacrifices on the Altar. Moshe Rabbeinu stopped doing the avodah on that day.
Two things happened on the eighth day of the Mishkan, which are really one. During the first seven days, Moshe assembled the Mishkan and also disassembled it, but on the eighth day, he assembled it and did not disassemble it afterwards.
An additional factor that occurred was that during the first seven days, Moshe served on the Altar like a Kohen Gadol, and from the eighth day onward, he stopped serving.
THE FIRST 7 DAYS OF THE MISHKAN VS. THE 8TH DAY
The Baal HaTurim cites the words of the Sages that the gematria of the “On the eighth day, Moshe called” וביום השמיני קרא משה is equal in value to the word “It was on the day of Rosh Chodesh Nissan” היה ביום בראש חודש and that Moshe was saying, “Since I refused [Hashem’s command to lead] by the Burning Bush for seven days, I did not merit to serve [as Kohen Gadol] except for seven days.” Thus, Moshe’s refusal by the episode of the Burning Bush, which lasted for seven days, corresponds to the seven days which he merited to serve as Kohen Gadol.
This simply needs understanding. It seems to be that Moshe’s refusal by the Burning Bush was a bad thing, not a good thing. If so, why did he merit to serve as Kohen Gadol for seven days, corresponding to the seven days in which he refused Hashem’s command to lead the people, by the episode of the Burning Bush? Although he only merited to serve as Kohen Gadol for seven days and not more, why should the seven days of his service be a result of refusing to approach the bush for seven days, if this refusal was not a good thing? Simply speaking, Moshe’s refusal was not the reason that he merited to serve as Kohen Gadol for seven days.
The depth of the matter appears to be as follows. For each of the seven days of the inauguration of the Mishkan, Moshe assembled the Mishkan and also disassembled it. The design of the Mishkan resembled the design of the heavens and the earth for the Sages state that Betzalel’s knowledge of designing the Mishkan came from his knowledge of combining the Hebrew letters from which the heavens and earth were created. Thus, the assembling and disassembling of the Mishkan corresponds to the concept of “He creates worlds and destroys them”.
When Moshe assembled the Mishkan during the first seven days, this corresponded to the ongoing “building” of the universe. When Moshe disassembled it, this corresponds to the ongoing “destruction” of the universe. On the eighth day, there was only assembling/building, and no more disassembling/destroying.
During the first seven days, when Moshe served as Kohen Gadol and offered sacrifices on the Altar, and on the eighth day, he discontinued his service. The simple understanding of this is that he had the zechus (merit) to serve for seven days, and on the eighth day, he no longer had the zechus. This is in line with the words of the Baal HaTurim in the name of the Sages, that Moshe merited to serve as Kohen Gadol for only seven days because he refused [Hashem’s command to lead] for seven days by the Burning Bush.
But there is a deeper understanding. There were really two points in the assembling of the Mishkan: When Moshe served as Kohen Gadol, and when Moshe did not serve as Kohen Gadol. When Moshe served as Kohen Gadol, this represents action. For the seven days, Moshe acted as the Kohen Gadol and performed service.
This is the inner reason behind why the Mishkan had to be assembled and then disassembled for the seven days – since it involved the actions of a human being, it was eventually disassembled, for all actions of all created beings must ultimately reach the state of bittul (nullification) to the Creator. Thus, the Mishkan was assembled and disassembled for each of the first seven days.
But on the eighth day of the Mishkan, when Moshe stopped serving, the Mishkan no longer involved Moshe’s actions. Just as the avodah in the Mishkan on the eighth day did not involve action, the actual assembling of the Mishkan on the eighth day was also not through Moshe’s actions. Therefore, on the eighth day, the Mishkan did not have to be disassembled.
In summation, the first seven days of the Mishkan involved the actions of Moshe, when he served as Kohen Gadol for this time, and thus it was assembled and disassembled for these first seven days, whereas the eighth day of the Mishkan represented a point above the avodah of Moshe – where there is only assembling and no disassembling.
