Mishkan as a microcosm of Creation

במד' חכמות בנתה ביתה כו' ע"ש כל הדרשות.

The Midrash on "Wisdom has built her house..." (Mishlei 9:1) — see there all the expositions.

The Sefas Emes refers to the midrashic teachings that connect this verse from Mishlei to the building of the Mishkan and the events of Parshas Shmini.

דהנה כל מה שברא הקב"ה לכבודו ברא ויכולין להכיר מי שאמר והי' העולם ע"י הבריאה כמ"ש בחכמה יסד ארץ ויראת ה' היא חכמה.

For everything Hashem created, He created for His honor, and one can come to recognize "the One who spoke and the world came into being" through the Creation itself, as it says, "With wisdom Hashem founded the earth" (Mishlei 3:19), and "the yiras Hashem (fear of Heaven), that is wisdom" (Iyov 28:28).

The created world is a vehicle through which one can recognize its Creator, for it was fashioned with divine chochmah (wisdom).

אכן האדם הי' מוכן להיות עולה למעלה מכל הבריאה.

However, man was prepared to ascend higher than all of Creation.

Man is not merely one creature among others; he was designed to rise above the entire created order.

ולכן כ' שלחה נערותי' תקרא על גפי מרומי שכן הי' ראוי להיות קודם החטא.

Therefore it is written, "She sent forth her maidens, she calls upon the heights of the city (gapei meromei kares)" (Mishlei 9:3) — for so it was fitting to be before the sin.

Before Adam's sin, man stood at the very heights, as the verse's image of calling out from the summit suggests.

וכן איתא במס' סנהדרין מתחלה על גפי ובסוף על כסא ע"ש פרש"י.

So too it is taught in Maseches Sanhedrin: at first "upon the heights (gapei)" and in the end "upon a throne (kisei)" — see Rashi there.

The Gemara contrasts man's original lofty standing with his diminished state afterward, a shift the Sefas Emes ties to the sin.

וכמו כן בעת קבלת התורה היו מוכנים להיות דבוק ונמשך אחר עצם התורה שהיא למעלה ממעשה בראשית.

Likewise, at the time of Kabbalas HaTorah, they were prepared to cling to and be drawn after the very essence of the Torah, which is above Maaseh Bereishis (the work of Creation).

At Sinai, Bnei Yisrael were poised to attach themselves directly to Torah itself, which precedes and transcends the created world.

שהרי הכל נברא מכח התורה כמ"ש בשביל התורה שנק' ראשית ובנ"י נקראו ראשית.

For everything was created through the power of the Torah, as it says: "for the sake of the Torah, which is called reishis (the beginning)," and Bnei Yisrael too are called reishis.

The Torah and Bnei Yisrael are both "reishis" — the purpose for which the world was made, and thus rooted above Creation.

וזה הי' מדריגת מרע"ה.

This was the level of Moshe Rabbeinu.

Moshe attained this lofty rung of attachment to the essence of Torah, above the level of the created world.

אבל אחר החטא לא נשארו במדריגה זו.

But after the sin (of the Golden Calf) they did not remain on this level.

The sin of the Eigel caused Bnei Yisrael to fall from that direct attachment to the essence of Torah.

ולכן הוצרך להיות התיקון ע"י מלאכת המשכן שהוא מעין בריאת מעשה בראשית.

Therefore the tikkun (rectification) had to come about through the work of the Mishkan, which is a microcosm of the work of Creation.

Since they could no longer cling to Torah above Creation, the repair came through the Mishkan, which parallels and re-enacts the Creation of the world.

ולכן איתא במד' ויהי ביום השמיני לשון צרה מה שניטלה הכהונה ממרע"ה וניתנה לאהרן.

Therefore the Midrash says that "Vayehi bayom hashemini" ("And it was on the eighth day") expresses distress (tzarah) — namely, that the kehunah (priesthood) was taken from Moshe Rabbeinu and given to Aharon.

The word "vayehi" hints at sorrow, reflecting that the priesthood, fitting for Moshe's elevated level, was instead given to Aharon at a lower rung.

ז"ש קרא משה דלעיל כ' ויקרא אל משה דקריאה לשון דביקות וחיבור כמו וקרא זה אל זה ומקבלין דין מן דין.

This is the meaning of "Moshe called" (kara Moshe) — for earlier it is written "And He called to Moshe" (Vayikra el Moshe), and "kriah" denotes attachment and connection, as in "And one called to the other (v'kara zeh el zeh)" (Yeshayahu 6:3), where they receive one from the other.

"Calling" expresses closeness and bonding; just as Hashem "called" to Moshe out of intimacy, the angels "call" to one another in mutual connection.

ועתה קירב מרע"ה את אהרן וזקני ישראל.

And now Moshe Rabbeinu drew close Aharon and the elders of Yisrael.

Moshe transmitted his closeness downward, bringing Aharon and the elders near to that holiness.

כענין משה קיבל תורה מסיני ומסרה ליהושע כו'.

This is like "Moshe received the Torah from Sinai and transmitted it to Yehoshua..." (Avos 1:1).

Just as Moshe was the channel transmitting Torah to the next generation, here too he channels the holiness of the priesthood downward to Aharon.

והי' מדריגה למטה ממדריגת מרע"ה.

And this was a level below the level of Moshe Rabbeinu.

The avodah of the Mishkan and the kehunah, though holy, operates at a rung beneath Moshe's direct attachment to the essence of Torah.

זה שאמר כי היום ה' נראה וכ"כ וירא כבוד ה' כו'.

This is the meaning of "for today Hashem appears to you" (Vayikra 9:4), and likewise "and the glory of Hashem appeared..." (Vayikra 9:23).

Through the Mishkan, the revelation of Hashem's glory became newly possible, even at this lower level.

ובת"כ על אותה שעה כתיב צאינה וראינה בנות ציון בנים המצוינים.

And in the Toras Kohanim it is written concerning that moment: "Go out and see, O daughters of Tzion" (Shir HaShirim 3:11) — these are the distinguished sons (banim hametzuyanim).

The midrash applies the verse from Shir HaShirim to the day of the Mishkan's inauguration, reading "daughters of Tzion" as Bnei Yisrael, the distinguished children.

במלך שלמה הקב"ה.

"In King Shlomo" — this refers to Hashem.

In this allegorical reading, "King Shlomo" (the King to whom peace belongs) stands for Hashem Himself.

בעטרה זו המשכן שמצויר בתכלת וארגמן.

"With the crown" — this is the Mishkan, which is adorned with techeiles (blue) and argaman (purple).

The "crown" of the King is the Mishkan, beautified with its colored hangings.

אמו זו כנס"י דכ' לאמי כו'.

"His mother" — this is Knesses Yisrael, as it is written, "to My mother (l'imi)..."

Knesses Yisrael, the collective soul of the nation, is called the "mother" who crowns the King.

הענין מה שנראה להם הקב"ה בציור המשכן שהוא הכנת התחתונים שיתגלה להם הקב"ה מכח המשכן כמ"ש ויהי נועם ה' כו'.

The matter is this: Hashem appeared to them through the form (tziyur) of the Mishkan, which is the preparation made by those below so that Hashem would be revealed to them through the power of the Mishkan, as it says, "And may the pleasantness of Hashem be upon us..." (Tehillim 90:17).

The Mishkan is the structure built below that draws down and reveals the Divine Presence; Hashem reveals Himself within its designed form.

ובאמת זה בחי' האבות כמ"ש וארא אל אברהם כו' ושמי ה' לא נודעתי ע"ש בזוה"ק כי האבות זכו להתגלות להם לכ"א בגוון מיוחד.

In truth this is the aspect of the Avos, as it says, "I appeared to Avraham... but by My Name Hashem I was not known to them" (Shemos 6:3) — see there in the Zohar that the Avos merited a revelation, each one in a particular hue (gavna).

The Avos each experienced a revelation of Hashem through a distinct "color" or attribute (Avraham–chesed, Yitzchak–gevurah, Yaakov–tiferes), a revelation through differentiated forms.

ונבואת מרע"ה בבחי' ידיעה למעלה מגוונין ע"ש.

But the prophecy of Moshe Rabbeinu was on the level of "knowing" (yedi'ah), above all colors — see there.

Moshe's prophecy transcended any particular attribute or "color," reaching the undifferentiated essence above them.

וז"ש ששימש מרע"ה בימי המלואים בחלוק לבן כי לבן הוא קודם שינוי הגוונין.

This is why Moshe Rabbeinu served during the days of the Miluim (inauguration) in a white garment, for white precedes the differentiation of colors.

White, containing all colors yet itself colorless, represents Moshe's level above the differentiated attributes.

והתגלות בגוונים היא מעין מעשה בראשית לכבודו ברא כנ"ל.

And revelation through colors is akin to Maaseh Bereishis — "He created it for His honor," as mentioned above.

Revelation through distinct attributes parallels the differentiated, multicolored Creation, whose purpose is to reveal Hashem's honor.

וכן הי' בג' רגלים שלש פעמים בשנה יראה כמ"ש במ"א.

So too it was on the Shalosh Regalim (three festivals), "three times a year shall he be seen (yera'eh)" (Shemos 23:17), as explained elsewhere.

The festival "appearance" before Hashem is another instance of revelation through differentiated forms in the realm of time.

ושבת בחי' משה ונשמה יתירה דלית בה גוון.

But Shabbos is the aspect of Moshe and the neshamah yeseirah (the extra soul), in which there is no color.

Shabbos, like Moshe's prophecy, is colorless — above all differentiation, an undifferentiated revelation of essence.

לכן לא הי' ראי' בשבת.

Therefore there was no "appearance" (re'iyah) on Shabbos.

Because the festival "seeing" belongs to the realm of differentiated revelation, it had no place on the colorless plane of Shabbos.

אך לעתיד איתא דיעלו למקדש גם בשבת כמ"ש עין לא ראתה אלקים כו' יעשה למחכה לו.

But in the future it is taught that they will ascend to the Mikdash even on Shabbos, as it says, "No eye has seen, O God, besides You, what You will do for one who waits for Him" (Yeshayahu 64:3).

In the future a higher mode of revelation will be possible even on Shabbos — a "seeing" beyond physical sight.

פי' שישתנה ראית עין האדם למעלה מעיני בשר הנטבעים בגוף:

That is, the vision of man's eye will be transformed to be above the eyes of flesh that are embedded in the body.

In the future the very faculty of human sight will be elevated beyond the limited physical eye, enabling a perception of the undifferentiated Divine even on Shabbos.

Summary: Man was meant to rise above all Creation and cling to the very essence of Torah, the level of Moshe Rabbeinu, but the sin caused a fall, requiring rectification through the Mishkan, which mirrors Maaseh Bereishis. The Sefas Emes distinguishes two modes of revealing Hashem: through differentiated "colors" (the Avos, the festivals, the Mishkan, Creation itself) and the colorless, undifferentiated mode of pure "knowing" (Moshe, Shabbos, his white garment). The festival "appearance" belongs to the colored mode and thus had no place on Shabbos — until the future, when human vision itself will be elevated to perceive the Divine essence even on Shabbos.