Any building is a complex project,
Both interior and façade;
How much more so
The Mishkan,
The House built for our G-d.
The outcome would be supernatural,
The divine promise
From Hashem:
“And they will build for me a sanctuary
And I will dwell among them.”
Not solely dwell in the structure,
But within each individual,
The promise of the Mishkan was fulfilled,
Each day saw miracles.
The blueprint for its construction
Was precise, with no room for error.
But man was only asked to do his best;
The rest, Hashem took over.
Loyalty to the details
Involved humility,
Executing plans, articulating
Skills, beyond man’s capacity.
In 2003, the space shuttle Columbia
Exploded,
Entering Earth’s atmosphere;
The mission had been deemed a success,
The cause, for some time, was unclear.
This spacecraft had involved
Great technological complexity,
A seemingly minute detail
Overlooked, meant catastrophe.
How much more so
Did the Mishkan
Require total diligence,
When every material, every detail,
Held cosmic significance.
The yeitzer ha’ra
Whispers to us,
Causing our thoughts to scatter,
Saying:
In halachah, t’filah, or mitzvos,
The details don’t really matter:
We’re elevating form over substance.
It’s a lie,
For each detail
We give our best to,
Lessens the distance
Between heaven and Israel.
These things, in fact,
Are all we can give
The world and all in it,
Is Yours,
You have given us the best of this world,
For our faith in You endures.
Of Your great House,
HaKadosh Baruch Hu,
One western wall still stands.
Your children long to be there
Travel to it, from many lands.
Though it’s days of splendor are gone,
Many eras have since past;
We are promised one day we’ll rebuild it,
We hold to that promise fast.
We still have the blueprints
Through millennia,
We have kept them intact;
In Your Holy Scriptures,
Each word of the directive
Is exact.
Please bring back the beautiful tachash
Set in gold;
Your Holy City
Bring us to Your Holy Mountain,
To Your Eternal Sanctuary.
Gather us, Your scattered children,
From Your world’s near and far-flung parts;
Let us build the Beis HaMikdash
From the Mishkan
That lives in our hearts.
By Sharon Marcus
