"Bigdei Kahuna" Parsha page by Rabbi Yehuda Katz

VAYAKHEL

"Every wise-hearted person shall come and make everything that Hashem has commanded: the Tabernacle.........................................................................(35:10-)

In the Torah portion of Vayakhel, there is a repeat of the previous command to build the Mishkan (Tabernacle). A question can be asked, why is the Torah doing this? If the building of the Tabernacle was a command for the generation that emerged from Egypt, why repeat it again? I would like to propose the following original answer, Bezrat Hashem: We find in verse 25:8 (" They shall make a sanctuary for Me, so that I may dwell among them") the primary reason why G-d had commanded the nation of Israel to construct the Tabernacle, namely as a location where G-d can dwell together with the Israelites. This is very significant in deed. However, by repeating the command to rebuild the Tabernacle, the Torah is teaching us that this command is relevent to us as it was to the Biblical generation. We must all build a sanctuary where G-d can dwell even today. This is not an old command applying only to our ancestors, but is also incumbent upon ourselves. We need to allow G-d to dwell in our midst's. This is done when we open our hearts , and begin constructing a Mishkan within ourselves that is capable of serving G-d as the Mishkan was to our forefathers. The lessons of the different elements of the MIshkan and its construction can perhaps show us the way. But, this will take much study and time. This is precisely why the Torah repeats it again in the portions of Vayakhel and Pekudai in order to emphasis its significance to us personally. Have a good Shabbos