Finding Fulfillment The second half of this week's portion addresses in great detail the seven days of Miluim, the inauguration and initiation of the priests to the temple service. After reading about the commandment to build the temple in the last portion and reading about the commandment to fashion beautiful garments for the priests in the first half of this week's portion, the Torah describes the process by which the priests were initiated into the priesthood, a process that took seven days, requiring unique offerings and services. The Hebrew word for the inauguration, Miluim, literally means to fill. The verse states "and you {Moses} shall fill the hand of Aaron and his sons", and refers to the offerings as "fulfillment", and the seven days as days of "fulfillment". What exactly does "fulfillment" mean in the context of inauguration, and why does the Torah use this unusual expression for the inauguration? The Kabbalists explain that the seven days of inauguration were designed to "fulfill" and "correct" the seven days of creation we read about in the book of Genesis. G-d created a beautiful world, but unfortunately the human being did not engage with the world in a wholesome manner, he defied the will of his creator by following the temptation of the tree of knowledge. He was therefore expelled from the tranquility and innocence of Eden. The construction of the temple was the opportunity to fill the world with what it was lacking from the time of the seven days of creation. The introduction of the temple, symbolizing the spiritual relationship with G-d, allowed a person to feel fulfilled. No amount of material possessions or pleasures can bring the person fulfillment, for the physical is inherently temporary and fleeting; it cannot confer a sense of fullness and permanence which it does not possess. Only by building a home for G-d, by filling the material objects and experiences with spiritual and holy meaning, can a person truly "fill" the physical world created during the seven days of creation with true fulfillment, pleasure, and joy that emerged from the seven days of the inauguration of the temple. Adapted from the Kedushat Levi
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