The Grand Finale You finally conclude an extraordinary construction project. It took much time and intense effort, but you finally achieved your goal. You designed your home, it is built, furnished, and ready to settle in to enjoy the peace and tranquility. This is the feeling we expect to get as we reach the end of the book of Exodus, at the conclusion of five portions which discuss the commandment to build the temple and its furnishing, and the actual building of the project. Indeed, the verses toward the end of the book of Exodus seem to be describing this sense of peaceful settling in at the conclusion of the construction: He {Moses} set up the courtyard all around the Mishkan and the altar, and he put up the screen at the entrance to the courtyard; and Moses completed the work. And the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the Mishkan. (40:33-34) Surprisingly, instead of the book concluding at this point, focusing on the outstanding achievement of the completion of the construction, the Torah adds three verses that seem entirely out of context: When the cloud rose up from over the Mishkan, the children of Israel set out in all their journeys. But if the cloud did not rise up, they did not set out until the day that it rose. For the cloud of the Lord was upon the Mishkan by day, and there was fire within it at night, before the eyes of the entire house of Israel in all their journeys. (40:36-38) These verses describing the journey through the desert are stated toward the beginning of the book of Numbers when the Jewish people began the journey from Sinai toward the land of Israel. Why are the verses describing the journey repeated here, when we are focusing on the Divine presence resting within the temple? We each have a" temple" within our own lives; the moments we dedicate to prayer, Torah study, performing a mitzvah; the moments we dedicate to constructing our own personal "temple", the creation of a home for G-d within our consciousness and our lives. Yet, the goal of these moments is, not that they remain isolated experiences, but rather that they "travel" and influence all areas of our life. The purpose of the holy moments in our day is, ultimately, to sanctify and bring meaning and purpose to all of our mundane activities. We are not seeking to escape the ordinary in order to experience a holy moment; but rather we are seeking to engage in holiness in order to sanctify the mundane. This is the finale of the book of Exodus: we build a home for G-d, yet the purpose of the home is, as the final words of the book declare, "in all their journeys," to spread the holiness to every corner of the world, transforming all of the earth into a home for the Divine. Adapted from the teachings of the Rebbe, Lekutei Sichos 16 Pekudei 3
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