In the Torah’s presentation of the experience of Har Sinai, Moshe ascended the mountain for 40 days – a period that began at the end of last week’s parsha and continues for eight chapters. The content of those chapters – comprising this week and next week’s parshiot – is the building of the Mishkan and the service of the Kohanim. No one would dispute the significance of the Mishkan, but it does raise the question as to why Moshe’s 40 miraculous days are presented in this limited way. What was the Mishkan and why was it so central?
 
The Ramban (25:1) offers a suggestion about the purpose of the Mishkan and why the Torah presents its construction in these parshiot. He explains that the Mishkan exists so that the divine presence experienced at Har Sinai could always accompany Bnei Yisrael in all their travels. He then goes on to explain that the reason the people required this portable version of Har Sinai is because the Mishkan served as a symbol of the relationship between God and the Bnei Yisrael which is why it was the place of meeting – the address for prophecy and connection.
 
The Mishkan was not merely a place of worship. It was a place in which every aspect of national life coalesced. מאת כל איש אשר ידבנו לבו תקחו את תרומתי –  The opening lines of our Parsha invite every member of society to contribute however he or she may have wanted. EVERYONE had the opportunity to take part.
 
Maybe the Ramban is correct that the Mishkan was meant to serve as a Har Sinai in miniature. And maybe he’s correct that the central function of this portable Har Sinai was the ne’vuah of Moshe Rabeinu. But maybe the reason why that is so is because to be a people – to be Am Yisrael – requires a common point of reference, a common point of dedication, a common and communal form of worship and a common opportunity to take part in the divine mission that characterized every moment of the Mishkan’s existence.
 
Why is it that the 40 days of the greatest revelation in history are presented in the Torah as comprising only the Mishkan and the kohanim? If we’re correct, then the Mishkan was the piece of the vast blueprint of Torat Hashem that made us a united people. It transformed us from Bnei Yisrael – the children of Israel into Am Yisrael – the Nation of Israel. In the pursuit of our divine mission to be a ממלכת כהנים וגוי קדוש – this is the prerequisite. There is no mission and there is no sanctity if we are not united.

Shabbat Shalom.