THEMES of Featured Contemporary Kabbalists Articles

The ground under the Tabernacle absorbed holiness only while the Tabernacle stood upon it. When the Tabernacle moved on, the ground reverted to its previous, mundane status. Later, the holiness of the Temples was compelling enough to affect even the inanimate aspects of Creation. Hence the ground upon which the Temples stood remains holy even today.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe cites three opinions when G-d commanded the construction of the Tabernacle: 1) after the giving of the Torah, before the sin of the Golden Calf; 2) after the sin of the Golden Calf, on Yom Kippur; and 3) after the first Yom Kippur.

These three opinions directly correspond to three general types of people and their connection to the Divine Presence in This World: 1) the holy mystic, or completely righteous soul, 2) the penitent, and 3) the sinner. Thus we learn how every kind of Jew has its own unique connection to G-d.

The highest level of consciousness of the Divine - that of total unity with G-d - is embodied in the inner chamber of the Tabernacle/Temple and its Ark of the Covenant. The Ark housed the Tablets of the Covenant, on which were engraved the Ten Commandments, encapsulating the entire Torah.

This teaches us that a person can achieve this degree of intense unity with G-d only through Torah study and specifically, through the study of the inner dimension of the Torah - Kabbalah and Chasidut.

Silver represents the perfectly righteous, who funnel divine "light" into the mundane world. Gold is rarer and therefore more precious than silver; it represents those who have struggled with darkness and won. Copper represents those who live within the mundane but bring no light into it.