Adapted from Likkutei Sichos, Vol. XXI, Vayakhel-Pekudei

Three Different Conceptions

As mentioned,[1] the Rambam does not consider the fashioning of the utensils of the Beis HaMikdash - the altars, the menorah, the table for the showbread - as mitzvos in their own right. Instead, his conception is that these activities are all included in the mitzvah of constructing the Beis HaMikdash.

We can understand the Rambam's conception of the relationship between these utensils and the Beis HaMikdash by comparing it to a frequently used Rabbinic conception - the relationship between the individual elements of a greater whole, to that whole.[2] In general, there are three ways of describing this relationship:

1. The particular elements have no importance in their own right. Their existence assumes significance only when they are united and forged into a greater entity. To use slightly different wording - the existence of the individual elements is merely a preparation for their ultimate inclusion into the greater whole.

   To cite a halachic example: A single strand of tzitzis is of no significance whatsoever. When, however, it is joined with three other strands and they are tied in the proper manner producing eight strands, a tzitzah is formed which can be used - together with three others - to fulfill the command of the Torah.

2. The particular elements are each considered important in their own right. Nevertheless, a new and more encompassing significance is generated when they come together to form the whole. For example, the formation of a minyan when ten men come together for prayer. Every individual person possesses a certain dimension of holiness. Nevertheless, the union of ten individuals, establishing a communal entity, generates a far greater degree of holiness.

3. The particular elements of the greater whole are not individually significant. Nevertheless, after the greater whole has been established, each of the particular entities also is granted a measure of individual importance.

   This concept can be illustrated by using an example from the Beis HaMikdash itself. The Beis HaMikdash is composed of several different elements: the Courtyard,[3] the Sanctuary, and the Holy of Holies. Until the Beis HaMikdash as a whole was completed, none of these particular elements had any holiness attached to it. Once the Beis HaMikdash was sanctified, however, each of these particular elements was granted a degree of holiness of its own in addition to the holiness of the Beis HaMikdash as a whole.

   This concept is reflected in the designation of each of these portions of the Beis HaMikdash as a different category of holiness: "The Courtyard of the Israelites is holier than the Women's Courtyard.... The Sanctuary is holier.... The chamber of the Holy of Holies is holier than it."[4]

   The distinct status of each of these portions of the Beis HaMikdash is further emphasized by a law which states[5] that an object that was dedicated to be used for the construction of one of these portions may not be used for the construction of a different portion.[6]

Applying These Concepts to the Utensils of the Beis HaMikdash

According to the first conception, it can be explained that the different utensils necessary for the construction of the Beis HaMikdash had no independent importance of their own. When, however, the Beis HaMikdash was completed, these utensils received importance as parts of this greater whole.[7]

According to the second conception, the utensils possessed importance as sacred articles even before the Beis HaMikdash was constructed. When, however, they were included in that structure, they and the structure as a whole, were granted a new dimension of sanctity; for the Beis HaMikdash, the resting place for G-d's Presence, had been completed.

According to the third conception, the utensils of the Beis HaMikdash did not, originally, possess any sanctity. Nevertheless, after the Beis HaMikdash was constructed, these utensils were endowed, not only with the sanctity of the Beis HaMikdash as a whole, but were also granted a measure in their own right.[8]

Differences in Halachah stemming from these Three Approaches

The utensils of the Beis HaMikdash must be fashioned for the sake of being used for this holy purpose.[9] Accordingly, the three different approaches mentioned above are significant in regard to the intent a person must have when fashioning such a utensil.

According to the first approach, one must have the intent that one is fashioning a portion of the Beis HaMikdash. According to the second approach, one must have in mind the sacred nature of the particular utensil one is fashioning. And according to the third approach, both intents - that one is fashioning a portion of the Beis HaMikdash as a whole, and that one is making a utensil which will possess its own unique holiness - are required.

A second difference results from the law prohibiting the construction of the Beis HaMikdash at night.[10] According to the first and third approaches, since fashioning the utensils is considered as part of the construction of the Beis HaMikdash, this prohibition applies to the utensils as well. Since, by contrast, the second approach sees these utensils as having an independent measure of holiness, they are granted importance of their own. Fashioning them, thus, can be viewed a distinct act, separate from the construction of the Beis HaMikdash, and is, therefore, permitted at night.

The Rambam's Approach

From a careful analysis of the wording used by the Rambam in Sefer HaMitzvos, we can reach a conclusion concerning his approach to this issue. There the Rambam states:

This charge of a general nature[, the commandment to make a Sanctuary,] includes many diverse elements: the menorah, the table [for the showbread], the altar, and others. All of these are parts of the Sanctuary and they are all included under this name, despite the fact that there is an individual commandment for each of these elements.

This implies that the commandment to make a Sanctuary for G-d is to include "many diverse elements." Although a single identity is intended to permeate the entire structure, the existence of different utensils that have a unique measure of holiness of their own is not considered a contradiction to their being part of this greater whole.

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May the intent necessary when fashioning the utensils of the Beis HaMikdash soon be a matter of actual and not abstract concern, with the coming of the Redemption, when we will join in the construction of the Third Beis HaMikdash. And may this take place in the immediate future.

   

Notes:

1. (Back to text) See the previous essay entitled "The Purpose of Building the Beis HaMikdash" and the sources mentioned there.

2. (Back to text) The Rambam discusses this matter in Sefer HaMitzvos, positive commandment 20. Although the traditional translation of the text does not mention the terms kkf and yrp, significantly, a more modern translation of that text, that of Rav Kapach, does employ these terms.

3. (Back to text) More particularly, the courtyard of the Beis HaMikdash itself subdivides into several different elements: the courtyard of the Israelites, the courtyard of the Priests, and the area between the altar and the Ulam (the entrance hall of the Beis HaMikdash). See Hilchos Beis HaBechirah 7:18-20.

4. (Back to text) Op cit.:18-22.

5. (Back to text) Hilchos Temurah 4:11.

6. (Back to text) Moreover, it can be explained that the particular holiness associated with these different elements of the Beis HaMikdash remains even after the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash. This is indicated by the Rambam's ruling (Hilchos Beis HaBechirah 6:15) that we may offer sacrifices even though the Beis HaMikdash is destroyed and partake of sacrifices of the most holy order (ohase hase) in the area of the courtyard of the Beis HaMikdash although it is not surrounded by a divider. This ruling implies that not only the sanctity of the Beis HaMikdash as a whole remains after its destruction (see op. cit.:16), but also intact is the holiness associated with its particular elements.

7. (Back to text) According to this conception, the commandment for the priests to cover the different utensils of the Sanctuary while it was being transported (Bamidbar, ch. 4) does not result from the holiness those utensils received as portions of the Sanctuary. For at that time, the Sanctuary had already been dismantled. Rather, it is a new and independent command.

8. (Back to text) Alternatively, one might explain that even if the utensils possessed a certain measure of sanctity before the Beis HaMikdash was completed, the completion of that structure endowed these utensils not only with the sanctity involved with the Beis HaMikdash as a whole, but with a greater measure of individual sanctity.

9. (Back to text) Hilchos Beis HaBechirah 1:20.

10. (Back to text) Op. cit.