The Tabernacle

[Onlooker]

What do the items in the tabernacle represent? Did these items represent a template on how man "should" communicate with God? Do these items have any modern counterparts for Judaism?

 

[Herman Tripleton]

every catholic church has to have a relic in it. The relic is kept in the tabernacle. Even if it is just a table, there will be a compartment for the relic. It is usually a bone or tooth of some saint.

 

[Levite]

What do the items in the tabernacle represent? Did these items represent a template on how man "should" communicate with God? Do these items have any modern counterparts for Judaism?

The items in the Mishkan (it means "place of dwelling" or "place of manifestation," whereas I have no clue what the word tabernacle actually means, and neither do most people I have met) were both functional to support the sacrificial cult (I use the term in the anthroplogical sense, of a religion based in blood sacrifice), and also deeply symbolic of the spiritual process that Biblical Judaism sought to create and reinforce, as well as being often symbolic of the more lasting truths of Judaism as well.

For example, the menorah (seven-branched candelabrum), which is frequently misunderstood, did not merely appear as a lamp with three extra lamp arms on both sides. If one reads the directions for making it properly (which nobody seems to do, for one reason or another), it was actually sculpted in the shape of a flowering almond tree, which, because of the oil lamps worked into the flowers, was perpetually aflame. This was the perfect representation of the priesthood: the Burning Bush was the place at which Moses began his mission to lead the Jewish people to freedom, and is the place at which God revealed some of His most sacred names for us to use. The almond tree in flower was the sigil of the House of Aaron. The fusing of the two into one physicalized symbol of perpetual revelation through the House of Aaron was at the heart of the Mishkan, and of the Temple afterward.

The incense altar created not only a sweet scent, but a pillar of smoke that rose high into the air, and was visible for miles around. When the presence of God was manifest in cloud, the smoke, rising up to reach the cloud, was a massive symbol of the touching of Heaven and Earth.

The table with the twelve loaves represented not only the offering to God of the fruits of the land that He gave us, and not only the gift of each of the twelve tribes to God of their own produce, but also represented the work of God and the work of humanity becoming one (bread = wheat, yeast, and other kinds of produce created by God, but turned into flour, kneaded together, and baked in a brick oven by people, using the arts they developed themselves with their God-given intelligence).

The ark, which contained only the stone slabs upon which were engraved the commandments (and the fragments of the first such stone slabs, that Moses broke in anger), symbolized the centrality of the words of Torah, and its presence in the Holy of Holies, instead of the physical represtation of God that would have occupied such a spot in any other temple of any other ancient people, reminded us that God is not physical, or able to be represented physically, but what we have are His words, which are eternal.

Many other theories of what those and all the other items symbolized and represented have been put forth. There are virtually no limits to how one can interpret and reinterpret their meaning.

Today, both since we no longer have a central location where all Jews must come to serve God, and since we no longer practice blood sacrifice, but rather offer prayers instead, there is nothing like the Mishkan, and nothing quite like the sacred objects that were part of its daily ritual practice.

However, Jews today employ many ritual objects that are meaningful, and some, such as the holy arks in synagogues, where the Torah scrolls are stored, are allusions or echoes of the ritual objects of the Mishkan and Temple. Above every synagogue's holy ark is a lamp left perpetually lit, a reminder of the menorah. Every shabbat (sabbath), we ritually bless bread at our tables, in part as a memorial of the bread in the Mishkan or Temple. The eight-branched chanukkiah that is lit on the festival of Chanukkah is a memorial of the menorah, also.

And we have many ritual objects that are not connected with the Mishkan or Temple, but are of great importance to us in our daily lives, such as the tallit (prayer shawl) and tefillin (small black boxes containing parchments with verses from the Torah, with leather straps that are tied to the head and the arm during morning prayers); the kippah (ritual head covering), tzitzit (fringed garments worn by most Orthodox and some Conservative Jewish men, and some Conservative women, under their shirts); or the special cup (often double-handled) that we use to ritually wash our hands before eating bread; the candlesticks used to light at least two candles for shabbat every week; the braided candle and box of spices used in the havdalah ritual, which marks the ending of shabbat every week; the mezuzah (a cylinder containing a parchment with verses of Torah, attached to every doorway in a Jewish home), and many other such.

And of course, our most important ritual objects are books. We value learning and scholarship, and immersion in sacred text, as much as or more than any other ritual duty. Traditional Jewish homes have many books of sacred text, and we treat them as ritual objects. For example, if one has a copy of the Torah, or a volume of Talmud, one does not place other books or objects on top of them, even if they are closed; if the book falls to the floor, it is immediately picked up and kissed; and if it becomes damaged beyond repair, it is not thrown out, but taken to a genizah (a place for collection of damaged sacred texts), and buried, along with other damaged sacred texts.

In any case, as to the question about whether these ritual objects "represent a template on how man 'should' communicate with God," I think the answer is no. They represented ways in which the Jews communicated with God during a certain period of history. Perhaps, if the messiah comes, and the Temple is rebuilt, some of those objects will be recreated, and used again to help Jews communicate with God. But they were never the only way to communicate with God, and anyhow, they were only relevant to the Jewish People. It is a notion foreign to Judaism, introduced by Christianity, that what is in the Torah or practiced by the Jewish People is relevant to non-Jews. Judaism has always held that the Torah was given to the Jewish People, the commandments were for the Jews, the duties and the struggles of Jewish observance and living were about and for the Jewish people; not for non-Jews. The assumption is that non-Jews have their own ways of relating to God, their own relationships with God, which have nothing to do with us, either.

 

[Onlooker]

In any case, as to the question about whether these ritual objects "represent a template on how man 'should' communicate with God," I think the answer is no. They represented ways in which the Jews communicated with God during a certain period of history. Perhaps, if the messiah comes, and the Temple is rebuilt, some of those objects will be recreated, and used again to help Jews communicate with God. But they were never the only way to communicate with God, and anyhow, they were only relevant to the Jewish People. It is a notion foreign to Judaism, introduced by Christianity, that what is in the Torah or practiced by the Jewish People is relevant to non-Jews. Judaism has always held that the Torah was given to the Jewish People, the commandments were for the Jews, the duties and the struggles of Jewish observance and living were about and for the Jewish people; not for non-Jews. The assumption is that non-Jews have their own ways of relating to God, their own relationships with God, which have nothing to do with us, either.

My assumption is that God wants to communicate with His creation. Abram was a chosen man with faith in this monotheistic Creator. His generations are blessed and have been given much wisdom concerning many things, especially information of the Creator.
No doubt non-Jews are on their own concerning their method of communication. But it cant hurt if we try to evaluate Gods method. (Who can doubt that some of us have lost sight of the forest for the trees).
I find it interesting that the physical path into the Tabernacle as well as the ritual stations probably signify some algorithm that God prefers. You obviously cannot have effective prayer life if you are unclean.
What do you think of the Lavar being made out of brass? Was self reflection a part of the process, or it just happened to be made from brass mirrors?
Do you think the constant incense represents constant prayers (ritualistic/repetitive) or constant "Gods" word being spoken to Him, or constant talking/conversing with God (not in a ritualistic manner)? Whatever it was, that incense was going 24/7 wasn't it?
What do you think the meaning of the menorah being hammered out of one piece of gold meant? Whether it was a almond tree, elliptical, 45 degree angle or semicircular shaped, that was going 24/7 also.

 

[Levite]

My assumption is that God wants to communicate with His creation. Abram was a chosen man with faith in this monotheistic Creator. His generations are blessed and have been given much wisdom concerning many things, especially information of the Creator.
No doubt non-Jews are on their own concerning their method of communication. But it cant hurt if we try to evaluate Gods method. (Who can doubt that some of us have lost sight of the forest for the trees).
I find it interesting that the physical path into the Tabernacle as well as the ritual stations probably signify some algorithm that God prefers. You obviously cannot have effective prayer life if you are unclean.
What do you think of the Lavar being made out of brass? Was self reflection a part of the process, or it just happened to be made from brass mirrors?
Do you think the constant incense represents constant prayers (ritualistic/repetitive) or constant "Gods" word being spoken to Him, or constant talking/conversing with God (not in a ritualistic manner)? Whatever it was, that incense was going 24/7 wasn't it?
What do you think the meaning of the menorah being hammered out of one piece of gold meant? Whether it was a almond tree, elliptical, 45 degree angle or semicircular shaped, that was going 24/7 also.

I personally believe that Torah is a joint venture between God and human beings. The way that I resolve the quandary of revelation versus the documentary hypothesis is to presume that the Torah had multiple authors, who were guided by divine inspiration-- an inspiration which was, in some measure, flawed by imperfect reception.

This is relevant because, while I am prepared to believe that God would wish the Jewish People to come up with places of worship, where we might come to seek Him out, I can't help seeing the precise details of all of this as being human invention. Which is not to say that the details could not be holy and full of sacred symbolism: only to say that the precise the design and layout of the Mishkan was, IMO, probably not of particular concern to God, but was indeed of great concern to the Levitical Priests who came up with that design and layout.

I have always thought that ritual impurity was, at heart, symbolic of a need to be aware of God's presence, and of why things happen, and what our motivations are. Thus, it is not fitting to come before God if we are wrapped up in meaningless and hedonistic sex, or in masochistic letting our own blood, or in rage of war, or even in the inner solitude and sanctity of menstruation or new motherhood. It's not that what is at the root of any of those things are bad, only that we should seek to balance them, and not be ruled by them, so that we see their place (and our own place) in a larger context.

As for the symbolism of the ritual implements, I think that there is no reason to suppose that the lavers were mirrored. Brass was merely a semi-precious metal. But if there were symbolism to the lavers, I think that the requirement for priests to wash before offering a sacrifice (or by all Jews today to wash before eating bread) is about taking a moment to think about the purity of one's state of being, and how focused we should be in that moment on offering praise to God, offering thanks for sustenance, and recalling who created us. And as to the incense, I think it is less about offering constant prayer (never a requirement in Judaism), but about remembering that revelation is constant and ongoing-- which is what I think that the menorah was about, also. If there was any symbolism to the menorah being beaten from gold, I think it would have to do with the totality or integrity of revelation.

 

[Onlooker]

I personally believe that Torah is a joint venture between God and human beings. The way that I resolve the quandary of revelation versus the documentary hypothesis is to presume that the Torah had multiple authors, who were guided by divine inspiration-- an inspiration which was, in some measure, flawed by imperfect reception.

It is complicated to consider how a Creator is suppose to give revelation to a human brain, which by any definition is imperfect. The subconscious is a filter that biases every soul, its on 24/7 and limits our "conscious" to the "filtered" perception of reality. That is to say, not many people witnessing a car collision can match their observation 100 %. So we all "see" differently.
Now you have a revelation to write down. Its got to be filtered.
So, what is the end game. Peace of mind, logical reading, accuracy in prophecy?
Really, there is no accuracy measurement except prophecies and "truths". Maybe this bible code stuff can show a more "divine" intervention.
But for me, its comforting to think our Creator desires to communicate, and so far, his "examples" are standing the test of time (His "people", his "prophecies" such as those that concern Israel and His "words" that seem to be relevant).

This is relevant because, while I am prepared to believe that God would wish the Jewish People to come up with places of worship, where we might come to seek Him out, I can't help seeing the precise details of all of this as being human invention. Which is not to say that the details could not be holy and full of sacred symbolism: only to say that the precise the design and layout of the Mishkan was, IMO, probably not of particular concern to God, but was indeed of great concern to the Levitical Priests who came up with that design and layout.

I respect your Jewish perception of this. As a non-Jew I am amazed at God's love of numbers. 40 days rain, 40 days of Moses on mountain (twice) 40 years of wandering, etc. So it wouldn't surprise me that God had reasons for his dimensions. And forget about all the color and texture combination's.

 

[Flankerl]

(it means "place of dwelling" or "place of manifestation," whereas I have no clue what the word tabernacle actually means, and neither do most people I have met)

Yeah i thought the same so i searched a bit.
"English from the 14th century, via Old French from Latin tabernaculum “tent, booth, shed”, the diminutive of taberna “hut, shed”."

So basically its the christian term.... i guess.

Now i feel wiser and will probably never use my new knowledge again.