Was Moshe Rabbeinu Really a Giant?

An Insightful Study into How the Mishkan was Erected

After completing the work of building the individual components of the Mishkan, the Torah tells us that B'nei Yisrael brought all the components to Moshe Rabbeinu (Shemot 39:33): וַיָּבִיאוּ אֶת־הַמִּשְׁכָּן אֶל־מֹשֶׁה אֶת־הָאֹהֶל וְאֶת־כׇּל־כֵּלָיו קְרָסָיו קְרָשָׁיו בְּרִיחָו וְעַמֻּדָיו וַאֲדָנָיו (And they brought the Mishkan to Moshe, the tent, and all its components, its hooks, its boards, its bars and its pillars). The next few pesukim (39:34-41) list the rest of the components that they brought. Why did they bring all of the components to Moshe? Why didn't they just assembly the Mishkan themselves?

Rashi provides us with the simple answer: שֶׁלֹּא הָיוּ יְכוֹלִין לַהֲקִימוֹ (They weren't able to erect it). And why weren't they able to erect it? Rashi explains: שֶׁלֹּא הָיָה יָכוֹל לַהֲקִימוֹ שׁוּם אָדָם מֵחֲמַת כֹּבֶד הַקְּרָשִׁים שֶׁאֵין כֹּחַ בָּאָדָם לְזָקְפָן (No man was able to erect it because of the weight of the boards, for man does not have the strength to stand them upright). What is this? Man has the strength to erect massive structures like skyscrapers, yet he doesn't have the strength to erect gold-plated boards? What's going on here?

To make matters even stranger, Rashi also says: וּלְפִי שֶׁלֹּא עָשָׂה מֹשֶׁה שׁוּם מְלָאכָה בַמִּשְׁכָּן, הִנִּיחַ לוֹ הַקָּבָּ"ה הֲקָמָתוֹ (And since Moshe hadn't done any work on the Mishkan, Ha-Kadosh, baruch Hu, let him erect it). So the people couldn't erect it because they had no strength to do it, but really, it was because Hashem wanted to be nice to Moshe to give him the honor of erecting it. How does that make sense? Rashi also says there: אָמַר מֹשֶׁה לִפְנֵי הַקָּבָּ"ה אֵיךְ אֶפְשָׁר הֲקָמָתוֹ ע"י אָדָם? אָמַר לוֹ עֲסֹק אַתָּה בְּיָדְךָ וְנִרְאֶה כִּמְקִימוֹ וְהוּא נִזְקָף וְקָם מֵאֵלָיו (Moshe said before Ha-Kadosh, baruch Hu, 'How is it possible to erect it by human effort?' He said to him, 'You be involved with your hand, and it'll appear as if you are erecting it, but [really] it'll erect itself and stand on its own'). So there you have it. So...what? Hashem told Moshe to fake it, to just go through the motions – to make it look like he was erecting it – but really, he wouldn't be doing anything? Not only is this bizarre, but it sounds downright deceptive.

What is Rashi trying to address here? He wants us to focus on the strange wording in Shemot 40:17: וַיְהִי בַּחֹדֶשׁ הָרִאשׁוֹן בַּשָּׁנָה הַשֵּׁנִית בְּאֶחָד לַחֹדֶשׁ הוּקַם הַמִּשְׁכָּן (And it came to pass in the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month, the Mishkan was erected [hukam]). The word hukam implies a passive process, not an active one. In other words, the pasuk seems to say that the Mishkan was erected on its own without any human effort. In case we find this far-fetched, this is exactly the interference drawn by Rashi in his comment on 39:33 that we quoted above. He concludes his lengthy comment with these words: וְזֶהוּ שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר הוּקַם הַמִּשְׁכָּן הוּקַם מֵאֵלָיו מִדְרַשׁ רַ' תַנְחוּמָא (And this is that which is said [in 40:17] 'the Mishkan was erected [i.e. hukam]', erected on its own – Midrash R' Tanchuma).

Let's now follow the thread to the Midrash. As its discussion is lengthy, we'll summarize parts of it. After B'nei Yisrael built all of the components for the Mishkan, they sat down and waited, expecting the Shechinah to descend and rest upon their labor. As this didn't happen, they got agitated and went to those who were 'wise-hearted' [חַכְמֵי-לֵב] and told them to erect the Mishkan. They tried to erect it, but every time they tried to put it together, it would collapse. Getting more frustrated, they went to Betzalel and Oholiav, the two tzaddikim whom Hashem appointed over the work of the Mishkan, and asked them to erect it. They tried just like the others, but couldn't get the Mishkan to stay erect. It kept falling down.

By this time, the people were getting frustrated and started to complain (Tanchuma, Pekudei 11): הִתְחִילוּ מְסִיחִין וּמְרַנְּנִין וְאוֹמְרִים: רְאוּ מֶה עָשָׂה לָנוּ בֶן עַמְרָם שֶׁהוֹצִיא אֶת מָמוֹנֵנוּ בַּמִּשְׁכָּן הַזֶה וְהִכְנִיס אוֹתָנוּ לְכָל הַטֹּרַח הַזֶּה וְאָמַר לָנוּ כִּי הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא יוֹרֵד מִן הָעֶלְיוֹנִים וְשׁוֹרֶה בְּתוֹךְ יְרִיעוֹת עִזִּים שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: וְשָׁכַנְתִּי בְּתוֹכָם (They started complaining and murmuring, and they said: See what the son of Amram did to us, how he took out our wealth for this Mishkan and got us involved in all this bother, and said to us that Ha-Kadosh, baruch Hu, would come down from the Upper Worlds and come to rest within the curtains of goat's hair, as it says [Shemot 25:8]: 'And I will dwell among them'). It seems like whenever B'nei Yisrael fail a test regarding emunah, their deep-seated animosity and jealousy toward Moshe Rabbeinu resurfaces. First, they called him 'son of Amram', a term lacking respect and honor. Second, they insinuated that he robbed them of their wealth. Third, they accused him of wasting their time on a futile and useless project, much like the burdensome work that they had to do in Egypt. Finally, they accused him of lying by holding out promises that turned out to be ill-founded. We see that even after spending months working together in peace and harmony doing what Hashem had commanded Moshe, they still had an on-again, off-again opinion of Moshe Rabbeinu. So on a simple level, we can now understand why the common people, B'nei Yisrael, weren't able to erect the Mishkan – they had issues with Moshe. But what about the wise-hearted or the tzaddikim? Why weren't they able to do it.

Presenting us with a deeper look into why the word hukam was used in the Torah to describe the erecting of the Mishkan, the Ba'al Shem Tov taught (Pekudei 1): והנה עשיית המשכן היה הכוונה שיהיה מחשבתן על מלאכת המשכן העליון וכמו שנאמר מקור הוקם המשכן ודרשו כי בהקמת המשכן למטה הוקם למעלה...ומחשבתן היה ברוחני לבנות משכן העליון (And behold, the intent in building the Mishkan was that their thoughts were on building the Supernal Mishkan, and like the source says [Shemot 40:17], 'the Mishkan was erected', and they explained that in erecting the Mishkan below, the Mishkan above was erected...and their thoughts were spiritual to build the Supernal Mishkan). This is a very deep idea and we won't pretend to grasp it fully, but what is clear is that the thoughts and intentions [kavanot] of B'nei Yisrael while they were working on building all of the components to the Mishkan were very lofty – we might even say, 'Kabbalistic'. And this is to their eternal credit and honor. Nevertheless, despite all of that, the wise-hearted and the tzaddikim still weren't able to erect the Mishkan. Why not?

R' Nachman teaches (Likutei Moharan 2:6): וְכָל תְּפִלָּה וּתְפִלָּה שֶׁכָּל אֶחָד מִתְפַּלֵּל הוּא בְּחִינַת אֵיבָר מֵהַשְּׁכִינָה שֶׁהֵם אֵיבְרֵי הַמִּשְׁכָּן שֶׁאֵין שׁוּם אֶחָד מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל יָכוֹל לְאַעֲלָא שְׁיָפָא בִּשְׁיָפָא כָּל חַד לְדוּכְתֵהּ אֶלָּא מֹשֶׁה בִּלְחוּד. בִּשְׁבִיל זֶה צָרִיךְ לְהָבִיא וּלְקַשֵּׁר כָּל הַתְּפִלּוֹת לְצַדִּיק הַדּוֹר, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב: וַיָּבִיאוּ אֶת הַמִּשְׁכָּן אֶל מֹשֶׁה (Each and every prayer that each person prays is an aspect of a component of the Shechinah, which [collectively] are components of the Mishkan, and no Jew is able to raise each and every component, each one to its place, except Moshe alone. For this reason, it is necessary to bring and connect all the prayers to the Tzaddik of the generation, as it is written [Shemot 39:33], 'And they brought the Mishkan to Moshe'). This is what they all, even the greatest tzaddikim among them, had to learn. They had to learn that no one other than Moshe himself actually knew how to erect the Mishkan, i.e. to take all of the kavanot, thoughts and prayers of every single Jew and to put them together into a living and Supernal Mishkan, a true dwelling place for the Shechinah.

But this begs the question: How come Moshe knew how to do this? He knew because he was the only one who truly had connected himself to each and every Jew. His soul is so vast, so to speak, that it encompasses each and every one of us – even to this day. So how did he manage to acquire such a lofty soul? Through unbounded love and extraordinary mesirut nefesh, he perfected his ability to find the good point(s) in each and every Jew, even among the so-called wicked in the nation – even after the terrible debacle of the sin of the golden calf. This is well explained by R' Natan in Likutei Halachot (Hilchot Haskamat ha-Boker 1:3): כִּי תֵּכֶף אַחַר מַעֲשֵׂה הָעֵגֶל נִצְטַוּוּ עַל מְלֶאכֶת הַמִּשְׁכָּן עַל־יְדֵי שֶׁנִּתְרַצָּה הַשֵּׁם־יִתְבָּרַךְ לְיִשְׂרָאֵל עַל־יְדֵי מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּנוּ שֶׁמָּסַר נַפְשׁוֹ עֲלֵיהֶם וְהִתְפַּלֵּל בַּעֲדָם כִּי מֹשֶׁה הָיָה יָכוֹל זֹאת לִמְצֹא נְקֻדָּה טוֹבָה אֲפִלּוּ בְּהַפָּחוּת שֶׁבַּפְּחוּתִים כַּמְבֹאָר בְּדִבְרֵי רַבֵּנוּ זַ״ל כּמַָּה פּעְמִָים. וְעַל־יְדֵי־זֶה הָיָה יָכוֹל לְהִתְפַּלֵּל עֲלֵיהֶם תָּמִיד אֲפִלּוּ כְּשֶׁפָּגְמוּ בְּכָל הַתּוֹרָה כֻּלָּה בְּמַעֲשֵׂה הָעֵגֶל אַף־עַל־פִּי־כֵן מָצָא בָּהֶם נְקֻדּוֹת טוֹבוֹת (For immediately after the episode of the calf, they were commanded to construct the Mishkan because Hashem, may He be blessed, was appeased on behalf of Yisrael because Moshe Rabbeinu sacrificed himself for them and prayed on their behalf, for Moshe was able to find a good point even in the most inferior of them, as explained in many places by our teacher [R' Nachman], may his memory be a blessing. And through this he was able to pray for them constantly, even when they transgressed the entire Torah in the matter of the calf. Even so, he found good points in them). But not only this, the Mishkan itself was literally built from these good points (Hilchot Haskamat ha-Boker 1:4): כִּי הַמִּשְׁכָּן נִבְנָה מִכָּל הַטּוֹב שֶׁנִּתְבָּרֵר מִכָּל אֶחָד מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל...שֶׁהֵבִיא כָּל אֶחָד וְאֶחָד כְּפִי הַנְּקֻדָּה טוֹבָה שֶׁלּוֹ (For the Mishkan was built from all the good that was refined from every single Jew...each and every one brought according to his good point).

Now we can understand why Rashi said that the people couldn't erect the Mishkan because the boards were heavy. It is taught in Berachot 54b: מֹשֶׁה כַּמָּה הֲוָה עֶשֶׂר אַמּוֹת (How tall was Moshe? Ten amot). Ten amot is approximately 5 meters, which is more than 16 feet! Was Moshe Rabbeinu really such a giant? Before we answer that question, let's recall that ten amot was exactly the same height as the boards. Coincidence or something deeper?

The word amah [אמה] can be understood as א-מה, i.e. relating to Mah. As we have explained many times before, Mah is a Kabbalistic concept indicating selflessness or self-nullification, i.e. bitul, best illustrated with Moshe's response when facing the complaints of B'nei Yisrael that were directed at him and Aharon. He said to them (Shemot 16:7): נַחְנוּ מָה (What are we?). This is the basic translation; however, the phrase can also be understood as a statement, i.e. 'We are Mah.' In other words, 'Why are you complaining against us as if we are anything? What are we? We are nothing. We are the epitome of self-nullification, the essence of Mah.'

And just as other spiritual middot, such as emunah or bitachon, exist at multiple levels, so too with Mah. And just as there are ten sayings of creation, ten commandments and ten sefirot, etc. the quintessential number of levels for any middah is ten. Hence, the ultimate level of self-nullification that would be possible for anyone to reach in this world would be the tenth level of Mah. Now if we spell out each letter of the name Moshe [משה] fully like this: מ"ם שי"ן ה"ה – the gematria is 80 + 360 + 10 = 450, exactly ten times the gematria of מה. In other words, as incomprehensible as this may be to us, Moshe Rabbeinu merited to all ten levels of Mah. This gives us an idea as to the meaning of Bamidbar 12:3: וְהָאִישׁ מֹשֶׁה עָנָו מְאֹד מִכֹּל הָאָדָם אֲשֶׁר עַל־פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה (And the man Moshe was very humble, more than all men who are upon the surface of the earth). What an understatement!

Moshe's essence is also hinted at in the first word of Sefer Vayikra which is written וַיִּקְרָא ['And He called'] with a small א. This is the same א in each אמה of the ten amot of Moshe's stature. Ten levels of smallness (shiflut and humility) reflecting the א in אמה or ten levels of Mah as expressed by the מה in אמה – put together, they are expressing the same idea. Moshe was a giant, ten amot tall, but not physically.

Now we can see why the boards, which were also ten amot tall, were too heavy for others, that no matter what the people tried to do, they would fall down. The boards, of course, were to be placed side by side to build the walls for the Mishkan. They were to separate the holy from the ordinary, and nobody had the merit to separate the holy from the ordinary, to build a wall for the Kodesh. Nobody, that is, except Moshe. And that's why his 'spiritual' stature had to match the 'physical' height of the boards, to teach us that the only one capable of erecting the ten amot boards was someone who also had a stature of ten amot.

Although the Torah says that Moshe erected the Mishkan (Shemot 40:18), we have also seen that he didn't really erect it. It was erected on its own. We understand that the common people couldn't erect it because they had issues with Moshe. And we understand that the wise-hearted and tzaddikim couldn't erect it because they hadn't reached the level of seeing the good in every Jew and knowing how every Jew's prayers fit together into a cohesive national whole. So even though all Yisrael had to realize that only Moshe could erect the Mishkan, why couldn't Moshe erect it himself? He needed to keep in mind that really no one – not even the Tzaddik – can erect the Mishkan. Only Hashem can do this.

It is as Shakespeare wrote in As You Like It (Act II, Scene VII): 'All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players.' No matter what we do, we aren't really doing anything. After all, isn't this exactly what we say at the beginning of Shemoneh Esreh? אֲדֹנָ-י שְׂפָתַי תִּפְתָּח וּפִי יַגִּיד תְּהִלָּתֶֽךָ (Adon-ai, open my lips and I will relate Your praises). We think we're opening our lips, but the truth is that Hashem does it. All we have is kavanah.