Mashkon or Mishkan?
The Hebrew language is wonderful. and special in many ways. One of them is its ability to play around with the meaning of words by way of changing the vowels (dots): the same word, the same letters – but different dots give it a different, or even opposite meaning. In any case, these meanings are still connected, because there is often a connection between the seemingly different meanings of words.
For instance, the word lirtzot could be understood as “to want”, or “to appease”. Superficially, it might seem that the two meanings are different, but if we think about it, we can see that there is a deep connection between them.
The word mishkan in the Torah means the dwelling place of the Creator, as He Himself commanded: “And they will make me a Mishkan, and I will dwell…” But if one dots it differently, with a cholam (an o sound) above the chaf, the resulting word, mashkon, will mean something that is given as a guarantee, or taken as a pawn.
On the first passuk in parashat Pekudei, “These are the reckonings of the mishkan, the mishkan of the testimony,” Rashi notes the repeating of the word mishkan, and gives the word a meaning of mashkon – guarantee. He then says that the passuk is hinting to us about the two Temples that were taken as pawns twice, when they were destroyed.
Superficially, one can see this as merely an elegant play on words – mashkon/mishkan. See how beautiful the holy tongue is: we have here a hint to the destruction of the Temple. But it seems that Rashi is not searching for a nice play on words; if he includes something in his commentary on the Torah, he has an important message of essence to give over.
On the Shabbat of parashat Vayakhel-Pekudei in 5732 (1972), this week 49 years ago, the Rebbe gave a wonderful talk on this commentary of Rashi, and I really recommend reading it or listening to it (it exists in many languages, spoken by various speakers. Google “project Likkutei Sichos,” and in the archive there look for section 11, Pekudei 2). Among other things, the Rebbe focused on the change in the meaning of the word mishkan, and said that Rashi here has a very important and significant message, relevant to each and every one of us. For, if we read that word as mashkon, it means that the object itself was not destroyed; it did not even disappear; it was merely pawned, and will be returned, whole, when the time comes.
Yes, the physical Beit Mikdash was burned and destroyed, but its essence is being the place that Hashem dwells in the world, and really it is the gate that connects the material and the spiritual, G-d and His creations, this world and the upper worlds, as Yaakov Avinu said, “This is none other than the abode of G-d and this is the gate of the heavens!”. And this essence was not burned or destroyed, rather, it was taken as pawn, and as Rashi here says, there is here a hint to the Mikdash, which was pawned in two destructions.
In that case, what did happen to the gate of Heaven when the Temple was destroyed?
In masechet Brachot it says, “Rabbi Elazar said: from the day that the Beit Mikdash was destroyed, the gates of prayer have been locked.” Does that mean that our prayers have no meaning? Does it mean that we have no way of sending our prayers up to Heaven? To my understanding, when the gate is locked, one just has to knock harder on it so that someone will hear and come to open it. When the gate of Heaven was open, the prayers passed through more easily; and when it is locked, it seems one has to exert oneself a bit more in praying so that the prayer will go over the gate or be heard even through the locked door. Perhaps this is the explanation of Rabbi Elazar goes on to say: “and even though the gates of prayer are locked, the gates of tears were not locked.”
The day before the beginning of the month of redemption, I hope and wish that the saying in the Gemara will come true for us: “In Nissan they were redeemed, and in Nissan they will be redeemed.”
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Zalmen Wishedski
