I have spent some time in my life "on the road" touring theatrical productions and touring with a band. So every time I encounter this miraculous portable mishkan, I am overwhelmed and impressed. And I respect the care and effort that went into taking down, storing and preparing the mishkan for transport. Though described in relatively few words in the text, I imagine the task itself was rather extensive and time consuming.
And it is a model still followed. The first thing a good road manager does is get a head count and make sure everybody is accounted for. Then each "department" takes care of carefully storing their equipment - as Aaron and the priests did with the sacred objects from the mishkan. Finally the Teamsters, er, that is the Kohathites come along and carry the equipment and load it up for transport.
And just as Aaron and the priests carefully wrapped the sacred object so they wouldn't be damaged by the Kohathites, I've seen plenty of musicians, costumers, property masters, et al carefully wrap, protect and store away their treasured props, costumes, instruments, etc. to protect them from being damaged or "defiled" by the handlers.
It's all about caring for the things we hold sacred. My mother sends me annually a Pesach care package full of the kind of goodies it's hard to get in the "hinterlands west of the Hudson." Every year when the package arrives I look forward to the ceremony of unwrapping each little item in the box, reveal it for the treasure it is. My mother takes such great care to wrap and protect these treasures. That makes them all the more important to me, yet far too often I fail to thank her adequately-so I hope this public acknowledgement will help to right that failing on my part.) Thanks, Mom.
I know that when I see a sales clerk take the time to carefully wrap and protect even the most inexpensive but fragile item, I am wont to recall parashat Bemidbar. The clerk know it may just be a trinket, but to me, or the person I intend to give it to, it must be so much more.
And that is how we make things sacred and holy. Not by their being. Not by their having been invested with holiness by Divine action or human ritual. But by the care we show for them, and the way we treat them.
Today at school I had the pleasure of seeing the 1st graders I have taught all year demonstrate the davening skills they have acquired, and receive the first real siddur. Each siddur was lovingly wrapped and adorned by a cover created by each student's parents. While I knew that each of the students understood the holy and sacred nature of these siddurim, even without the fancy covers, the covers were a demonstration of the value being placed in these books that are more than books. But even without these fancy covers, I know the students will treat their siddurim with respect, not just shoving them in their desks or casually tossing them about. Because they have been taught respect for the content. And I know that they understand that it is through their reverence for the physical book, and for the words it contains, that the imbue it with holiness. Some might argue that the words themselves are holy. It's hard to argue that they aren't. But if we don't see them as such, does it matter that they are?
The midrash teaches the Gd "shopped the Torah around" (and it is amazingly coincidental that a guest rabbi/parent of a 1st grader today offered this same midrash in his talk to the assembled students and parents at our "Kaballat Siddur")and we Jews were the only ones who agreed to accept it. Without that acceptance, even written by Gd, they are just words on a scroll. We make it holy-in what we do, what we say, how we do it, how we say it, how we treat it.
This Shabbat, find something you want to make sacred. Wrap it carefully, whether metaphorically or not, as you choose. Know that you have the power to make something holy and sacred. You can even make the place where you are holy just by your presence in it. Always remember this. But remember, too, the cautions of our Torah about what to imbue and not imbue with this special holiness. It might be a place, a thing, a thought, a space, an idea, an action. whatever it is, you can make it holy. Make it so.
Shabbat Shalom,
Adrian
© 2000 by Adrian A. Durlester