Pekudei

Two Tents of God

Moshe was not able to enter the Tent of Meeting (Ohel Mo'ed), because the Glory of God filled the Tabernacle (mishkan). - Shemot/Exodus 40:35

What a confusing passage of Torah! God's Presence fills the Mishkan (tabernacle). But what does that have to do with the Ohel Mo'ed (tent of meeting)?  Why should God's Presence in one tent affect what happens in the other tent? Are these two names for the same tent? And even if they are, why should Moshe be unable to enter? Hasn't he already been in the Presence of God many times? Perhaps the passage is not meant to work on a literal level, but is meant to invite a symbolic reading.

Some interpreters say that the Ohel Mo'ed and the Mishkan are two names for one tent - not a physical tent, but a symbolic tent, the inner place where spiritual experience takes place. Mo'ed literally means "appointed time," or "sacred festival." The Ohel Mo'ed represents the moments when God may suddenly seem to appear intensely in our lives - a bar or bat mitzvah ceremony, wedding, birth, even a funeral. Mishkan literally means "dwelling place." The Mishkan represents a prolonged experience of divine peace and support. One is a "theology of encounter," the other is a "theology of presence."

Life has room for both. Each person finds their individual balance, and their personal names for these experiences. Moshe, it seems, experienced them as "tents," as shelters that enveloped him. And he moved between the two, but did not experience them simultaneously. By describing Moshe's experience, Parshat Pekudei invites you to reflect on your own.

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