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One of the most miraculous parts of the Tabernacle was the altar. For when God bade Moses
make an altar of shittim wood and overlay it with brass, Moses said to God: "O Lord
of the 5.45"> world! Thou badest me make the altar of wood and overlay it with brass, but Thou
didst also bid me have 'a fire kept burning upon the altar continually.' Will not the fire
destroy the overlay of brass, and then consume the wood of the altar?" God replied:
"Moses, thou judgest by the laws that apply to men, but will these also apply to Me?
Behold, the angels that are of burning flame. Beside them are My store-houses of snow and
My store-houses of hail. Doth the water quench their fire, or doth their fire consume the
water? Behold, also, the Hayyot that are of fire. Above their heads extends a terrible sea
of ice that no mortal can traverse in less than five hundred years. Yet doth the water
quench their fire, or doth their fire consume the water? For, 'I am the Lord who maketh
peace between these elements in My high places.' But thou, because I have bidden thee to
have 'a fire kept burning upon the altar continually,' art afraid that the wood might be
consumed by the fire. Dead things come before Me, and leave Me imbued with life, and thou
are afraid the wood of the altar might be consumed! Thine own experience should by now
have taught thee better; thou didst pierce the fiery chambers of heaven, thou didst enter
among the fiery hosts on high, yea, thou didst even approach Me, that 'am a consuming
fire.' Surely thou shouldst then have been consumed by fire, but thou wert unscathed
because thou didst go into the fire at My command; no more shall the brass overlay of the
altar be injured by fire, even though it be no thicker than a denarium."
In the words, "Dead things come before Me and leave Me imbued with life," God
alluded to the three following incidents. The rod of Aaron, after it had lain for a night
in the sanctuary, "brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and even yielded
almonds." The cedars that Hiram, king of Tyre, sent to Solomon for the building of
the Temple, as soon as the incense of the sanctuary reached them, thrilled green anew, and
throughout centuries bore fruits, by means of which the young priests sustained
themselves. Not until Manasseh brought the idol into the Holy of Holies, did these cedars
wither and cease to bear fruit. The third incident to which God alludes was the stretching
of the staves of the Ark when Solomon set them in the Holy of Holies, and the staves,
after having been apart of the Ark for four hundred and eighty years, suddenly extended
until they touched the curtain.
Solomon erected a new altar for offerings, but knowing how dear to God was the altar
erected by Moses, the brazen altar, he at least retained the same name for his altar. But
in the following words it is evident how much God prized the altar erected by Moses, for
He said: "To reward Israel for having had 'a fire kept burning upon the altar
continually,' I shall punish 'the kingdom laden with crime' by fire 'that shall not be
quenched night or day; the smoke thereof shall go up forever.'" 342
Beside the brazen altar there was also one of gold, which corresponded to the human soul,
while the former corresponded to the body; and as gold is more valuable than brass, so
also is the soul greater than the body. But both altars were used daily, as man must also
serve his Maker with both body and soul. On the brazen altar sacrifices were offered, as
the body of man, likewise, is nourished by food; but on the golden altar, spices and sweet
incense, for the soul takes delight in perfumes only. 343
The materials employed for the constructions of the Tabernacle, the skins and the wood,
were not of the common order. God created the animal Tahash exclusively for the needs of
the Tabernacle, for it was so enormous that out of one skin could be made a curtain,
thirty cubits long. This species of animal disappeared as soon as the demands of the
Tabernacle for skins were satisfied. The cedars for the Tabernacle, also, were obtained in
no common way, for whence should they have gotten cedars in the desert? They owed these to
their ancestor Jacob. When he reached Egypt, he planted a cedar-grove and admonished his
sons to do the same, saying: "You will in the future be released from bondage in
Egypt, and God will then demand that you erect Him a sanctuary to thank Him for having
delivered you. Plant cedar trees, then, that when God will bid you build Him a sanctuary,
you may have in your possession the cedars required for its construction." His sons
acted in accordance with the bidding of their father, and upon leaving Egypt took along
the cedars for the anticipated erection of the sanctuary. Among these cedars was also that
wonderful cedar out of which was wrought "the middle bar in the midst of the boards,
that reached from end to end," and which Jacob took with him from Palestine when he
emigrated to Egypt, and then left to remain among his descendants. When the cedars were
selected for the construction of the Tabernacle, they intoned a song of praise to God for
this distinction.
But not all the twenty-four species of cedar might be used for the Tabernacle, nay, not
even the seven most excellent among them were found worthy, but only the species shittim
might be used. For God, who foresees all, knew that Israel would in the future commit a
great sin at Shittim, and therefore ordained that shittim wood be used for the Tabernacle
to serve as atonement for the sin committed at Shittim. Shittim furthermore signifies
"follies," hence Israel were to construct the place of penance for their folly
in adoring the Golden Calf, out of shittim wood, to atone for this "folly." And
finally, the letters of which the wood "Shittim" is composed, stand for Shalom,
"peace," Tobah, "good," Yesh'uah. "salvation," and Mehillah,
"forgiveness." 344 The boards that were made for the Tabernacle out of shittim
wood never decayed, but endure in all eternity. 345
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