The Book of Questions

A thought on Parashas Bamidbar

“I had six honest serving men-they taught me all I knew: Their names were Where and What and When-and Why and How and Who.”

Rudyard Kipling

We have just spent the past few months understanding the myriad and nuanced details of the construction and service of the mishkan. In Parashas Bamidbar, we are introduced to the process of the dismantling of the mishkan. Why would we want to dismantle and move the mishkan? What is the significance of constructing the mishkan only to dismantle it later?

The moving of the mishkan is also replete with nuanced details and specifications. It is not as simple as throwing the pieces onto a truck until the next destination. 

The Levi’im were forbidden to look at certain items in the mishkan, such as the Aron. All those parts of the mishkan had to be covered by the Kohanim and only then were they able to be moved. 

The actual moving process was also a tedious effort, as each family of Levi’im was only able to move that which they had been assigned to move. 

The…