26 May NASO: OUR MARRIAGE WITH G-D

The Torah in Parashat
Naso tells of the
special gifts and
sacrifices brought
by the Nesi’im – the
leaders of the tribes –
in honor of the inauguration of the Mishkan.
To celebrate this event, the Nesi’im donated
wagons to be used by the Leviyim to transport
the Mishkan during travel, and then each
tribal leader offered a series of sacrifices one
day. Each day for twelve days, a different Nasi
brought these sacrifices.
The Torah introduces this account with
the words, “Va’yehi Be’yom Moshe Kalot
Moshe Le’hakim Et Ha’Mishkan” – “It was
on the day when Moshe finished erecting the
Mishkan…” (7:1).
Rashi observes that the word “Kalot”
resembles the word “Kalla” – “bride.” This
allusion, Rashi explains, indicates to us that
on this day, the day when the Mishkan was
completed and began functioning, Beneh
Yisrael were like a bride entering under the
wedding canopy with her groom. This was
the day of Beneh Yisrael’s “wedding” with
G-d.
Rashi’s comments must be reconciled with the
well-established tradition viewing Ma’amad
Har Sinai – G-d’s revelation to our ancestors

at Mount Sinai – as our nation’s “wedding”
with the Almighty. Indeed, several customs
we observe at weddings commemorate
aspects of Ma’amad Har Sinai. For example,
we adorn the Hupa with flowers, just as Har
Sinai grew beautiful flowers at the time of the
Revelation. And it is customary for the groom
to leave the Hupa and walk toward the bride
to greet her as she makes her way to the Hupa,
as G-d is described as coming from Har Sinai
to greet the people as they made their way
from the camp to the foot of the mountain
(“Hashem Mi’Sinai Ba” – Debarim 33:2). If
our “wedding” with the Almighty occurred on
Shabuot, the day of Matan Torah, then how
can Rashi speak of the day of the Mishkan’s
inauguration – which happened nearly ten
months later – as the “wedding day”?
The answer lies in the tragic event that
transpired in between Matan Torah and the
inauguration of the Mishkan – the sin of the
golden calf.
We might say that the day of Matan Torah
marked the first stage of the wedding process
– what we call “Kiddushin.” This is the stage
when the groom gives the bride a ring and
designates her as his wife. The marriage
is completed with the stage of “Nisu’in,”
when the bride and groom go into private
for the first time. The “Nisu’in” between

Beneh Yisrael and Hashem was to occur
forty days after Ma’amad Har Sinai, on the
17th of Tammuz, when Moshe came down
the mountain with the two tablets. This day
was to have marked the completion of the
“wedding,” whereby our nation was fully
“married” to the Almighty. In the interim,
however, Beneh Yisrael had betrayed G-d –
like a bride who was unfaithful to her groom
– by worshipping a foreign deity. Under such
circumstances, of course, the “wedding”
could not continue. Beneh Yisrael needed to
repair the relationship through repentance and
through the building of the Mishkan.
Once the Mishkan was completed, the
“wedding” could now be resumed. Therefore,
Rashi writes that on the day of the Mishkan’s
inauguration, Beneh Yisrael resembled a
bride going into the Hupa – because this day
marked the renewed “wedding” which had
been discontinued as a result of the sin of the
golden calf.
Not coincidentally, Parashat Naso is almost
always read shortly after the celebration
of Shabuot, the day which celebrates the
beginning of our “marriage” with G-d.
Parashat Naso tells of the completion of the
“wedding,” how our nation succeeded in
recovering from the tragic failure of the golden
calf, in rebuilding our trust and faithfulness,

so we could again be worthy of “marrying”
Hashem, of entering into a unique, intimate
bond with Him. The story of the Mishkan’s
completion teaches us that we need to earn
this special relationship through loyalty and
devotion. If we prioritize other interests and
concerns over the Torah, if we choose to
place our trust in people and forces other than
Hashem, then we are betraying Him and thus
become unworthy of His special protection
and blessings. If we want to benefit from
our relationship with G-d, we need to earn it
through unbridled fealty to His commands,
and by remaining uncompromisingly and
unflinchingly committed to the Torah, without
being misled by the alluring “golden calves”
that threaten to pull us away from our loyalty
to Hashem.