Pekudei | On the First Day: The Commemorative Function of the Mishkan

Pekudei | On the First Day: The Commemorative Function of the Mishkan, by Rav Yitzchak Etshalom

Why was the Mishkan's inauguration commanded to take place on Rosh Chodesh of the first month (Nissan)?

As Sefer Shemot moves towards its festive conclusion, Moshe is commanded to raise up the Mishkan on the "First day of the first month" - language reminiscent of the beginning of this long journey, back in Egypt, when Bnei Yisrael were given their first communal command - "החדש הזה לכם ראש חדשים, ראשון הוא לכם". We explore the various assumed and explicitly stated purposes of the Mishkan and raise an additional possibility, based on a careful read of the first series of verses in the last chapter of Shemot.

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