Halacha:

Mishkan 

Holidays:

Nissan 

Parsha:

Pekudei 

Description

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.