735. On the Day When the Tabernacle Was Established

“‘On the day when the Tabernacle was established,’ Abaye said that there is no building of the Temple at night, as was said, ‘On the day when the Tabernacle was established.’ It is established in the day, and it is not established in the night” (Shavuot [Feast of Weeks] 15b).

We should ask, If the building of the Temple is so vital to the people of Israel, why would it not be built at night, as well? It is written in Midrash Rabbah about the verse, “If a countryman of yours becomes poor and his means with regard to you falter, then you are to sustain him.” This is as it is written, “Happy is he who makes the poor wise; in the day of affliction, the Lord will save him.” There are five literal interpretations to the meaning of “poor.”

We find that the verse interprets “poor” in Ecclesiastes (9), “There was a small city with few men in it, and a great king came and surrounded it … and found in it a poor and wise man. But the wisdom of the poor man is despised and his words are not heeded.” RASHI, in the name of Midrash Agadah, and there in the Midrash, “More than the landlord does for the poor, the poor does for the landlord, for so said Rut to Naomi, ‘The name of the man with whom I did today is Boaz.’ It is not written ‘he did,’ but rather ‘I did.’ She said to her, ‘I did many good deeds with him today for the penny he had given me.’”

It follows from all the above that through the Mitzva [commandment] of charity, we are rewarded with the governance of the good inclination over the evil inclination, and the Torah is eternity, for man must build the Temple, and the building is through bricks and mortar, and each and every brick must be connected with silt, as this is what holds the bricks.

When a person performs a Mitzva and yearns to perform another Mitzva, by this the first Mitzva connects to the second, and a strong building is made. But when a person does and regrets, he thereby separates the first brick from the second.

The meaning of “day” is that we see what we are doing, and “night” means that it is dark and we do not see what we are doing. When a person believes and works with joy, it is considered “day,” and then the Mitzvot [commandments] connect and become a building where there is the Shechina [Divinity]. But at night, when he is not joyful because he does not see what he is doing, this cannot yield a building.

There are two discernments about the matter of “night”: 1) We do not see. 2) He is not in high spirits but is as depressed as one who cannot make a living the way he wants to, and then the world grows dark on him.

At that time, through faith, he is rewarded with joy.