Is God’s Presence Among Us Conditional?

Parshat Tetzaveh

by Rabbi Avi Billet

שמות פרק כט מה: וְשָׁ֣כַנְתִּ֔י בְּת֖וֹךְ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וְהָיִ֥יתִי לָהֶ֖ם לֵא-לֹהִֽים: 

מו: וְיָדְע֗וּ כִּ֣י אֲנִ֤י יְקֹוָק֙ אֱ-לֹ֣הֵיהֶ֔ם אֲשֶׁ֨ר הוֹצֵ֧אתִי אֹתָ֛ם מֵאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרַ֖יִם לְשָׁכְנִ֣י בְתוֹכָ֑ם אֲנִ֖י יְקֹוָ֥ק אֱ-לֹהֵיהֶֽם: 

Chapter 29 seemingly ends the instruction for the Mishkan with the following passages: “I will make My presence felt among the Israelites, and I will be a God for them. They will realize that I, God their Lord, brought them out of Egypt to make My presence felt among them. I am God their Lord.” Seemingly, because in chapter 30 we are still given instructions for the small Mizbeach and the Kiyor (washbasin), even though the passage noted clearly closes out the intent of the opening verse which described a purpose of the Mishkan – “ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם. You shall make me a Sanctuary, and I will dwell amongst you/them.” (Shmos 25:8) 

Using the same language, both the Pesikta (Lekach Tov) and Rashi suggest that the letter ל in the phrase לשכני בתוכם (in פסוק מו, verse 46 above) suggests that God is saying “I took them out of Egypt על מנת, on the condition that I will dwell among them.” This terminology is, at the very least, worthy of discussion. Could it possibly be that God took the Israelites out of Israel on this condition? 

Just for comparison, Rashbam uses the word כדי (in order to) dwell among them, while Ibn Ezra explains the passage a little differently using the word בעבור, so that they’ll make Me a Mishkan that I may dwell amongst them (see also Chizkuni). These latter interpretations don’t imply a condition as much as they imply intent for what will be an outcome of the Exodus. Ibn Ezra proves his point through comparing this outcome to the verse in Shmos 3:12 when God gives Moshe a sign that all this is real, as “When you take the Israelites out of Egypt you will serve God on this mountain.” 

 In his “Peirush HaKatzar” Ibn Ezra writes “I took them out to have them make Me (לעשות לי) a Mishkan and I will dwell among them. I will be a God to them, with faith of the heart, and they are obligated to serve Me.” 

 Ramban takes issue with Rashi’s interpretation of the ל in לשכני: 

“Rashi suggests a condition. But the prefix ל is not typically used for a condition. Perhaps the Pasuk is saying ‘They will know through my dwelling in their midst that I am Hashem their God Who took them out of Egypt. They will know My glory and will believe that it was I Who took them out from Egypt.’ Ramban brings 3 cases where a ל is used instead of a ב to prove his assertion against Rashi’s interpretation, then he approvingly quotes Ibn Ezra as noted above, “I brought them out of Egypt so that they’d make Me a Mishkan that I would dwell in their midst” 

Ramban continues: “and if this is correct then there is a great secret (סוד) here, For in the plain sense of things it would appear that [the dwelling of] the Divine Glory in Israel was to fulfill a want below, but it is not so. It fulfilled a want above, being rather similar in thought to that which Scripture states, Israel, in whom I will be glorified. (Yeshayahu 49:3). And Joshua said, [For when the Canaanites… hear of it… and cut off our name from the earth,] and what wilt Thou do for Thy Great Name?(Yehoshua 7:9). There are many verses which express this thought: He hath desired it [i.e., Zion] for His habitation; (Tehillim 132:13). Here I dwell; for I have desired it. (Tehillim 132:14). And it is further written, and I will remember the land.” 

The Mishkan, therefore, fulfills a higher purpose than simply having God dwell amongst the people. This kabbalistic exposition certainly does not agree with the implication that the Exodus’ was conditional for God to have a dwelling purpose on this earth. 

Rabbenu Bachaye goes so far to interpret the verse to mean “that the purpose of the Exodus was to bring about that God’s Shechinah would rest amongst the Jewish people.” Based on a verse in Hoshea 13:4, he further notes that “the whole Exodus was orchestrated in order for the first of the Ten Commandments, ‘I am the Lord your God, etc.,’ to be acknowledged by the Jewish people. This is the reason why the words מארץ מצרים appear in the middle of this verse.” 

He continues suggesting, based on a passage in Midrash Tehillim (114) in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, “the Israelites were redeemed from Egypt through the merit of the Tabernacle….The words אשר הוצאתי אותם may mean that the condition of taking the people out of Egypt had been in order for what is reported at the very end of the Book of Exodus to occur.” 

While the Panim Yafot (R Pinchas HaLevi Horowitz) sides with Ibn Ezra and Ramban, it is the Maharal, in his Gur Aryeh, who not only comes to Rashi’s defense, but also explains for us what he believes Rashi actually meant – not that על מנת means a condition, but that through על מנת Rashi was saying “You shouldn’t think that the MAIN reason for the Exodus was that the Mishkan should be built, but that A reason for the Exodus was so that God would have a place on earth in which to dwell His presence.” 

In other words, a goal of the Exodus was to achieve God’s having a dwelling place, which is not to say that the Exodus’ purpose was for God to have a dwelling place. 

This makes a lot of sense, especially when we consider that we no longer have a Mishkan or a Mikdash! Or HaChaim, for example, notes that God’s mentioning אֲנִ֤י יְקֹוָק֙ אֱ-לֹ֣הֵיהֶ֔ם twice in the verse is “to remind us that even when His presence is not directly seen or felt [due to the absence of a Mishkan, etc] He is still our God and we are His people.” (Rav SR Hirsch and Malbim write similar ideas.) 

Toppling the whole idea, Netziv notes the verse we say at the end of the 3rd paragraph of the Shema, אני ה' אלהיכם אשר הוצאתי אתכם מארץ מצרים להיות לכם לאלהים, which implies that “I took you out of Egypt to be your God.” Following that grammar, the words here should be לשכון בתוכם – which would be much easier to understand in light of Maharal’s comment! So instead Netziv interprets לשכני to imply that God’s presence was already amongst the people in Egypt. It was God’s presence with Israel in Egypt which caused the Exodus! The verse is therefore saying, “I am Hashem their God who took them out of Egypt, so that My Presence can continue to be among them” because it was otherwise going to fade from their minds if they had continued to stay there. 

What we see from these varied explanations – all more grounded in trying to understand Rashi than in trying to explain the text – is that our continued remembrance of the Exodus, in one form or another, is what keeps God’s presence among us. If we are to truly live a Godly existence, it is our constant memory of the Exodus, and memorializing the Exodus, which brings God’s presence ever so much more easily felt in our daily lives. 

May we merit both to remember the Exodus, which is a mitzvah, and to thus merit to feel God’s presence regularly.