- Why are the furnishings first described and then the structure; is it because form follows function?
- Is there any concern about the source of the various materials called for?
- Is this the first “mizbeyah” (altar) or does it sequence from Abraham as recounted in Bereyshit hence constituting a continuum?
- Does the word “aron” have any relationship to “teyvah?”
- Can Divinity be “approached” in a man-made structure?
- Must one look for Divinity on tall mountains, in deep rivers, richly foliaged forests and the like?
- Korban is “a way of drawing closer” and not sacrifice, as usually translated; would an act of deprivation (sacrifice) please Divinity as a norm of approaching?
- In drawing closer is there a sense of joy or of sadness and privation?
- Do any of the furnishings of the mishkan set up a physical barrier to the worshiper; is there any fence, any moat?
- While most of the materials utilized are select, they are mundane; are things in themselves, then, of no “kadosh” (unique) nature?
