The book of Shemot teaches us a great many things: the beginnings of our national story, the impact just a few people can have on the public, the pain of slavery, the joy and responsibilities of freedom, and so on. All of this barely scratches the surface of just the very beginning of this book. As we know from both tradition and experience, Torah can be read over and over again until the end of time without being completely mastered. There is always something new in it. Yet, we might ask: is there a unifying theme to Sefer Shemot? Is there a particular idea that causes the whole of it to hang together, something that we should set in our minds as a goal to internalize in these coming weeks and months?
Relying on the Ramban, we shall set forth just one theme for the book of Shemot, just one idea we must keep in mind and make a part of our lives this time around as we go through it. If we do not pursue this goal then we may well argue that, by the time Vayikra rolls around, we will have missed the point entirely.
So what is Shemot about?
Certainly, it is about the story of our enslavement and redemption, as well as the reception of the Torah, the commands and construction of the Mishkan, and the sin of the Golden Calf. It is interesting to note that the structure of the book does not lend itself to the idea that gaining our freedom or leaving Egypt is the main point. We leave Egypt at the end of Parshat Bo, in just three weeks, at what would have been a reasonable conclusion to the book. Of course, the purpose of the redemption was to make a covenant with us, so we received the Aseret HaDibrot, along with many commandments over the next few parashiyot. Our covenant with G-d also would have been a reasonable place to stop. After all, the climax of a story, the final proof, the point the author really wants to make, typically comes last.
Yet, of course, the book of Shemot does not end there. Nearly half of the book is left and it goes on at great length about the Mishkan and the Golden Calf. Why? Wasn’t the point of Sefer Shemot that we receive the Torah? We must explain why the Mishkan takes such pride of place and, frankly, so much divine literary real estate.
So, what is the major theme of this book? Why does it not conclude with the major event that changed all of history, the revelation at Sinai?
The Ramban explains, in short, in his introduction to Sefer Shemot.
“The book of V’eleh Shemot was set apart for the story of the first exile… and the redemption from it.”
The book of Shemot is indeed about slavery and geulah, redemption, as we might think. Why, then, does it not conclude with the story of G-d saving us or giving us the Torah?
Because the redemption of the people of Israel, the Ramban goes on to argue, was completed only when they were restored to their “place” and the “status of their fathers.” This required the construction and completion of the Tabernacle. As Ramban writes:
And when they arrived at Mount Sinai and constructed the Tabernacle, and G-d returned and rested His Shechina amongst them – then they returned to the stature of their forefathers… “And they were the ones who constituted the Chariot of the Holy One.” Then they were redeemed.
That is why this book concludes when the matter of the Tabernacle is completed and when the glory of G-d fills it always.
For the Ramban, true redemption was attained only when G-d rested His Shechina, the divine presence, among the people of Israel. Thus, the climax of Sefer Shemot is exactly what it should be and where it should be. At the very end of Pekudei, we read:
(34) Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of Hashem filled the Tabernacle.
(35) Moshe wasn’t able to enter into the Tent of Meeting because the cloud dwelled upon it, and Hashem’s glory filled the Tabernacle.
(36) When the cloud rose from over the Tabernacle, the Children of Israel went onward, throughout all their journeys; (37) but if the cloud did not rise, then they didn’t travel until the day that it rose.
(38) For the cloud of Hashem was on the Tabernacle by day, and there was fire in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys.
Only then, when G-d’s presence rested amongst the people, were we considered fully redeemed. This is what we are learning about when we study this book, each week in our own mikdash me’at, miniature Temple. This, in fact, is the main message that we must take with us not only when we listen to Torah reading but when we go home. We must seek out ways to bring the divine presence into our own lives and homes, into our communities, shuls, and places of work.
As we approach another round of Shemot, the question to set before ourselves is: how will we do this? How will we ensure our homes are homes where the Shechina might rest? What does the mind that knows G-d need to know? What does that heart need to feel? What must that life be like for us in the coming weeks and months?
No doubt, we must start small and we each have our own path, mediated by Torah and mitzvot. Let us not let Sefer Shemot pass us by. Finding little habits or recognizing little changes that we need to make, in thought, speech, or action. Whatever.
