An Ark for the Wilderness of Mankind

And Betzalel made the ark of acacia wood: two cubits and a half was the length of it, and a cubit and a half the width of it, and a cubit and a half the height of it.                                 Exodus 37:1

Betzalel asked Moses: “Where will the Torah be kept?” Moses answered: “We shall make the Tabernacle [mishkan] and then make the ark for the Torah.” Betzalel responded: “Our Master Moses, this is not proper respect for the Torah, rather we should make the ark first and then the Tabernacle.” Therefore Betzalel merited having the ark called by his name, as the verse says “And Betzalel made the ark.”                Shemot Rabba

My saintly teacher, Rabbi Mordechai Rogov, commented that the Nation of Israel began its spiritual life at a time in which it had neither basis nor foundation for its physical life. We accepted Torah in the desert, a place of desolation, with no natural protection from the elements or wild animals. The lesson is that throughout the generations, the Children of Israel must maintain their commitment to Torah, even when they are exiled in the wilderness of mankind. Indeed, Israel has followed the Torah throughout its exile, and in times of great distress, when the nation’s existence seemingly hung by a thread.

Thus, Betzalel said: the proper “respect” of Torah is to first make the ark, that is: before Israel has its own mishkan, even without its own place, even without a permanent place, we begin by making an ark for the Torah. Ultimately, it is having the ark and its Torah which has allowed our people to have survived for two thousand years in the wilderness of mankind.