Tabernacle, National and Individual Lives

And it came to pass in the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was set up (hukam).                                Exodus 40:17

Ba’al haTurim connects our verse’s use of the word “hukam” with that in connection with King David [II Samuel 23:1] and in connection with Jonadab ben Rechav [Jeremiah 35:14].

My father explained that the common use of the word “hukam” teaches that it is through the establishment of the tabernacle, bringing the Shechina into the midst of Israel, that the kingdom of David, the national life of Israel, was established. As well, the lives of individuals, such as Jonadab, were established through their relationship with the Shechina. Therefore, the tabernacle influences both the national and individual lives.