And it
came to pass on the day that Moses completed setting up the tabernacle … Numbers
7:1
Our verse
follows immediately after the priestly blessing, which ends with “The Lord lift
His countenance upon you and give you peace,” teaching that peace is the
necessary condition for setting up and sanctifying the tabernacle.
On the simplest (and truest) level, peace
refers to interpersonal relations. As such, the juxtaposition of our verses
hints at our Sages’ teaching that the Second Temple was destroyed because of
baseless hatred (sin’at ḥinam) among the Jews: without the unity of
God’s chosen nation, the Temple cannot survive.
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