Shemot 30:1-10 (Tetsavveh) – The barriers arise

The instructions concerning the building of the mishkan/ ohel moed begin in chapter 25, and appear to end with the concluding sentences 29:43-46. However, after these verses, 30:1-10 record the instructions for building the incense altar that was placed in the same room of the mishkan as the menorah and the table, whose instructions were recorded in 25:23-40. Why were the instructions regarding the incense altar not recorded in conjunction with the menorah and the table in chapter 25?

Ibn Ezra (long comments on 25:22, copied by Hizkuni on 30:1) suggests that the incense altar had to be recorded after the instructions regarding the outer altar, which are recorded in 27:1-9, since 30:9 records that one cannot offer an olah sacrifice on the incense altar. Yet, this reason would only explain why the incense altar was not recorded in chapter 25, but still then it should have been recorded in chapter 27 after the instructions concerning the outer altar were recorded and not in chapter 30.

Ramban (on 30:1, see also Seforno on 30:1) notes that the conclusion of the instructions for building the mishkan (29:45,46) records that the mishkan was for G-d to “dwell” amongst the people, which implies that anything that is recorded afterwards, like the incense altar, did not contribute to that goal.  Yet, why then have the incense altar altogether? He suggests it was to protect the people from plagues, see Bemidbar 17:11-13. Apparently, the idea was that the glory of G-d was in the inner room of the mishkan, and the glory of G-d would kill the people if they sinned, but the incense from the incense altar could protect the people.

Cassuto (1967, p. 390) explains that the instructions for building the incense altar are recorded separately since 30:7-10 record the rituals to be performed with the incense altar as opposed to the other items for which there are just descriptions and short references to their functions. However, 30:1-6 record the instructions for building the incense altar and these verses could have been recorded in chapter 25 in conjunction with the instructions to build the menorah and the table.

My guess is to follow the Ramban's idea that the incense altar did not contribute to G-d's "dwelling" amongst the people but to offer a different rationale for the altar. I think the incense altar was a form of a barrier between the people and the aron. How did it function as a barrier?

One, it was placed right before the curtain to the inner room of the mishkan, the room with the aron, which means that it would stop one from walking into the room with the aron, 30:6. Two, its height (two amot) was half an amah higher than the aron, 25:10 and 30:2. Three, the point of the incense that arose from the altar was not its smell but that the smoke of the incense formed a type of barrier. This idea is most evident on Yom Kippur when the high priest had to make an incense cloud that would allow him to enter the inner room of the mishkan, see Vayikra 16:13, and 30:10 refers to this act. Note that even when G-d's presence is symbolized as being in a cloud, as for example in Devarim 31:15, the idea is that the cloud is a barrier from a person directly "seeing" G-d. After discussing this idea in my synagogue, Oded Walk noted that when Aharon walked with the incense to stop the plague in Bemidbar 17, the Torah describes the incense as being a barrier between the living and the dead, Bemidbar 17:13.

Why was there a need for a barrier in the mishkan? I think it illuminates one of the basic ideas regarding man's relationship with G-d. The building of the mishkan increased the connection between G-d and the Jewish people, and all the items recorded from 25:1-29:46 were to show or increase the connection between G-d and man. Yet, even with this connection, there is a limit how close a person can get to G-d. This is the basic paradox of religion, man is to be connected with G-d but man can never really approach G-d, and hence the incense altar was included in the mishkan as a reminder of the barrier between man and G-d.For other examples of this idea, see our discussions on 20:19-23, "Establishing boundaries after the Decalogue," http://lobashamayim.blogspot.co.il/2009/02/shemot-2019-23-yitro-establishing.html

An additional reason for why the incense altar was included in the mishkan as a barrier could relate to the question of the chronological order of the narrative. The Midrash Tanchuma Teruma 8, followed by Rashi (see his comments on 30:16 and 31:18, and N. Leibowitz, 1976a, pp. 459-470), argues that the instructions to build the mishkan only occurred after the sin of the golden calf. On the other hand, the Ramban (on 25:1), argues that the instructions were told to Moshe before the sin of the golden calf.

I prefer the Ramban’s approach since once Moshe was told to go on Mount Sinai to receive the tablets, 24:13, then there had to be a place to store the tablets. Also, from the fact that the instructions for the mishkan were recorded before the sin of the golden calf shows that the mishkan was not due to the sin of the golden calf. Yet, this does not imply that the entire mishkan had to be built, and maybe there is a third possible way to understand the flow of the narrative.

Maybe chapters 25-29 were told to Moshe before the sin of the golden calf, while 30:1-10 (also 30:11-38? chapter 31?) was told to Moshe after the sin of the golden calf. The idea would be that before the sin of the golden calf there was a minimization of the barriers between G-d and mankind, while afterwards the relationship was changed. This meant more barriers, which necessitated the incense altar being added to the mishkan. This means that according to this idea had the sin of the golden calf not occurred, the mishkan would have been built but there would have been no incense altar. (For other possible consequences of the sin of the golden calf, see our discussion on 34:10 "The restoration?") With this idea, 30:1-10 was recorded together with the rest of the instructions to the mishkan, but the instructions in 30:1-10 (also 30:11-38?) were recorded as a separate unit at the end to indicate that they were only due to the sin of the golden calf.

For a discussion concerning the remainder of chapter 30, see our discussions below on 30:17-38, "More barriers?" http://lobashamayim.blogspot.co.il/2009/03/shemot-3017-38-ki-tissa-more-barriers.html