The Midrash Tanchuma states that the Mishkan was essentially completed months before the date mentioned in the Torah. Hashem, however, chose to delay the “official” establishment of the Mishkan until this date because it coincided with the date Yitzchak Avinu was born. This Midrash is perplexing! Why did Hashem specifically choose to integrate the joy of Hakomas ha’Mishkan with the birth of Yitzchak Avinu? Horav Elimelech Moller, Shlita, offers an insightful explanation for this. He cites Rabbeinu Yonah, who writes that one who is truly botei’ach, trusting in Hashem, will believe that his salvation will emerge even from the brink of his deepest despair. He goes so far as to say that the distress which had engulfed him catalyzed his current fulfillment. The “light” he presently enjoys is a direct result of the “darkness” that had previously enveloped him.
Similarly, geulah, redemption, is a direct result of galus, exile. Thus, we understand the relationship between the culmination of the Mishkan‘s construction and Yitzchak’s date of birth. The day Yitzchak was born was the “beginning” of the galus. It was from that day that Hashem counted the four hundred years of galus Mitzrayim. Consequently, the Mishkan was completed on that same day. On that symbolic day, the exile ended and redemption was complete. Klal Yisrael had now evolved into a completely spiritual nation among whom the Shechinah was able to repose.
We must seek to understand the unbreakable link that exists between exile and redemption — sorrow and joy. One attains the apex of joy from the depths of sadness. To paraphrase Horav Mordechai Gifter, Shlita, “The seeds of redemption are hidden in the sorrow of exile. Finding these seeds is part of the process of understanding the meaning of exile.”
