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“Blessed is the One Who formed man with wisdom”; just as He created the heaven and the earth with wisdom, as it stated, (Mishlei 3:19) “God founded the earth with wisdom, etc.” And concerning Betzalel it states, I have filled him with the Godly spirit, with wisdom, understanding and knowledge.” (Shemot 31:3) With what The Holy One, Blessed Is He, created the world and formed man, with that Betzalel made the Mishkan. (Midrash Tanchuma, Pekudei #3)

Man, the Mishkan and the world are often compared. We know that man is a microcosm and that the Mishkan is a model for all of creation. But it goes beyond the observations and parallels we draw between the three scales.

When we experience the world and get a feeling of tremendous awe for all the wonders of creation, when we learn about the details that went into the construction of the Mishkan and are amazed at the possibility of a man-made structure housing God’s Presence, when we think of our own existence and of how much there is we can accomplish, we begin to sense the Infinite Wisdom whith which all three were created. We are not simply emphasizing similarities; we are joining the roots of those three planes and aligning ourselves in a shared purpose.

When we recite the blessing of “Asher Yatzar et HaAdam B’Chochmah”, “Who formed man with wisdom”, we are acknowledging the lesson of this Midrash. God formed me with the same wisdom He used to create the universe, and with the same wisdom He filled Betzalel with in order to build a dwelling place for His Presence.

I am therefore acknowledging that I have the potential to achieve the same goal as the Mishkan, when it served as a container for God’s Glory and as the source of blessings for all of creation, and that by striving to change and fix myself, not only am I in harmony with the world and its ultimate function, but I am contributing to its rectification.