The whole of Parshat Terumah is devoted to instructions relating to the construction of the “Mishkan” – the first Temple sanctuary of Jewish history. But although the instructions begin with the Aron HaBrit (“Ark of the Covenant“) and end with the instructions for constructing the building, when it came to putting it all together, the Mishkan was built first, and then the Aron.

Focusing on a curious Gemara in Berachot 55a that deals with the order reversal, Rabbi Dunner shares his grandfather’s beautiful interpretation of the change. Not everything is about form or function.