What should be man’s priorities in life? An analysis of the dimensions of the appurtenances of the Tabernacle—the aron, the shulchan and the mizbach haketoret— provides a fascinating answer.

Of the three, the aron is the largest: 2.5×1.5×1.5 = 5.625 amot3. Next is the shulchan—2×1 x 1.5 = 3.0 amot3. Last is the mizbach haketoret (in parshat Tetzaveh) which measured 1×1 x 2 = 2.0 amot3. Now, if we take the shulchan as symbolizing parnasah/making a living as indicated by the loaves of Showbread placed there, this order makes perfect sense. Largest and most important is the aron in which the Tablets of the Law were kept, as Torah is of first importance. Next is the shulchan which stands for parnasah. Smallest and symbolically least important is the mizbach haketoret/altar on which fragrant incense was offered, which symbolizes sensory pleasures.

This trichotomy of Torah/parnasah/sense perceptions symbolically explains an even more striking difference between the dimensions of the three keilim. The aron is the largest, but all its measurements are “broken” numbers, i. e. they involve fractions: 2.5, 1.5 and 1.5. The shulchan’s dimensions are a mixture of whole numbers and a fraction: 2, 1 and 1.5.
Yet the mizbach haketoret, although smallest, is measured wholly by whole numbers: 1, 1 and 2. What does this signify?

No one can learn enough Torah. No matter how much one studies, one should never be satisfied that one has learned enough, let alone the whole Torah—therefore, all the dimensions of the aron, symbolizing Torah, are partial numbers. Concerning parnasah, it depends: while one should ideally be satisfied with what one has and “Who is rich? One who is content with his lot”—nevertheless, sometimes one does not have enough to provide for one’s needs. Therefore, the dimensions of the table include both whole numbers and a fraction. Concerning sensory pleasures, on the other hand, whatever one has is usually enough and one should not forever be seeking more. Therefore, the figures for the Incense Altar are all whole numbers.

When I first expounded the above at Nishmat, one of the faculty, R’ Sperling, added a further insight. The aron contains the Aseret haDibrot and this never changes, just as the Torah in eternal and unchanging. The Lechem haTamid on the shulchan are changed once a week: so, too, one occasionally has to change one’s livelihood. New incense is offered on the mizbach haketoret daily, symbolizing the evanescent and constantly changing nature of bodily pleasures.