The First Commandment: Sanctify the New Moon!

28 Adar 5785
Erev Shabbat Kodesh
Parashat Pekudei - HaChodesh

From the Stone Edition Chumash Commentary:

Sforno comments that the Tabernacle and its individual parts were of such awesome holiness that they survived intact through time and wars.  Unlike the two Temples that were sacked and destroyed, Moses' Tabernacle remained intact and was never captured or desecrated.  The four reasons for this are alluded to in the first two verses:  (a) It was the Tabernacle of Testimony, where the Tablets, the symbols of God's communion with Israel, were deposited; (b) it was built at Moses' bidding, thus benefiting from his personal majesty; (c) the service of the Levites [who had proven their greatness by their loyal response to Moses after the catastrophe of the Golden Calf] and all the components of the Tabernacle were under the charge of Issamar, a man of great stature; and (d) those who led the work, as represented by Bezalel, were men of distinguished lineage and outstanding righteousness.  Because of all these factors, Sforno explains, the Tabernacle was impervious to time and enemies.  Solomon's Temple, by contrast, was built [in great measure] by non-Jewish workmen.  Consequently, although the Shechinah rested upon it, its parts became worn with time and required repair and replacement.  The Second Temple was built only thanks to the benevolence of King Cyrus, and it never had the Tablets or the Shechinah.  Both Temples fell into enemy hands, were looted, and destroyed.

He comments further that compared to the gold and silver that were used in the Temples of Solomon and Herod, the amounts listed [in the parashah] are insignificant.  Nevertheless, the Tabernacle surpassed both Temples in holiness....  This proves that God rests His Presence not where there is wealth, but where there is righteousness.

~ SHABBAT SHALOM ~
and

~ Chodesh Tov ~

The last of the special haftarot for Adar - HaChodesh - falls on Erev Rosh Chodesh Nisan.  

More from the Stone Edition Chumash Commentary:

...The first day of Nisan was and always remains a historic day for the Jewish nation.  It was the day when the people received their first commandment as a nation: Sanctify the New Moon.  This ritual has a profound spiritual and historic significance.  It is noteworthy that it was one of the three commandments that the Syrian-Greeks, in the time before the Chanukah miracle, attempted to nullify by force.  The other two were Sabbath observance and circumcision.  Clearly, therefore, Israel's enemies understood that the sanctification of the New Moon was basic to the existence of Israel as a nation of Torah.