This entry was posted in Uncategorized on March 22, 2013 by Judah B.

Community Building The Mishkan/Tabernacle and Marketing

Leave a reply So what does the Mishkan have to do with marketing you ask? It all comes down to one term- community building! The mishkan was the first man-made jewish community building project. Until that point the Bnai Yisrael had been guided by miracles. Moshe first appears to them in Egypt and reveals his legitimacy as leader through miracles. Following that is the ten plagues and then the splitting of the Red Sea. The Jewish people experience miracles as if they are in the comfortable womb of G-d. The desert is an experience that will test this comfort zone experience of Bnai Yisrael. They will live on a dual experience of miracles and human effort. The tabernacle is the model of how a Jewish community should be built. Mosess formulation is a brilliant one. He says bring a donation Mees kol ish asher yidvenu libo which means bring a donation from each person whose heart so desires. Moses formulates participation in his community as one that is based on a voluntary donation. So what does this have to do with marketing? It has everything to do with marketing!! Moses is trying to establish a community. He is working with people who have been enslaved for hundreds of years! Theyre concept of relationships has faded. They see themselves and each other as slaves. This means that they are used to relationships that are based on payment or use. Moses frees them from this concept and teaches them how to be in a relationship based on pure love! So what does this have to do with marketing? Marketing involves building relationships. You want to get your customer to identify with you. You have to create a space where that person can identify with you, whether its in the persons head or in the persons heart. It is that impact that you make that will encourage them to buy more at your store. The trick is to create space and that is exactly what Moshe is doing here. Moshe creates the space and then builds in between. He gets participation from Betzalel who is the chacham lev or the architect of the mishkan. This is how he creates community. He teaches people how to open up their hearts and minds to each other. This is the same way that business people can create community. They have to find a way of opening up peoples hearts and minds in order that they can interact with each other and make their business grow.

This entry was posted in Uncategorized on March 19, 2013 by Judah B.