We are not perfect.
The Jewish people are tasked with being a light onto the nations. Every Jew is a part of this mission, simply by being part of the Jewish people.
By being a light onto the nations, we make the world a place where G-d is comfortable. None of us are too high or too low on the ladder of spiritual status to work together with another.
A community is a group of individuals. Each and every individual is essential to the community. Just as every detail of the Mishkan (Tabernacle) was essential to its operation, so too each and every one of us are essential to this mission of operating a G-dly world.
We are all unique. We each bring our individuality and intrinsic worth to the world. However, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Just like two people can lift more than the sum of each one separately, we are also better together when identifying with the entire Jewish people as a whole. The individual parts of the Mishkan (Tabernacle) did not begin to function until the Mishkan was completed. The same way, we can't really transform the world until we are all doing it together.
Lastly, and dare I say most importantly, the Torah instructs how to build the Mishkan and then repeats those instructions when the Jewish people actually built it. The Torah repeats itself to show us that even though implementation might be different then the perfect G-d given plan, the imperfect version is where G-d’s presence rested. So too, despite our own shortcomings and imperfections, we should never feel too inadequate to fulfill what G-d wants, as G-d wants us with our blemishes.
It was the real-world imperfect Mishkan that the people built that G-d chose to dwell in. Being imperfect is not only ok and part of the G-d designed nature and reality we live in, it is where G-d wants to live. In our imperfection!
If we act with warmth, sincerity, and enthusiasm, G-d crowns our efforts with success and dwells in the Tabernacle that we build for Him in the way we live our lives.
So don't be perfect. Join your fellow Jews in building the best home for G-d.
Have a good G-dly Shabbos,
Rabbi Kushi Schusterman