Vayakhel - Extending the Spirit of Shabbat

Vayakhel/He Gathered

Shabbat 2/26/10

The process of constructing the Mishkan (portable sanctuary) had been interrupted by the episode of the golden calf and its aftermath.  Now, after finally receiving all the building instructions, Moses gathers the people in order to begin the construction itself.  The Israelites go above and beyond in donating all the required materials, bringing precious metals, fancy fabrics and choice animal skins in such abundance that Moses actually has to tell them to stop giving. 

           

          The people join in the work of building and sewing.  Bezalel, the head artisan, then turns to the task of fashioning the accoutrements of the Mishkan, including the ark, menorah, altar and washing laver.  When all the requirements have been completed, Moses officially initiates Aaron and his four sons as kohanim (priests).  A cloud appears over the Mishkan, symbolizing the divine presence that has come to dwell within it. 

             

           

            At the start of Vayakhel Moses reiterates the laws of Shabbat observance.  We might ask what connection there is between Shabbat and the rest of the parasha.  The commentator Ramban notes this juxtaposition of Shabbat with the Mishkan, and explains that there is a similarity between the two.  The Mishkan was meant to be a focal point for God’s presence that would in turn spread throughout the Israelite encampment, not merely rest within the confines of the Mishkan itself.  In a similar fashion, sanctifying Shabbat as a sacred time can elevate our sense of holiness throughout the rest of the week.  As it says in the Sim Shalom siddur at the end of the Shabbat Amidah (the devotional prayer recited while standing), “Let the spiritual dimensions of Shabbat’s pleasures extend to all the days of the week.”   Amen! 

Ki-Tissa - Communal Counts and Contributions

Ki-Tissa/When you Count

Shabbat 2/19/11

            If you are a Jewish music lover like I am, you may be familiar with the Klezmer revival band called The Klezmatics.  Their album entitled “Jews with Horns” makes for especially good pre-Shabbat listening this week, considering the content of the Torah reading.  In this week’s parasha, Moses descends from Mt. Sinai with two stone tablets inscribed by God, but he shatters them when he sees that the people have built a golden calf in his absence.  After convincing God to forgive the people for their idolatry, Moses brings down a new set of tablets, and this time his face is so radiant from being in God’s presence that he needs to veil himself.  In Hebrew, the word ‘karan’ is used to indicate that rays of light shone from his face; however, a ‘keren’ can also mean a horn.  This confusion in translation led Michelangelo to place small horns on the head of his famous sculpture of Moses. 

           

If Michelangelo were alive today, meanwhile, he may have enrolled in the Bezalel Academy in Jerusalem.  Bezalel is Israel’s leading school of art and design, and one of the most prestigious art institutions in the world.  The school’s name refers to Bezalel in our portion, the wise and talented artisan who was placed in charge of constructing the Mishkan (portable sanctuary).  Regrettably, Bezalel’s fellow craftsman Oholiav, his partner in overseeing the building project, never had a school named after him; perhaps if he had pledged more to the building fund he too could have been a naming donor!

The parasha in fact begins with the obligation to give monetary contributions for the construction of the Mishkan.  A census was conducted and a half-shekel poll tax was levied on everyone over the age of twenty—the rich did not pay more and the poor did not pay less.  The Rabbis note that the word “v’natnu,” meaning “each person shall give,” is a palindrome in Hebrew—the letters are the same forwards and backwards.  This indicates the reciprocal nature of tzedakah; when we contribute to the community, we receive something special in return. 

Shabbat shalom!