TORAH SPARKS ניצוצות תורה
פרשת פקודי – שבת שקלים
PARASHAT PEKUDEI – SHABBAT SHEKALIM
March 5, 2011 – 29 Adar I 5771 — כ"ט אדר א’ תשע"א
Annual: Ex. 38:21 – 40:38 (Etz Hayim, p. 552; Hertz p. 373)
Triennial: Ex. 38:21 – 39:21 (Etz Hayim p.552; Hertz p. 373)
Maftir: Ex. 30:11 – 16 (Etz Hayim, p. 523; Hertz p. 352)
Haftarah: II Kings 12:1 – 17 (Etz Hayim, p. 1277; Hertz p. 993)
Prepared by Rabbi Joseph Prouser
Baldwin, New York
Torah Portion Summary
The closing portion of the Book of Exodus, Parashat Pekudei, opens with an inventory of the metals that had been contributed to the Sanctuary, together with a more precise count of the Israelite population that brought those gifts: 603,550 men over the age of twenty – when they became eligible for military service… with the implicit addition of their families.
A detailed description of the elaborate priestly vestments is provided, corresponding to earlier accounts in the Book of Exodus. The Tabernacle, together with its furnishings and accoutrements, are finally completed in fidelity to God’s revealed instructions. Moses bestows a blessing on the Israelites for their diligent efforts. The completed Tabernacle, the portable sanctuary now ready for “deployment,” is erected and its furnishings properly arranged – at God’s command – “on the first day of the first month” – effecting a fitting New Year’s celebration. It is not quite a year since the former slaves left Egypt… and precisely nine months of national and spiritual “gestation” since the revelation at Mount Sinai.
The ritual implements within the Sanctuary are anointed and dedicated to their respective, sacred functions. In a final consummation of the construction effort, the Divine Presence fills the Tabernacle. “When the cloud lifted from the Tabernacle, the Israelites would set out,” continuing their trek to the Promised Land. During these journeys, the cloud of God’s Presence would rest over the Tabernacle by day… taking on a fiery aspect at night.
NOTE: It is customary to recite Chazak, Chazak, V’Nitchazek (“Be strong, be strong, and we will be strengthened”) at the conclusion of each book of the Torah. The poem “Be Strong!” by Maltbie Davenport Babcock, a 19th century Presbyterian pastor, is a fitting commentary on this liturgical exclamation:
Be strong!
We are not here to play, to dream, to drift; We have hard work to do, and loads to lift;
Shun not the struggle—face it; ’tis God’s gift.
Be strong!
Say not, "The days are evil. Who’s to blame?" And fold the hands and acquiesce—oh shame!
Stand up, speak out, and bravely, in God’s name.
Be strong!
It matters not how deep intrenched the wrong, How hard the battle goes, the day how long;
Faint not—fight on! To-morrow comes the song.
Theme #1: “A Very, Very, Very Fine House”
“Just as the Lord had commanded Moses, so the Israelites had done all the work. And when
Moses saw that they had completed all the tasks – as the Lord had commanded, so had they done – Moses blessed them.” (Exodus 39:42-43)
Derash: Study
“Moses said to them: May it be God’s will that the Divine Presence (Shechinah) be manifest in all your endeavors.” (Rashi)
“Blessings were instituted by the Rabbis as a means for directing man into the presence of God at all times, thus providing for the continuous preservation of contact with the Creator.” (Rabbi Pinchas Peli)
“By building the Tabernacle, the Tabernacle builds us. For when we do, God does something quite surprising. No longer distant, no longer the aloof ‘commanding’ one, God comes into our midst. God’s Presence lives among us, in the very heart of our community, and God becomes our guide, leading us with cloud and with fire not from a great distance, but from a dwelling place within our very world. Thus the obedience to God’s will becomes the blessing of God’s nearness. This biblical narrative then becomes a kind of model of our hopes for a life of mitzvot: through our fulfillment of the commandments, we greet the Presence of God in our own lives.” (Barry Holtz)
“The Tabernacle was a micro-cosmos, a universe-in-miniature. In creating the universe, God made a home for humanity. In building the sanctuary, humanity made a home for God. And just as, at the beginning of time, God had blessed creation, so Moses blessed those who had a share in its human counterpart.” (Rabbi Jonathan B. Sacks)
“Knowing the intense desire of the Israelites for the Divine Presence to reside in their midst… we might have imagined that to achieve this they went beyond what was required. On this account the text observed, ‘as the Lord had commanded, so had they done’ – and not a bit more.” (Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Yehudah Berlin, the
‘”Netziv”)
Questions for Discussion
The content of Moses’ blessing – according to Rashi – is uncharacteristically brief! What further message of blessing, encouragement, or inspiration might have been appropriate to the occasion? Why might Rashi have speculated that that Moses blessed the people in the manner he describes?
Reflecting on Rabbi Peli’s comment, what does Moses’ blessing have in common with the formulaic blessings we recite today – such as Shehechiyanu, blessings for food, for good news and bad, upon the performance of mitzvot, as part of liturgical prayer, etc.?
In broad terms, what “tabernacles” of our own (or collective) construction usher God more vividly into our daily lives… and enhance our awareness of the Divine Presence? Dr. Holtz seems to imply a tension between a “commanding” God and the experience of God as a more intimate “guide.” Are the two mutually exclusive? How do we understand “commanded-ness” in our religious lives? Is there not a sense of sacred duty, of obligation, indeed of “commanded-ness” that devolves upon us by virtue of our most loving and intimate relationships?
The commentary of the Netziv – that the Israelites did only as much as commanded and “not a bit more” – sounds like an indictment. Professor Nehama Leibowitz, however, explains that he intended only praise: “He frequently expressed his disapproval of uncontrolled, ecstatic, undisciplined acts of worship not covered by the normative rules of Judaism and its codes. The highest form of Divine worship combined sincerity and individual expression with absolute loyalty to those norms.” Thus, the Netziv saw Moses as blessing the Israelites more for their exacting loyalty to the normative path, rather than for their spontaneity of spirit or enthusiasm. In what ways is the Netziv’s emphasis on precision cogent in the context of the contemporary congregation… and in the spiritual lives of today’s Jews? What are the limitations of the principle he here articulates? Would you find it more satisfying (if perhaps less accurate historically) to read his commentary as, at least, a mild reproof?
What programmatic implications (or spiritual insights) arise from (British) Chief Rabbi Sacks’ view of the sanctuary (i.e., today’s congregation) as a “micro- cosmos”? Can we infer the converse principle – Is all of God’s creation to be treated as a macrocosm of the Sanctuary? Are these complementary or contradictory ideals?
Theme #2: “I’ll Light the Fire”
“For over the Tabernacle a cloud of the Lord rested by day, and fire would appear in it by
night, in the view of all the house of Israel throughout their journeys.” (Exodus 40:38)
Derash: Study
“The Book of Exodus, which opened with a tale of misery and oppression, closes on an auspicious note. Israel is assured that, day and night, the Divine Spirit hovers over it, guiding and controlling its destiny.” (Nahum Sarna, JPS Commentary)
“This verse shows that, throughout all the generations, in all the years of Israel’s journeys, exile, and wandering, God never abandoned His people. In good times –
‘by day’ – the divine pillar of cloud guided them through the wilderness of exile. And at night – in periods of dark, protracted suffering, persecution and affliction, the
pillar of fire went before them, to burn and to destroy the snakes and scorpions that hatched schemes to attack Israel – God forbid! No matter how intently the enemies
of Israel conspire to persecute, to harm and to eradicate – God forbid – the scattered sheep Israel, they will not succeed; their schemes will be thwarted – for God is with
us.” (Avnei Ezel)
“Heretofore, not all the people were privileged to see the pillar of cloud that attended them by day, nor the pillar of fire which accompanied them at night. Only
prophets and those of elevated spiritual stature had the merit to behold this exalted sight. However, since Moses had prayed ‘Let the Lord go in our midst’ (Ex. 34:9), and ‘We may be distinguished, Your people and I’ (Ex. 33:16), the Holy One answered him and promised: ‘Before all your people I will work such wonders’ (Ex.
34:10)… and all the Israelites were empowered to see the Heavenly clouds: ‘in the view of all the house of Israel.’” (Vilna Gaon)
“The book ends, not with a paean to the completed structure or its builders, but with a description of how its purpose was fulfilled… At the end of the Book of Exodus, which began with a people in servitude to an earthly god-king, we find a people that has completed one aspect of service to a divine king, ready to set forth on their journey to a Promised Land in the company of the king’s inextinguishable presence.” (Everett Fox)
“Throughout their journeys (mas’eihem): ‘An encampment is also called a masa’ (Rashi). Even when, at times, Israel is living in deceptive peace and contentment in one place, which comes to appear as an ‘encampment’ – a settled place of residence – that, too, is called a
‘journey.’ That is to say, even then we must realize that it is just a temporary stay, and that we can expect another journey, another displacement.” (Yalkut Yehudah)
Questions for Discussion
Is it easier to perceive God’s presence on the bright days of success and happiness… or during the dark nights of adversity? Avnei Ezel insists that God is there for us in both settings.
Professor Fox reads Exodus as a journey away from subjugation to an earthly tyrant toward willing fealty to a loving, protective, benevolent God… not unlike Professor Sarna’s analysis of Exodus’ “auspicious conclusion.” To what extent does Exodus – perhaps more than any other Book of the Torah – thus serve as a paradigm for all of Jewish history (the Yalkut Yehudah certainly implies such a perspective)? Are there other, later Biblical Books that serve a similar function?
Where else in Biblical literature does Professor Fox’s felicitous phrase – “the king’s inextinguishable presence” – find application? Where else in Jewish ritual?
How do these verses – the conclusion of the Book of Exodus – serve as an apt introduction or segue to the Book of Leviticus? Does the statement of the Vilna Gaon suggest a possible answer to this question?
Historic Note
On March 5, 2011 we read in Parshat Pekudei of a bright day in the national life of
the People Israel: the Tabernacle is completed, and God’s constant Presence and Providence is manifested in the Israelite camp. In tragic contrast, March 5, 1933 is the date of the election that gave the Nazi Party control of Germany’s Reichstag, initiating one of the darkest periods in the history of the Jewish People.
Halachah L’Maaseh
Exodus 40:24 specifies that the Menorah was placed on the south side of the
Tabernacle. The same arrangement characterized the Temple in Jerusalem. On this basis it is customary to place the Chanukah Menorah to the right of the Ark in the
synagogue, i.e., on the south side, presuming the Ark is on the eastern wall. See
Shulchan Aruch Orach Chayim 671:7.