Vayakhel-Pekudei: Living with the Shattered Tablets
I have not written any Torah commentaries for this blog in a very long time. However, the unique situation in which we find ourselves was the impetus I needed to get up off the couch and get back to writing (though, in reality, of course, I am actually writing this sitting on my living room couch because I'm stuck at home).
Vayakhel-Pekudei is a double parashah/portion. In Vayakhel, God commands the Israelites not to do any work in the sanctuary on Shabbat. The Israelites gather gifts for God. Moses says that Ohaliab and Bezalel should take the gifts of the Israelites and build God’s Sanctuary.
In Pekudei, Aaron and the priests are given their clothing for work in the Sanctuary. This marks the completion of the Mishkan/Tabernacle construction. Moses anoints Aaron and his sons to make their priestly positions official. A cloud descends upon the Tent of Meeting, and God’s presence fills the Tabernacle.
This is a time of transitions in the Torah's narrative, as well as in the Jewish and secular calendars. In the Torah this is the last parasha/portion from the book of Shemot/Exodus, as well as the final readubg dealing with the building of the Mishkan/Sanctuary.
In the Hebrew calendar, this is Shabbat ha'Hodesh, which is the first Shabbat of the month of Nissan. This is the month in which we will celebrate Passover, the festival of our freedom. In the secular (or natural) calendar, it is the spring equinox, the beginning of spring, the season of rebirth and renewal, at least in the northern hemisphere (though even in the southern hemisphere, it is still the start of a transition to a new season).
The lengthy instructions for the building of the Mishkan have concluded. The dedication has occurred and the Israelites are ready to continue their journey to the Promised Land.
There is a Talmudic teaching that the Ark of the Covenant, which was at the center of the Mishkan, contained within it not only the new tablets of the Ten Commandments, but also the shards of the first set of tablets. If you remember, Moses had smashed the first tablets after first returning from Mount Sinai and seeing the people worshipping the Golden Calf.
Rabbi Bradley Artson commented that, in our current society, we tend to look at objects based on their usefulness and their newness. We are constantly replacing phones, cars, etc. either because they're no longer serving their purpose or simply because a newer, better model has come along. And yet. he reminds us, we also have a habit of saving things that have meaning to us even if they are no longer useful or valuable.
One example he give is of a person who, after years of marriage, buys a newer, more ornate "wedding ring" to symbolize the beauty of their marriage and their current status. However, they will still keep their original wedding band, no matter how simple it might be. They do this both because it represents the beginning of their relationship, but also because it reminds them of those special times in the past, just as the new ring represents the special times in the present.
I remember that my parents, may their memories be a blessing, bought a newer, more ornate ring for my mother for their 50th anniversary. However, she kep the original ring, of course. When, many years later, both rings were stolen, she was bereaved more by the loss of her original ring rather than the loss of the newer, more ornate one. It may not have been as valuable monetarily, but it was more valuable emotionally.
That is why, according to Artson, the original tablets were not simply discarded, but stored together with the new version.
With the current crisis, one could also say that we are living with the shattered tablets of the world that we new and trying to decipher the writing on the new set of tablets. We have witnessed our world come crashing down around us in so many ways over just the past week. Nothing is as it was before.
Given this reality, we may be prone to remember with fondness what our lives and our world were like before. However. we do this while also trying to understand and navigate a "new normal" that changes daily.
It is the constantly-changing nature of our world it is impossible to finish reading the words on the new tablets before suddenly they change again. It's as if each day (or each hour or moment) the universe is creating a new online document which cannot be saved and which is constantly being edited.
This has caused a great deal of tension and stress for us all. After all, how can new tablets be created when the rules and realities keep shifting? How do we live in a world that's constantly changing and becoming more frightening every day? How do we stay in control when our world is totally out of control?
In truth, the ephemeral nature of existence is always the norm and not the exception. We just often ignore or deny that fact. No day, no hour. no moment is the same as the previous. We are never really in control of our world.
Remembering this is at the heart of mindfulness practice.
After all, there is a reason why so many cultures have a version of the saying, "this too shall pass" (gam zeh ya'avore in Hebrew). It's simply the reality of everything. However, it is as if this principle has been put into overdrive. We can't keep up with the changes. We can't be present in the moment because we aren't really sure what is the reality of that moment! That's where the idea of the original tablets come in.
It's never good to dwell in the past. However, when things are particularly difficult, there can be a benefit in taking a moment t remember the "good old days." This can make us smile and laugh. It can make us feel better. at least for a moment. The other night I watched my favorite movie for the umpteenth time (The Lion in Winter, with Katharine Hepburn, Peter O'Toole, and Anthony Hopkins, in case you want to know). I did so not simply because I love the movie, but because it is a connection to past enjoyment, including interacting with friends back in college. It is also something that gives me joy, which we all need right now!
However, it was temporary. I can't watch it or any movie or TV show ad infinitum. Like the broken tablets, it is something that connects me to the past in a positive way, but it is not permanent and it is not the present. Once the movie was over, the reality around me was still there. I was still sitting in my apartment and I knew I wasn't going out any time soon, other than to buy food.
As we navigate this new territory, we each need to find the things from our past that can bring us joy in the moment, but hopefully also find joy in the present.
It's the beginning of spring. The world around us is changing. We may be inside much of the time, but we can go outside and enjoy the beauty of the world, as long as we are careful. We can also sit inside and look at the beauty around us. We can still experience a sunny day during in which we can see the trees budding and the flowers blooming. On a stormy day, we can still marvel at the fury of the rain and wind. It's all part of nature.
In addition, it is also the beginning of the month of Nisan, during which we celebrate our journey from slavery into freedom. It would be easy for me to look at this in a negative light and question how we can celebrate freedom when we are cooped up inside. But, let's face it, this is a temporary situation. This too shall pass. We are still free human beings, and for this we should be thankful as much as we can.
However, we should also continue the work of bringing freedom and salvation to those who are still enslaved, imprisoned, or homeless, whether in the USA or elsewhere. This is especially important at this moment in time! Let us remember this as we celebrate the beginning of this new month as well as the beginning of the season of rebirth and renewal.
Finally, this is the Shabbat in which the building of Mishkan is completed and dedicated, and in which the priests are robed and anointed. In the end of the parashah, the cloud descends upon the Mishkan, signifying God's presence is among them.
Moses was commanded to build the Mishkan as a place in which the Divine presence could dwell within them. This has been interpreted as meaning both in the midst of all the people and within each human being.
We no longer have a Mishkan, and so we need to find the Divine within each of us and with our communities through other means.
Our rabbis taught that the Shabbat table is like a miniature Mishkan in our home. The Torah also prescribes that we are to be a nation of priests and a holy people. As we make our way through the current maze of changing realities, let us do our best to make our Shabbat table, or simply our daily table, our house, our apartment, or wherever we might be, a place where we can connect with the divine. Let us do our best to find the holiness and beauty within ourselves and our world.
The easiest way to do this is with those sharing our physical space. But for those, such as myself. who live alone, we can find holiness through connection thanks to our phones and various electronic means of communication. No. It's not the same, but it's the reality.
For those who don't have anyone with whom or any means by which to connect, we can still help those organization which are helping others through our donations or, when appropriate, through volunteering.
Finally. when we need to, we can cautiously use our broken tablets, the memories of beautiful times past, to make us feel a little bit better. Then let us return to the new tablets and see what the writing is, at least for this moment. Let us remember, that eventually, when the current crisis ends, we will be able to complete the new tablets together.
The Torah tells us that the Mishkan was constructed of gifts brought willingly by each member of the community. Let us recognize our own gifts as we build a new "virtual" community for the moment and eventually let us bring those gifts to create a new physical community and to repair our broken world.
This Shabbat, and after, let us do what we need to do in order to keep ourselves and others safe, but let us also find a way to celebrate, be grateful for the beauty of the moment that exists, and connect in whatever way we can with others.
Shabbat Shalom. Happy Nissan. May we enjoy the new season as best we can. Let us remember that the Divine is within us, which means we are all connected and we are all holy. We are also all responsible to help one another make it through these difficult times and to share the times ahead.
Shabbat Shalom.
Rabbi Steve
Vayakhel-Pekudei is a double parashah/portion. In Vayakhel, God commands the Israelites not to do any work in the sanctuary on Shabbat. The Israelites gather gifts for God. Moses says that Ohaliab and Bezalel should take the gifts of the Israelites and build God’s Sanctuary.
In Pekudei, Aaron and the priests are given their clothing for work in the Sanctuary. This marks the completion of the Mishkan/Tabernacle construction. Moses anoints Aaron and his sons to make their priestly positions official. A cloud descends upon the Tent of Meeting, and God’s presence fills the Tabernacle.
This is a time of transitions in the Torah's narrative, as well as in the Jewish and secular calendars. In the Torah this is the last parasha/portion from the book of Shemot/Exodus, as well as the final readubg dealing with the building of the Mishkan/Sanctuary.
In the Hebrew calendar, this is Shabbat ha'Hodesh, which is the first Shabbat of the month of Nissan. This is the month in which we will celebrate Passover, the festival of our freedom. In the secular (or natural) calendar, it is the spring equinox, the beginning of spring, the season of rebirth and renewal, at least in the northern hemisphere (though even in the southern hemisphere, it is still the start of a transition to a new season).
The lengthy instructions for the building of the Mishkan have concluded. The dedication has occurred and the Israelites are ready to continue their journey to the Promised Land.
There is a Talmudic teaching that the Ark of the Covenant, which was at the center of the Mishkan, contained within it not only the new tablets of the Ten Commandments, but also the shards of the first set of tablets. If you remember, Moses had smashed the first tablets after first returning from Mount Sinai and seeing the people worshipping the Golden Calf.
Rabbi Bradley Artson commented that, in our current society, we tend to look at objects based on their usefulness and their newness. We are constantly replacing phones, cars, etc. either because they're no longer serving their purpose or simply because a newer, better model has come along. And yet. he reminds us, we also have a habit of saving things that have meaning to us even if they are no longer useful or valuable.
One example he give is of a person who, after years of marriage, buys a newer, more ornate "wedding ring" to symbolize the beauty of their marriage and their current status. However, they will still keep their original wedding band, no matter how simple it might be. They do this both because it represents the beginning of their relationship, but also because it reminds them of those special times in the past, just as the new ring represents the special times in the present.
I remember that my parents, may their memories be a blessing, bought a newer, more ornate ring for my mother for their 50th anniversary. However, she kep the original ring, of course. When, many years later, both rings were stolen, she was bereaved more by the loss of her original ring rather than the loss of the newer, more ornate one. It may not have been as valuable monetarily, but it was more valuable emotionally.
That is why, according to Artson, the original tablets were not simply discarded, but stored together with the new version.
With the current crisis, one could also say that we are living with the shattered tablets of the world that we new and trying to decipher the writing on the new set of tablets. We have witnessed our world come crashing down around us in so many ways over just the past week. Nothing is as it was before.
Given this reality, we may be prone to remember with fondness what our lives and our world were like before. However. we do this while also trying to understand and navigate a "new normal" that changes daily.
It is the constantly-changing nature of our world it is impossible to finish reading the words on the new tablets before suddenly they change again. It's as if each day (or each hour or moment) the universe is creating a new online document which cannot be saved and which is constantly being edited.
This has caused a great deal of tension and stress for us all. After all, how can new tablets be created when the rules and realities keep shifting? How do we live in a world that's constantly changing and becoming more frightening every day? How do we stay in control when our world is totally out of control?
In truth, the ephemeral nature of existence is always the norm and not the exception. We just often ignore or deny that fact. No day, no hour. no moment is the same as the previous. We are never really in control of our world.
Remembering this is at the heart of mindfulness practice.
After all, there is a reason why so many cultures have a version of the saying, "this too shall pass" (gam zeh ya'avore in Hebrew). It's simply the reality of everything. However, it is as if this principle has been put into overdrive. We can't keep up with the changes. We can't be present in the moment because we aren't really sure what is the reality of that moment! That's where the idea of the original tablets come in.
It's never good to dwell in the past. However, when things are particularly difficult, there can be a benefit in taking a moment t remember the "good old days." This can make us smile and laugh. It can make us feel better. at least for a moment. The other night I watched my favorite movie for the umpteenth time (The Lion in Winter, with Katharine Hepburn, Peter O'Toole, and Anthony Hopkins, in case you want to know). I did so not simply because I love the movie, but because it is a connection to past enjoyment, including interacting with friends back in college. It is also something that gives me joy, which we all need right now!
However, it was temporary. I can't watch it or any movie or TV show ad infinitum. Like the broken tablets, it is something that connects me to the past in a positive way, but it is not permanent and it is not the present. Once the movie was over, the reality around me was still there. I was still sitting in my apartment and I knew I wasn't going out any time soon, other than to buy food.
As we navigate this new territory, we each need to find the things from our past that can bring us joy in the moment, but hopefully also find joy in the present.
It's the beginning of spring. The world around us is changing. We may be inside much of the time, but we can go outside and enjoy the beauty of the world, as long as we are careful. We can also sit inside and look at the beauty around us. We can still experience a sunny day during in which we can see the trees budding and the flowers blooming. On a stormy day, we can still marvel at the fury of the rain and wind. It's all part of nature.
In addition, it is also the beginning of the month of Nisan, during which we celebrate our journey from slavery into freedom. It would be easy for me to look at this in a negative light and question how we can celebrate freedom when we are cooped up inside. But, let's face it, this is a temporary situation. This too shall pass. We are still free human beings, and for this we should be thankful as much as we can.
However, we should also continue the work of bringing freedom and salvation to those who are still enslaved, imprisoned, or homeless, whether in the USA or elsewhere. This is especially important at this moment in time! Let us remember this as we celebrate the beginning of this new month as well as the beginning of the season of rebirth and renewal.
Finally, this is the Shabbat in which the building of Mishkan is completed and dedicated, and in which the priests are robed and anointed. In the end of the parashah, the cloud descends upon the Mishkan, signifying God's presence is among them.
Moses was commanded to build the Mishkan as a place in which the Divine presence could dwell within them. This has been interpreted as meaning both in the midst of all the people and within each human being.
We no longer have a Mishkan, and so we need to find the Divine within each of us and with our communities through other means.
Our rabbis taught that the Shabbat table is like a miniature Mishkan in our home. The Torah also prescribes that we are to be a nation of priests and a holy people. As we make our way through the current maze of changing realities, let us do our best to make our Shabbat table, or simply our daily table, our house, our apartment, or wherever we might be, a place where we can connect with the divine. Let us do our best to find the holiness and beauty within ourselves and our world.
The easiest way to do this is with those sharing our physical space. But for those, such as myself. who live alone, we can find holiness through connection thanks to our phones and various electronic means of communication. No. It's not the same, but it's the reality.
For those who don't have anyone with whom or any means by which to connect, we can still help those organization which are helping others through our donations or, when appropriate, through volunteering.
Finally. when we need to, we can cautiously use our broken tablets, the memories of beautiful times past, to make us feel a little bit better. Then let us return to the new tablets and see what the writing is, at least for this moment. Let us remember, that eventually, when the current crisis ends, we will be able to complete the new tablets together.
The Torah tells us that the Mishkan was constructed of gifts brought willingly by each member of the community. Let us recognize our own gifts as we build a new "virtual" community for the moment and eventually let us bring those gifts to create a new physical community and to repair our broken world.
This Shabbat, and after, let us do what we need to do in order to keep ourselves and others safe, but let us also find a way to celebrate, be grateful for the beauty of the moment that exists, and connect in whatever way we can with others.
Shabbat Shalom. Happy Nissan. May we enjoy the new season as best we can. Let us remember that the Divine is within us, which means we are all connected and we are all holy. We are also all responsible to help one another make it through these difficult times and to share the times ahead.
Shabbat Shalom.
Rabbi Steve
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