Parshat Vayakhel; Exodus 35:1 -38:20 By: Rabbi Denise L. Eger

It seems as if the Torah is repeating itself. This week’s portion echoes Parshat Terumah with the instructions about building the Tabernacle in the desert. Many of the details are repeated here in this Torah portion. But if we look closely at the portion, we will see that in Parshat Terumah—God was speaking to Moses and teaching him the designs of the Ohel Moed. But in this week’s portion Moses in turn now explains the details to the Children of Israel. “Moses said further to the whole community of Israelites: This is what Adonai has commanded” (Ex. 35:4). In Terumah, God told Moses to tell the Israelites to bring gifts and to build the Tabernacle and reveal the details of the design. Now Moses is fulfilling this command of God by gathering the Israelites together to actually accept their free will gifts and bring the skilled workers to execute the unique design of the place the Israelites will meet with God.

In Parshat Vayakhel, Bezalel and his assistant Oholiab will begin along with the other skilled craftsmen and workers to build this sacred space for the Divine to dwell in their midst. In the names of these two leading craftsmen we gain insight into why they were chosen. Bezalel—means in Hebrew in the shadow of God. And Oholiab means his father’s tent. Indeed by overseeing the Divine designs of all of the Tent of Meeting and the utensils of worship, Bezalel is working in the shadow of the Holy One! It is not their own design that they are executing but Bezalel, Oholiab and the craftsman execute and create the sacred items of worship designed by God! They become God’s hands, God’s agents on earth, God’s s of art. God who created the universe with words now has human beings as partners in the creation of the universe of worship! In truth this is a model of our covenant and of humanity’s task in the world at large. We didn’t design the universe but we are the Divine’s agents here in the physical world. We like Bezalel and Oholiab must use our skill and art in the partnership of creation.
Bezalel who hailed from the tribe of Judah and Oholiab who hailed from the tribe of Dan represent the notion that all the tribes must be a part of the process of creating the Tent of Meeting . Especially in light of the fact that the Golden Calf was the idolatrous design, it was important that the whole community of Israel participate in the creation of a proper holy design of the sacred worship space of the people Israel. In some ways the building of the Tabernacle this week helps the Children of Israel move beyond their great sin of the desert because they now have joined together to create something of beauty and holiness that will bring God’s presence into their lives as they wander through the wilderness and on into the Promised land.
Through the work of their hands they purify and atone for their sins at Sinai. Through their commitment as a community to building this Divine design they help to reaffirm their covenant and their partnership with the Divine. Perhaps their work might inspire us to reaffirm our own partnership with God this week.

Parshat Ki Tisa; Exodus 30:11 -34:35 By: Rabbi Denise L. Eger

After weeks of miraculous interactions with the Divine the Israelites faith wavers. Although they had direct experiences with God at the foot of Sinai the Israelites are quick to forget. When Moses who led them out of Egypt remains for forty days and nights on the mountain they worried that he had disappeared. These slaves are used to taking directions from a prince. But in this case the prince of Egypt, Moses, has gone from before them and Aaron left in charge can not control them. He doesn’t have the force of leadership to inspire the people or to calm them. And he caves in to the Israelites’ demands to make a god for them. Have they forgotten already? The God they experienced with smoke and thunder and blasts of the shofar, the God they experienced who brought plagues upon Egypt and split the Red Sea for them can not be contained in any molten image. Their fears however are only comforted by something they can see and touch. Perhaps Aaron too has doubts about whether Moses will return. And so Aaron makes a statue of a calf and Aaron announces, “These are your gods, O Israel who brought you out of the land of Egypt!” (32:4). In what seems like in an instance the Ten Commandments that were given to the Children of Israel that stressed the ideas of no other gods and no graven images are abrogated by both Aaron and the people. Aaron, who will become the high priest, is now the high priest of idolatry, complicit in this sin against God and he shatters the covenant by his actions as do the people.

Faith wanes at many layers in this Torah portion not only on the people’s part, not only on Aaron’s part but even God has moments of doubt in this portion. In speaking with Moses, God tells him, “Hurray down, for your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, have acted basely.”(Ex. 32:7). All of a sudden the Israelites are no longer God’s treasured people as they were in Exodus 19 but the people Moses’ brought forth. God told the children of Israel in the first commandment that God brought them from Egypt –but their act that breaks the covenant so immediately causes God to reject Israel too. They are now Moses’ people not God’s people. God’s faith in Israel is quickly dissipated. God’s anger rises and is ready not only to reject them but to destroy them and put Moses’ at the core of the covenantal promise. “…That I may destroy them and make of you a great nation.” (Ex.32:9).

But it is Moses’ who becomes the great fixer and the great faith builder of God, Aaron and the Israelites. Moses’ appeals to God and calms God’s anger at the sins of the people. Reminding God of the love God had for the ancestors of this people, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the great covenantal promises made to them. “And God renounced the punishment that was planned upon God’s people.” (Ex. 32:14). Moses’ helps to restore God’s faith by reminding God of the eternal promise that is the covenant and not to be deterred by a momentary lapse on the Israelites part. Moses will seek forgiveness for the Israelite’s sin and become the intermediary between God and the Children of Israel.

Yet, when Moses encounters the sins of Aaron and the people first hand his own anger rises and his own disappointment rises. Perhaps his faith in the future took a leave of absence. In his own anger he destroys God’s own words by shattering the tablets of the Pact. The smashing of the tablets with God’s words upon them in effect shatters the covenant mirroring exactly what the Israelites did by building and celebrating at the base of the idol.

The covenant between God and the Jewish people is shattered physically and spiritually at this moment. But not eternally. And that is the beauty of this Torah portion because it sets in motion a powerful notion of forgiveness and renewal that is an important thread in Jewish life. Moses goes to God a second time and asks for forgiveness for the people when encountering God face to face. As God passes by Moses proclaims “Adonai, Adonai a God compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and faithfulness extending kindness to the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity of fathers upon children and children’s children upon the third and fourth generations (Ex.34:6-7).” Moses reminds God of the ideals of compassion and forgiveness. Moses in essence teaches God’s to pardon the people and start anew.

What a lesson! What chutzpah on Moses’ part! And that should help all of us too to remember that we not only have the strength to ask for forgiveness and pardon when we sin whether against God or another person but we must also reach deep within ourselves to the place of holiness within our own being to grant pardon and forgiveness to those who have wronged us. This is will not only help to restore others faith in the world and in God but will help restore our own faith as well. Moses’ great leadership helps us imagine a covenant reborn even though it was broken so resoundingly by the Israelites. This should help each one of us imagine too that we can rebuild trust and promises in our own relationships through forgiveness, pardon and time. But we have to remember to ask.

Parshat Tetzaveh; Exodus 27:20-30:10 By: Rabbi Denise L. Eger

It is well known that Parshat Tezaveh makes no mention of Moses by name! Instead the instructions of this portion continue to detail the various important items that will be needed for the sacrificial worship in the Mishkan, the tabernacle in the desert. In particular the details of the robes of the priesthood and the various symbols of the priestly office are described and the instructions for how to make these items are given. Of special note is the Choshen Mishpat—or breastplate of judgment. This special breast covering is to be made of gold, blue purple and crimson yarns and linens. It attached to the ephod a pinafore type cloth worn by the High Priest and set into the choshen mishpat were 12 semi-precious and precious stones each one representing one of the twelve tribe of Israel. Each of the different gemstones had the tribes name to be carved into it. This breastplate of decision or judgment was to be worn by the High Priest, by Aaron, each time he went into the Mishkan as the Torah tells us, “Aaron shall carry the names of the children of Israel on the breast piece of decision over his heart, when he enters the sanctuary for remembrance before Adonai at all times” (Ex. 28:29). Aaron carried the tribes with him reminding him not only did he serve God but he served the people Israel. The Torah teaches us that Aaron wore this over his heart conveying the idea that the High Priest, that Aaron needed to be close to the people. Not an easy task for the Cohen Gadol-for the High Priest who by role and by robe were set apart. Also by wearing the tribes on his chest, because he could enter the holiest precincts of the Mishkan, he brought the people into direct contact with the Divine.

But this Chosen Mishpat, this breast piece of decision also held the Urim and Tumim. Scholars are not exactly sure about what the Urim and Tumim were or what they looked like but it is clear that these were to some kind of consulting or oracular devices that priest might consult. Thus the name of this special shield as the breast piece of judgment or decision because the Urim and Tumim conceivably gave answers or judgments to particular dilemmas of the people.

Today, Jews of Ashkenazic descent dress their Sifrei Torah, Torah scrolls much like the High Priests of old. There are special robes or mantels, crowns and sashes-much like what is described in Parshat Tetzaveh. But also the Torah has a choshen, a breast plate-today often made out of metal like pewter and silver and brass. The design as rendered in this week’s Torah portion to include the 12 tribes on the breast plate is quite popular.

Rabbi Jacob ben Asher used this phrase Chosen Mishpat to describe one of his sections of his legal work the Araba Turim. Arba Turim is also a phrase that comes from Parshat Tetzaveh as it describes the four (arba) rows (turim) of stones that are to be mounted in the breast piece of judgements (Ex. 28:17). Later this legal work became the model for the Shulchan Aruch of the great Joseph Karo and one of the four sections there is also called Choshen Mishpat. This area of the law includes finance, damages, laws of the Bet Din and witnesses.

Parshat Terumah; Exodus 25:1 -27:19 By: Rabbi Denise L. Eger

Our parsha outlines the plan for building God’s dwelling place on earth. The Mishkan-the desert Tabernacle and all of its accoutrements – Ark, Menorah, Tent and Poles are described in detail in this week’s Torah portion. God speaks to Moses and tells him to begin the collection of the materials from the people and the initial design is described.

This great work project of the people will help to unify the nation to an even greater extent than the miraculous moments they have encountered. The Ten Plagues and liberation from Egyptian, the splitting of the Red Sea, the revelation at Mt. Sinai, each of these peak moments left an indelible mark on the soul and consciousness of the Israelite.

But this is a group of builders. As slaves in Egypt this group of people built entire cities for Pharaoh. They were craftsmen. They built the palaces and the garrison cities. They built temples for the Egyptian gods and goddesses. But now they would use their talents and gifts, their terumah offerings, their voluntary offerings, for their God.

Why must it be terumah? Why must these offerings, these gifts be from “every person whose heart so moves him” (Ex. 25:2)? Until now this mixed multitude, this group of former slaves only understood forced labor. Enslaved and oppressed, they worked for their Egyptian taskmasters because they had to for mere survival. But now this God through Moses asks them to use their knowledge, skill and offerings of yarn, and copper, gold, silver, linen and wood voluntarily. God asks them to bring only what they are willing. They have a choice; only if their hearts are moved. The Israelites have free will and this is a mark of a free person to decide for him or herself.

This act of building will be their first act of building the nation because they freely build it themselves. Thus the building of the Mishkan is not just a blueprint for the sacred space of the Divine on earth but is the blueprint for building a nation. The nation of Israel! And the building of the Mishkan is an exercise in helping the newly freed slaves practice their freedom and their decision making. These are skills each person will need to be truly free.

This week’s portion in Exodus teaches us a profound lesson about the Jewish view of God and the relationship to humanity. God gave us free will. God gave us the will to choose and to volunteer and to decide for ourselves. We are not puppets on a string and we human beings encounter God best when we do it from a place of freedom. That is the message of Terumah and an important reminder in this world today of demigogs and dictators, in a world where fundamentalism would have us close our minds and hearts to questions and choice—parshat Terumah reminds us that it is God who opens our hearts to being moved and to use those gifts in uplifting the sacred in the world!