Shabbat Pekuday
We come this week to the end of the second book of the Torah, Exodus or Shemot (as we call it ). For the past weeks we have been focused on the construction of the Tabernacle in great detail. One may wonder why everything is being repeated three times. We have come across this phenomenon in the Torah before. Often the same subject , narrative or law, is repeated in similar and yet slightly different ways over the course of the Torah. An obvious explanation is that important messages are reiterated to give them greater significance. And very often different nuances and terms help expand fundamental principles.
In the case of the Tabernacle obviously its importance to the community of Israel at that time as its spiritual center underlines its significance. God gives instructions to Moshe how the Tabernacle should be conceptually. Then the construction is handed over to Betzalel and Oholiav. Finally, the completed construction is anointed and dedicated with every detail mentioned. It’s not unlike the idea of having an idea of a building that you want to construct. You call in an architect to design it. Then the construction team to carry it out. And finally, when it’s all completed, you check that everything is as you wanted, and that it functions effectively.
We can apply this to ourselves, our actions, our approach to life. We start off with a view of the world, how we should live within it and encounter it. Then we go through the process of actually experiencing life with its challenges, when all our dreams and ideals are put to the test. And finally, we can look back and see how we have performed and whether we have come up to our own expectations.
Within the overall picture in these chapters, there are some interesting elements that a worth noticing that add different dimensions to the overall picture of the Tabernacle as a metaphor both for our community and ourselves. This week as the Tabernacle is competed the word Vayechal is used twice (39:32 and 40:34). This word is only used previously with regard to creation and Shabbat. It is used in Kiddush on Friday nights. So that the creation of the physical world and the spiritual are intertwined.
But let’s look at the contributions to the Tabernacle. There are different words for different kinds of contributions. There is Terumah which is an obligatory sort of poll tax on everyone. But the very rich elders, the Nesiim were obliged to contribute priceless jewels. Then there is a Nedavah, a voluntary contribution and men and women participated. And finally, the skills of individuals. And there the Torah repeatedly uses the words Chachamat Lev, skills, and again applies it equally to men and women. So that everyone could contribute one way or another, whether rich or poor. And in the case of voluntary contributions and kills the Torah records that they were so generous they were asked to stop donating. They went over the top! What a dream for a community fundraiser today.
It’s interesting how many times the Torah comments on the fact that the women were contributing even more enthusiastically than the men. Towards the end of last week’s reading of the Torah (38:8)comes an interesting extra. The Kiyor the metal laver, a huge copper bowl for people to purify themselves with, before performing or going further into the Tabernacle. It was made-up of the contribution of women, donating their brass mirrors, to provide the metal for the construction. The Torah describes the contribution as coming from the women who congregated around the Tabernacle, the Nashim HaTzovot . The women who swarmed or congregated around the Tabernacle.
A similar phrase is used in1 Samuel 4:22. The Hebrew word Tzava can mean coming together in general to pray, or to express their religious sentiment, ask for what they needed or for help in difficult situations. It could equally mean those women who were employed in cleaning and repairing and providing services for the maintenance of the building. And there’s a third interpretation based on the fact that the word can also mean an army, Tzava,as it does in Israel today. Does this mean these women were fighters? Early amazons, or perhaps auxiliaries? Its fanciful idea but does emphasize their importance on so many levels.
We are all responsible for maintaining our communities by contributing to them in any way that we can and using whatever skills we have. It is what we do that counts.
Shemot 38:21-40:38
