Parshat Pekudei - The people's - Marriage - With god
Tip: Highlight text to annotate itX
At the opening of Parshat Pekudei,
the Torah gives us the total amount
of gold, silver, and brass
used in the building of the tent of meeting,
(the Ohel Mo'ed) and everything in it.
Gold, 29 kikar; silver, 730 shekel; brass,
70 kikar and 2,400 shekel.
Not to get too technical,
but in modern day terms,
that's the equivalent of a whole heck of a lot of
gold, silver, and brass.
Next, we're told of the construction
of the special priestly vestments,
or, as you might say, clothes
that Aaron and his sons will wear
when they serve in the tabernacle,
the mishkan.
We've already heard exactly
how these clothes are to be made
back in Parshat Tetzaveh,
and all that detail is repeated here,
almost word-for-word.
The walls, the curtains, the ark, the table,
the bread, the menorah,
the golden altar for incense,
the altar of burnt offering,
the washing basin filled with water,
and so on, along with the vestments
-- the clothes -- are all completed
and listed off again for us in loving detail.
Moses anoints everything,
including Aaron and his sons.
Anointing means, he makes them fit
for use in the service of God
by pouring special anointed olive oil on them.
Now you'll ask, where did he get anointed oil?
Did he anoint it with other anointed oil?
And what about that oil?
Are we trapped in some sort
of endless regress of oil anointing?
An "endless regress" just means something
that goes back a long way,
like the chicken and the egg,
or the chicken and the road,
or the chicken nuggets... yeah.
On the first day of the first month
of the second year in the wilderness,
Moses puts all the pieces together --
sets up the altars, kindles the lamps,
burns the incense, and, finally,
screens off the whole area.
With everything in place,
the cloud which has been with the people
since they left Egypt covers the tent,
and God's glory fills the tabernacle.
How that works, exactly, is unclear,
but what is clear is that this tent
is now a house where God
and the Jewish people can live together,
if such a thing were possible.
And maybe that's why the Torah has spent
so much time and energy on this little tent
and its contents.
Looking back, we can see that
a little less than half
of the entire Book of Exodus, a.k.a Shemot,
has been dedicated
to the detailed instructions for
and the just as detailed execution of
the building of what is basically
a miniature mobile temple.
But it's more than that,
because what happened back on Mount Sinai
was, among other things,
the marriage of God and the Jewish people.
The mountain became the wedding canopy,
the chuppah,
and the Torah was the marriage contract,
the ketubah.
The laws against idolatry,
when you think about it,
are just like the laws against adultery.
For the Jewish people,
this is an exclusive relationship.
And so what is this Tent of Meeting,
this Tabernacle, these altars and vessels,
but the newlywed couple's first apartment?
And if you were building a special place,
a sanctuary for your love,
wouldn't you pour over the plans?
Wouldn't you savor each detail?
The table, the couch, the little tchotchkes
arranged just so.
And then, as it was being built,
wouldn't each newly completed piece
add to your excitement and anticipation?
And those special clothes you'd wear
when you and your love are all alone?
You get the idea.
It's a love story, not a human love story --
and that's maybe why
it doesn't seem so romantic.
Oh, and the endlessly regressing oil --
turns out the recipe is back in Parshat Ki Tisa.
It's just anointing oil, not anointed oil.
So, no need to worry -- if you were.
Having completed the Book of Shemot,
of Exodus, we say:
Chazak, chazak, v'nitchazek.
Be strong, be strong,
and may we be strengthened.
Producer: Sarah Lefton
Animation Director: Nick Fox-Gieg
Animation: Jeanne Stern
Editorial Director: Matthue Roth
Theme Music: Tim Cosgrove
Written and Narrated by Dov Weinstein
Sound Recording: Jon Madof
