…the word of God then. But how on earth can that be true this year, this week, as the Coronavirus sweeps the world, bringing humanity to its current position? We read the double parsha of Vayakhel and Pekudei, which is about building the Mishkan, the first House of God, the precursor of the Temple and the synagogue. Yet through Britain…
Immediately after his return from the mountain top, having secured forgiveness for the people after the sin of the Golden Calf, Moses assembles them and commands them, first, about the Sabbath, and then about the making of the Tabernacle. The parsha repeats much of what was said earlier in Terumah, with this difference: that there we read the instructions, here,…
What do you do when your people have just made a Golden Calf, run riot, and lost their sense of ethical and spiritual direction? How do you restore moral order – not just then in the days of Moses, but even now? The answer lies in the first word of today’s parsha: Vayakhel. But to understand this, we have to…
…long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered themselves [vayikahel] around Aaron.” Ex. 32:1 At the beginning of this parsha, having won God’s forgiveness and brought down a second set of Tablets, Moses began the work of rededicating the people: “Moses assembled [vayakhel] the entire Israelite congregation.” Ex. 35:1 They had sinned as a community. Now they were about…
The Parsha in a Nutshell After the sin of the Golden Calf, Moshe gathers the people together and teaches them two mitzvot. First he tells them about Shabbat, and then about the making of the Mishkan. A few weeks ago in parshat Terumah we read the instructions for building the Mishkan, and now in parshat Vayakhel the people follow the…
…to share his thoughts and to learn from them. For me this exemplifies the notion of ‘Vayakhel’ – ‘and he gathered’ – the name and first word of this week’s parsha. Rabbi Sacks was interested in hearing from all individuals but he was especially keen to hear from groups and from people who played integral roles within communities, and listening…
In Vayakhel we meet, for the second time, the man who became the symbol of the artist in Judaism, a man by the name of Betzalel. Then Moses said to the Israelites, “Know that the Lord has chosen Betzalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and has filled him with a Divine spirit of…
The Summary This summary is adapted from this week’s main Covenant & Conversation essay by Rabbi Sacks. In Vayakhel we meet – for the second time – the man who became the symbol of the artist in Judaism, a man by the name of Betzalel. Betzalel, together with Oholiav, would make the Mishkan and its furnishings and go on to…