Right at the end of the book of Shemot, there is a textual difficulty so slight that it is easy to miss, yet – as interpreted by Rashi – it contains one of the great clues as to the nature of Jewish identity: it is a moving testimony to the unique challenge of being a Jew. First, the background. The…
At the beginning of this parsha Moses performs a tikkun, a mending of the past, namely the sin of the Golden Calf. The Torah signals this by using essentially the same word at the beginning of both episodes. It eventually became a key word in Jewish spirituality: k-h-l, “to gather, assemble, congregate.” From it we get the words kahal and…
Sitting is the new smoking. So goes the new health mantra. Spend too much time at a desk or in front of a screen and you are at risk of significant danger to your health. The World Health Organisation has identified physical inactivity as the fourth greatest health hazard today, ahead of obesity. In the words of Dr James Levine,…
The shock is immense. For several weeks and many chapters – the longest prelude in the Torah – we have read of the preparations for the moment at which God would bring His Presence to rest in the midst of the people. Five parshiyot (Terumah, Tetzaveh, Ki Tissa, Vayakhel and Pekudei) describe the instructions for building the Sanctuary. Two further…
…‘the subtle ties that bind human beings to one another.’ In the wider essay for Vayakhel-Pekudei, Rabbi Sacks quotes Robert Putnam whose 2010 research found that regular attendees at a place of worship were more likely to help others, such as giving money to charity, engaging in voluntary work, donating blood, helping find someone a job, and other similar acts…
…Parsha in a Nutshell In next week’s parsha, Pekudei, Rabbi Sacks connects Shabbat and the Mishkan as holy time (Shabbat) and holy space (the Mishkan, or the Synagogue today) both institutions where we can rest and take respite from the chaos of the world and connect to Hashem. The Rabbis in the Talmud connect Shabbat and the Mishkan and learn…
…of the Torah that cries out for explanation. The first thing that strikes us is the sheer length of the account: one third of the book of Shemot, five parshiyot – Terumah, Tetzaveh, half of Ki Tissa, Vayakhel and Pekudei, interrupted only by the story of the Golden Calf. This becomes even more perplexing when we compare it with another…
Melanie Reid is a journalist who writes a regular column for The (London) Times. A quadriplegic with a wry lack of self-pity, she calls her weekly essay Spinal Column. On 4 January 2020, she told the story of how she, her husband, and others in their Scottish village bought an ancient inn to convert it into a pub and community…
…such a moment as this? A live-streamed shiur delivered by Rabbi Sacks for Vayakhel-Pekudei (March 2020/5780) Around the Shabbat Table What can we learn from Fred Rogers and the way he utilised the power of speech? Do you think the technology and social media of our age is a positive addition to our lives or mainly destructive? Do you agree…
…לְוַיַּקְהֵל Between Ki Tissa and Vayakhel עוֹלָם מַפְסִיק לְהִתְקַהֵל The world stops congregating לְהִשְׁתַּתֵּק לְהִסְתַּגֵּר Goes quiet, locks itself in יִשְׁמָעֵאל אֱדוֹם וְיִשְׂרָאֵל Ishmael, Edom and Israel בֵּין וַיַּקְהֵל לִפְּקוּדֵי Between Vayakhel and Pekudei אֵין אִישׁ בָּעִיר וּבַשָּׂדֶה Not a person in the city or the country כְּבָר אֵין מוּל מִי לְהִתְנַהֵל Not a soul left to talk…