Vayakhel-Pekudei – Once Upon a Week

Read the transcript below, or watch a video of the teaching by Yehuda Bachana.

Today we are reading and learning from the double Torah portion, “Veyikahel-Pikudei”.

Why is this Torah Portion double?The reason is, that every few years the Hebrew calendar adds an additional 13th month to its yearly cycle. This month is called, Adar Bet.

It is done to adjust the Hebrew lunar calendar to the international solar one. We add the 13th month every few years, to keep the holiday cycle in accordance with the year’s seasons. So that the Passover will always be in spring and the rainy season will begin around the Feast of Tabernacles or Sukkot.

Because the 13-month year is longer and it has more Saturdays in it, we need additional Torah portions for the additional Saturdays. During that year we read the double portions separately: Vayakhel-Pikudei, Behar-Bechukotai, and Tazria-Metzorah. On a regular year, we read the double portion as one, and on the extended year we break those portions into two different ones, thus providing us additional portions.

This week we conclude the book of Exodus, which ends with the construction of the Tabernacle, and what happened then? God himself came down from heaven to dwell in the Sanctuary, and He entered the house, built for Him by the children Israel. This happens at the end of the portion. At the beginning, Moses gathers the people of Israel and for the fourth time in the Bible, commands them to keep the Sabbath.

Based on this text, that forbids doing any work on the Sabbath day, our sages created a list of 39 types of labor that is forbidden on the seventh day. Those forbidden trades are those that were done during the construction of the Sanctuary, like building, sowing, coloring and so on.

Our Torah Portion begins with the Sabbath. Yes, even during the construction of the Tabernacle, even while building the house of God, “six days you shall work”, and on the seventh day, on the Sabbath, you should rest!

The Children of Israel answered the call of Moses. They brought offerings and volunteered their best and most talented, for the construction of the Sanctuary. The book of Exodus ends with God coming down to dwell in the house that the children of Israel build for Him.

God Almighty, who created everything and everyone, came to dwell with human beings. This ending tells us, that finally, after focusing on the smallest details, after all the hard work, when we act wholeheartedly, donate wholeheartedly, God comes to dwell in our mist.

This understanding is very important, as we have to be precise in the smallest details. And before the praise, the prayer and the teachings, we have to start with treating each other well. We must receive our guests with kindness, try to understand one another, understand what the person next to me is going through, and not to put “myself” in the center of the world.

Contrary to what we might think, the main focus of the Scriptures, both the Bible and the New Testament, is on the person next to us, on our neighbor. It is not me or my faith. My faith is not the central topic in the Scriptures; but the way I treat others is.

There is a well-known Jewish saying:

And we understand it’s meaning and can easily explain it. It belongs to Rabbi Ishmael, who understood that long before the giving of the Torah, the Scriptures required us to act properly towards one another. Meaning, that righteous, moral behavior is the foundation for our knowledge of the Torah.

Honest and righteous behavior is required as a foundation for our study of the Torah. This means that we cannot touch the Torah without a basic moral and caring attitude to our surroundings.

Obviously, this need is even greater, when we dare to come before the Lord in our prayer house; when we stand in the House of God. The Holy Spirit will not be there if we do not pay attention to the details around us, both great and small alike. In my book, the greater things include our honesty and behavior towards others, and the lesser things are the different customs and traditions that connect us and give us our common identity.

If we will do everything with love, God will come and dwell in our mist. And we ask, where will He dwell then?Will God dwell inside of us individually, as some people call it, the Divine spark within us? Or will He dwell among us as a people, as a nation?

Basically, we see each person as the temple of God and see that God and His Sprit dwells inside every believer. This understanding, or belief, is based on the words of apostle Paul in the New Testament:

This is why, as believers, we talk about being “born again;” when we begin to live according to the Word of God, for the glory of God, because the Spirit of God lives in our bodies.

As the followers of the Messiah, we believe, that the Holy Spirit dwells in the heart of every person who has invited God in his life. But we also believe that there is an interaction between our surroundings and the way we live and act. In Genesis, the story of Creation, we quickly learn that people are not meant to be alone as God said:

All through the book of Exodus, which we conclude today, we witness the birth of the nation of Israel, and here too, the person (people) is not meant to be alone, even in his connection with God. The promise and the salvation of God is for the whole nation. We are familiar with the term – minyan; a rule that certain Jewish prayers could only be recited within a group of 10 or more men. Nine (9) people, even if they are complete saints, cannot make a minyan. Minyan is created by 10 standing together.

Even if we do not know them or even if we stop a person in the street for a minute, without knowing if he even believes in God, or keeps His commandments, nevertheless, such person can complete the minyan. The idea behind it is, that people’s identity is not as important as their joining together in one congregation. Then the divine presence comes to dwell in their mist, as a congregation.

I have to say, that I do not entirely agree with this approach. I agree that it is important to belong to a congregation or a group, but the faith and the purity of hearts of those standing together in prayer, is just as important.Bringing a stranger, who is not part of our prayers or our joint experiences, would rather harm our prayer, it’s intentions and unity. I think it is better to pray with a smaller group of people, and if necessary, skip certain prayers.

In the New Testament, Yeshua teaches a principle similar to minyan. He is teaching the importance in joining together in prayer, but the exact number of the individuals in the group is irrelevant.

We learned from the story of the Tabernacle, that God dwells in people’s hearts, but this is not all. We were created as part of society, as part of a nation – and God dwells in us, as a group, as a nation, and not just in me as an individual.

The ending of the book of Exodus is exciting and glorious. God’s Presence fills the Tabernacle, and no man can enter it, not even Moses. That same Moses, who talked to God face to face. That very Moses, whose face shone brightly after meeting with God, was not able to enter the sanctuary, or even come close to it.

It means, that the presence of God is stronger and greater when He comes to dwell in the congregation, among the people as a whole. That is why an important part of our faith in Yeshua is our relationships with other believers; in building a fellowship, a congregation. Being in fellowship means to share our lives with each other, to become partners and companions. Then here, in the fellowship, dwells the Spirit of God.

Apostle Paul calls it “the body of Messiah”. We believe that every person in the congregation, its every member, is a world of his own. And the presence of God, the Holy Spirit, dwells in him or her. But in addition to that, he is a part of a larger social body, and in this body, that we call “a congregation,” the Holy Spirit dwells as well.

The New Testament teaches us the importance of the community, and that the responsibility for the peace and unity of the community, rests on our shoulders. In the parable of the lost sheep, Yeshua teaches us to be responsible for the finding and bringing back home, to the fellowship, those who left.

Yeshua describes the person, who left the fellowship, and in this parable, he demands from us, the community, to go and help this person. This parable is a strong message, teaching us the sense of responsibility for one another. Yeshua teaches us a principle that is very similar to a popular Jewish saying:

Yeshua is telling us to take responsibility for one another, and if one is falling out of the fellowship, wondering off from the straight path, all of us, in the community, are guilty and responsible as well.

There is no “me”, there is no “you.” If there is a punishment, then “we” – the entire nation of Israel, receive it; we are guilty together. That is why Yeshua is teaching us, not as a recommendation, but as a duty, to follow those who left the community, who separated themselves from the public; it is our duty to bring them home.

Yeshua is telling this parable to the scribes and pharisees, to the sages and elders, as an answer. He is telling this parable, because they raise questions and complaints about Yeshua spending time with sinners.

Why is He willing to sit with sinners?Why isn’t He teaching those who wish to hear, those who are interested in learning? Why is He, Yeshua, willing to invest time and effort in those who wondered off from the straight path; those who are lost?

Answering them, Yeshua is telling this parable, meaning that

We must go out and try to bring back home the lost sheep, and if we did not try - we bear the guilt. This parable of Yeshua puts a lot of pressure on our shoulders. Instead of thinking that every person is responsible for his own actions, that his choices do not touch me, Yeshua is teaching us something different; that the common responsibility effects everyone.

If we know of someone who left the community, is it our responsibility to check why? And are we able to bring him back? Even more so, everyone has to ask himself, if it was me who pushed him away? And may be, the more relevant question is, did I help enough? Did I participate in building a congregation, where we care, help and support each other; did I do enough?

We do not live in vacuum; our actions affect others. Maybe we are small and insignificant as individuals. I say “may be”, because we can argue that every person is worth the world.But what about “us” as a group of many people, as a congregation? When we come together in the name of God and His glory? The Holy Spirit will come upon such a congregation with great power and holiness.

When wandering in the desert, the people of Israel volunteered and did the work wholeheartedly, they donated silver, gold and other materials. They gave so much, that Moses had to order them to stop the offerings, as it is written:

The willingness of the people to give and to cooperate together, in unity, brought us to the impressive ending of the book of Exodus, when God filled the Sanctuary, when God came to dwell in the mist of these people. And that’s it! This is the glorious end of the book of Exodus, and the only thing left is to conclude is with the traditional saying: Hasak Hasak ve Netchazek“Be strong and courageous!”