Making Sense of the Sedra: Vayakhel-Pekudei

It seems that every week, another cause demands our attention and asks for our generosity. Our community is blessed with many charities, each supporting a cause worthy of funding. We wonder how many campaigns can be successful, and yet our community continues to demonstrate its generosity. Only weeks ago I led such a campaign, raising much-needed funds for Jewish education, and again our community stepped up and showed its support and commitment.

This week’s sedra, Vayakhel-Pekudei, describes the very first mass-giving project. We learn that each person contributed something different to the construction of the Mishkan (tabernacle): “Take from among you gifts to God, everyone whose heart is so moved shall bring them – gifts for God: gold, silver, and copper,” (Exodus 35:5) and importantly that they were moved to give so generously that Moshe had to tell them to stop. “The people brought more than is needed” (ibid 36:5). The word for ‘they brought’ is used seven times. There was certainly no concern that they would fall short of their target! Why was this so and what can it teach us to ensure we continue to respond with such enthusiasm to calls on our resources in support of communal needs?

The opening words: “Vayakhel kol adat Bnei Yisrael” (and he gathered the whole people of Israel), from the same root as kehilla, community, echo an earlier episode and give us a profound insight into what was at stake in the Mishkan project. In last week’s sedra the people gathered together to build the golden calf, with the words: “Vayikahel ha’am al Aron” (and the people were gathered to Aron). In that case, the gathering was of an unruly, uncontrolled mob, following the crowd. God had already taught Moses the way to work together in communal service and that was the Mishkan project. Moses understood that he now had to harness the people’s energy for this common purpose. He led them with clarity of vision and enabled them to build something together. The mirroring of these episodes indicates that the Mishkan provided a tikkun (repair) for people’s earlier failings.

As Rabbi Sacks described in his 2007 book The Home we Build Together, by contributing to the project they became part of a shared destiny. They had a stake; they became partners. In our post-Covid times we remain anxious that people are more atomised, less communally-minded. And yet we learn the timeless message that when people are led towards a sense of purpose that is meaningful to them, not only will they join that community, but they will go above and beyond to contribute towards it.

This week’s sedra opens with a reminder of Shabbat and singles out the prohibition of lighting a fire in our homes. This fire has a dual significance. It signifies both the passion fuelling the people’s contributions and the mistaken zeal that must be redirected towards God’s instructions. Where we have a holy cause, we can create great things together in the right way, making make space for God to sanctify our combined creation as we sanctify his every Shabbat.