With the spirit of G-d, with wisdom, with insight, and with knowledge

(Exodus 35:30)

Adar 22, 5778/March 9, 2018

This Shabbat we read the concluding chapters of the book of Exodus, the double Torah reading of Vayakhel-Pekudei. In these chapters, Moshe, having descended from Mount Sinai and having dealt decisively with the debacle of the golden calf, now assembles the entire nation and gives over to them the instructions that G-d had given to him while still cloistered on Mount Sinai: the finely detailed instructions for building the Tabernacle, its vessels and the garments for the kohanim who will serve in the Tabernacle. Moshe then calls upon the people whose heart compels them to come forth and donate the raw materials necessary for the Tabernacle and its accoutrements. The nation as a whole rises to the occasion and with generous hearts bring such quantities of the necessary materials that, within just two days, Moshe sends out the call that no more materials are needed: the construction of the Tabernacle can begin. G-d calls upon Moshe to appoint master craftsmen Betzalel ben Uri and Ohaliav ben Achisamach, whose hearts He will fill "with the spirit of G-d, with wisdom, with insight, and with knowledge, and with [talent for] all manner of craftsmanship... " (Exodus 35:30) Work on the Tabernacle commences in earnest. The entire nation lends its skills and expertise to the fulfillment of the great project of making for G-d a sanctuary that He may dwell amongst them, the fulfillment of G-d's primordial desire for His presence to dwell among His people, the completion and perfection of His creation.

The Torah then, just prior to the inauguration and dedication of the freshly completed Tabernacle, gives over a painstakingly detailed account of all the materials used in the Tabernacle, recording for all time their precise weight and volume. This is a valuable lesson in the responsibility and concern for accountability required in any complex initiative, let alone one concerned with the fulfillment of so central a commandment. Not only on a communal or national level, but even as individuals we must hold ourselves accountable for the time and energy and material that we invest in all our efforts.

Being that the completion of the Tabernacle was no less than the final step in the creation of the world that G-d began on His own and completed in six days, but nevertheless waited twenty six generations until man was ready to fulfill his appointed role in G-d's creation by creating a place for G-d's presence to dwell, we can also understand the need for the exhaustive accounting of all the materials used in the Tabernacle as perhaps the first expression of what modern physicists call the Law of Conservation of Mass, which "states that for any system closed to all transfers of matter and energy, the mass of the system must remain constant over time, as system's mass cannot change, so quantity cannot be added nor removed. Hence, the quantity of mass is conserved over time." In other words, the materials employed in the building of the Tabernacle and its vessels were dedicated to and committed for this purpose from the very beginning of time. The only thing that changed, the only thing that can change, was man's heart. We have accounted for the materials used in the Tabernacle, but how do we account for this, for the change in man's heart?

We have already mentioned the "generous hearts" which lifted up Israel, inspiring them to contribute of themselves and their material wealth to the Tabernacle. The Hebrew word lev - heart - or a form of it is mentioned sixteen times in our reading. Other words, such as chochmah -wisdom - (or a form of the word), tevunah - understanding - and da'at - knowledge - which describe the special qualities which G-d invested in the workers on the Tabernacle, appear a total of fifteen times in our reading. When we take into account the other word used to describe the inspired work of the Tabernacle craftsmen - machshevet(or a form of the word) - which is translated as thoughtful, and which is a form of the word cheshev (thought), and which is also a descriptor of an element of the ephod (cheshev ephod), which sits on the heart of the Kohen Gadol, (High Priest), which is mentioned fourteen times in our reading, and we add all this up, we arrive at a grand total of: 16 + 15 + 14 = 45. Forty five happens to be the numerical value of the Hebrew word Adam - Man! By hearkening to the spirit of accounting invoked in our reading we discover the irrepressible truth that Man(Adam), who shirked his responsibilities when first created, has now, reconfigured in the nation of Israel, by virtue of investing his heart and his intellect fully in performing G-d's will, become at last the Man that G-d intended!

Let's take our accounting one step further: The making of the Tabernacle, naturally involved the assembly of its many parts. In describing these individual components and their assembly, Torah uses the Hebrew word echat (female form of the word meaning "one") twenty two times and the word echad(masculine form of the word meaning "one") seventeen times, for a total of thirty nine. The number thirty nine is also the number of the different types of labor described in the construction of the Tabernacle. These thirty nine types of creative activity parallel the thirty nine creative processes that G-d employed in the creation of the world. This, of course, only makes sense, as the work of the Tabernacle was nothing less than the completion of creation. Man fulfills his potential by perfecting G-d's creation!

One final thought to ponder: For thirty eight days the children of Israel waited, idly but patiently, for Moshe to return from Mount Sinai. On the thirty ninth day they burst - and were plunged into the abyss of the golden calf, the perfect negation of all the positive human attributes mentioned above, the perfect negation of man's purpose in creation: to invite G-d into our lives, into our world. It wasn't the image of G-d than Israel defiled with the golden calf, it was the image of man. By rising to the call to build for G-d a sanctuary, Israel rediscovered man's reason for being. By putting together and assembling all the components of the Tabernacle, Israel was creating unity in G-d's world, opening the door for G-d Himself to join us - in His Tabernacle, in His world!

-The Temple Institute