A word of Torah:

       This week’s Torah portion, Va-yakhel –Pekudei, bring us to the end of the book of Exodus. We began the book with the Israelites building store cities as slaves in Egypt. We conclude with them building a portable sanctuary. The contrast between these building projects is powerful. One is forced labor whose major purpose is to oppress and suppress the Jewish people. The other is a voluntary project that everyone gives to generously. The construction of the sanctuary utilizes the individual talents of the people including carpenters, weavers, and skilled artisans. Building the sanctuary affirms the worth of every Israelite rather than dehumanizing them through slavery.
       The book of Exodus concludes with a description of the completion of the work. Commentators have noted that the language used echoes the language God uses when describing the first week of creation at the beginning of Genesis. The identical phrase “and he (God) finished” (va-ye-khal) describes the last stage of the work. How is it that the construction of the sanctuary is comparable to the creation of the world?
       We learned from the building of the sanctuary that God wants the sanctuary built not because God needed a home but so God can dwell in the midst of the people. What we learn from Genesis is that the world is God’s home. Building the sanctuary makes us partners with God in the ongoing creation of the world. Just as the Israelites gave wholeheartedly toward the building of the sanctuary, so are we to give open heartedly in our lives. Our task is to find the way we can use our particular constellation of talents and join with everyone else to make the building of the world a success.
       The Israelites are about to begin a journey to the Promised Land that will turn out to last 40 years instead of a few months. To make that journey they need to create a portable sanctuary that will accompany them wherever they go. As it says in this week’s song: “In (or with) my heart, I will build a sanctuary.” This week the world's journey took an unexpected turn into a frightening future. Without a GPS for all our tomorrows, we only have a sense of direction to guide us. We carry the sanctuary and are carried by it on all the roads that lie ahead. We sing the song of Torah and of hope to quell our fears and to lift our hearts.
                              Safe travels!