A Thought from the Rabbi
This week’s portion is titled ‘Pikudei’, meaning ‘amounts of’ or ‘accountings’. It begins by detailing the donations brought in by the Children of Israel and used for the construction of the Mishkan – the Tabernacle. The fact that there is a strong emphasis on the actual completion of the Mishkan is telling, in that we see the importance of bringing things to fruition, or as the Talmud says, “Maaseh huh ha’ikar (action is the main thing).
Once the actual building is successfully completed the Torah recounts how the Divine Presence rested upon the Tabernacle fulfilling its purpose of being a dwelling place for the Almighty in this world. That is not to say that G-dliness was not present before that time, however, it was not ‘at home’ before the completion of the Mishkan. The notion of being at home indicates that a ‘comfort zone’ had been achieved so that the Presence of G-d rested in the physical space filled by the Mishkan and existed in it in revealed harmony.
The revealed, harmonious coexistence of the Creator and His creation in the Mishkan is meant to demonstrate that it can be done, and that the good offices of humankind can be the key ingredient to make it happen. After all, most people may think that there is a contradiction between G-d’s spirituality and the physicality of the created universe. Indeed, when we allow the physical world to dominate our thoughts and actions there can be a human-made contradiction between the physical and spiritual. On the other hand, when humans – the choicest of creation – train ourselves to make G-dliness our primary focus, realizing that this physical world is a tool to be used in the service of G-d, we have the unique ability to infuse the physical with revealed G-dliness. And this, when all is said and done, is our ultimate purpose and the purpose of all creation – from the most sublime to the most mundane.
Being that we are in the month of Adar which has Purim in it, the most joyous of holidays, we should seek out the theme of happiness in the reading. This week it is particularly easy to find, for how can one not be joyous when we read G-d’s testimony that the Jews had properly fulfilled His command to build Him a home, and they built it exactly per His very specific instructions?! This labor of love was rewarded with His revelation and our people joyfully shared in His move-in celebration.
As it happened then so should it happen now. May we be blessed to do our parts in constructing an appropriate home for G-d here, in this physical world, and may Moshiach come speedily in our day to reveal that G-d has indeed inhabited His home!