Partners in Creation

Vayakel
Exodus 35:1 - 38:20

Précis: Moses instructs the People again on the laws of Shabbat, and asks for a donation of gifts (both of material and service) for the construction of the Tabernacle. The appointment of the construction leaders is also included, and the construction begins. There are again specific descriptions of implements, articles, and of the Ark itself.


     While last week’s parasha began with the People joining together for immoral purposes (creating the Golden Calf), this week we see a stark contrast: they join together to create the Mishkan (the Tabernacle).
     Many of the traditional commentators have suggested that “creating” the Mishkan is a metaphor for God’s Creation of the world. We know the well-used phrase that human beings are “partners in creation,” a thought perhaps most connected in recent times to “tikkun olam” or repairing the world. Perhaps it might be better to translate the phrase as “completing” or “creating” the world. By “creating” the Mishkan, the Israelites were in effect replicating creation and helping to “complete” the world as it was intended to be.
     Following a theme I began with last week (about chaos and stability), there is no doubt that our tradition also sees God’s Creation as bringing order out of chaos – and that the resulting order is “good.” It is only when order is created and deemed “good” that God “rests” and observes Shabbat. (That is another connection to this week’s parasha, which begins with a command to observe Shabbat even during the time of building the Mishkan.) Completing the Mishkan, at least in a metaphorical sense, is never “done” – but is an ongoing effort.
     The Mishkan itself was completed in a physical sense only when all of its constituent parts were placed together (Exodus 36:13 “...the Tabernacle became one whole.") The message seems pretty straight-forward: just as God made a world where each part was needed to create a “whole,” each of the items of the Mishkan are needed to make a “whole” sacred space. This implies further that each and every individual must join together to form a “whole” society.
     The Book of Exodus starts with a society (Egypt) which has lost all moral bearings, enslaving and killing those over whom they rule. The Book nears its conclusion with an emphasis on the importance of individuals, each of whom contributes to the “completion” of the world. That may be the real meaning of Exodus – from slavery to the valuation of the individual.

Shabbat Shalom