Vayakhel-Pekudei
Vayakhel means "He gathered together" and "Pekudei" means "the accounts".
Clearly, the gathering of Israel to address the holiness of Shabbat was a necessary precursor to getting on with building the mishkan, the sanctuary.
The mishkan in the desert was the forerunner of our modern synagogues. If so, when we gather in shul in honour of Shabbat - as Moses did with the Israelites in this week's reading - he did so not only so that he could tell them about how to keep Shabbat at home, but how the mishkan - the synagogue community - would need to be built by them. Our challenge is to look ahead and see how to build for the future. Are synagogues primarily places of prayer or centre for communal activity?
Clearly without the centrality of the religious aspect a synagogue loses its raison d'etre. However, social activity is the lifeblood of a Jewish community. In my 12 years in pulpits, I have noticed that the most mundane interests of no apparent religious value have attracted the least likely people to cross the threshold of the synagogue. Nonetheless, if there is nothing of spiritual value to offer either, it would no longer need to be a synagogue.
Vayakhel mentions the Aron Kodesh, the Holy Ark. Myths abound about where the Holy Ark is. Christian Priests in the North Ethiopian town of Axum zealously guard what they believe to be Solomon's Ark of the Covenant to this very day. They even have special dances that they say King David used to perform in front of the Ark - a little like dervish circle dancing. The source for this is quite genuine - 2 Samuel 6:14.
Nowadays we use the term 'aron kodesh' to denote the Ark in which we place the holiest objects we have - the Torah scrolls. Sephardim refer to the aron kodesh as the heychal which means 'sanctuary'.
The aron kodesh held the Ten Commandments inscribed on sapphire stone and the broken bits of the first set that Moses smashed after the golden calf was worshipped. Also, it held a jar of manna as testimony for all time, to show how God looked after his people in the desert. Finally it held the almond stick of the Levite tribe which miraculously flowered for Aaron, demonstrating his leadership of Israel over his rebel cousin, Korach.
Towards the end of Moses' life, a Torah scroll was written and placed by the side of the Ark. Two angels with facial features of a boy and girl (hence cherubic, a by-word for angelic children) carved in gold to stand over the Ark. Usually such things are not allowed, but the Torah specifically requires this exception, to demonstrate that our pure, sinless and innocent kids are the guardians and keepers of the Torah's future - if only we make sure that they are properly educated and involved in the community.
The Ark was made of three boxes that fitted neatly, one into the other, the outer and inner of gold, the middle of wood. This may have represented the Egyptian sarcophagus, to demonstrate that the Hebrews had left a Culture that revered the Dead, and now progressed to serving a Living God.
The message of this week's "double bill" is to "take home" the message of "being holy" into our homes. The tables we eat on, the lighting in our home, the library of Torah texts we hold in our home, the store of food ready to serve family or friends are all demonstrated in the sanctuary: the ceremonial table, menorah, ark and manna.
The Jewish home is in some way a small Temple - our Sages teach that "a table is like an altar" in that our conversation at a table must be civilised, blessings and grace recited and the very act of eating to fuel our body with energy to do mitzvoth is an act of faith.
This week we take out a second scroll to read "HaChodesh" - Chapter 12 of Exodus, in a manner similar to Vayakhel starts out on one topic – establishing the calendar year - as an entrée to preparing for Passover. Since antiquity, good personal organisation was not a well known skill. Once Israel is prepared to "read the road ahead" with its own year planner, they will also now it is time to write their own page in history.
This is what we do on Seder night. We all know about the Seder. But its most personal meaning to us all is to prepare for the inevitable.
Shabbat Shalom.
Rabbi Abel is Rabbi of Radlett United and Director of the Montefiore Endowment Semicha Programme
