Rabbi Eve Posen

Watching the news, reading the paper, or even catching the headlines on Twitter can leave you feeling down and out about the moral standing of our leadership.  We expect the highest level of honesty and integrity out of our leaders, especially where our financial wellbeing is concerned, and it has almost become more shocking when leaders are upstanding citizens than when they do something morally disgraceful. 

The double portion we read this week, Vayakhel-Pekudei (the final portions in sefer Shemot), teaches about the work of building the tabernacle.  Moshe, the great leader of the Israelite people from Egypt back to the land of Israel, is given enormous responsibility.  He is asked not only to lead the people and be the emissary between the people and God, but also to take care of the accounting of the materials needed to build the tabernacle and all that goes with it.   

In reading the text, especially chapter 38, we wonder why Moshe is giving a detailed accounting of the materials used and their specific usage in the building of the tabernacle.  After all, Moshe was the trusted leader of the people; why did he feel the need to account for each piece of gold and silver collected?  The midrash explains that had Moses been no better at record keeping than the rest of the Israelites, the people might have begun to question his authority and lose trust in him.  In order to maintain their trust, Moshe himself took the utmost care to keep this accounting.    

Along with the necessity for the tabernacle materials, the texts teach about the importance of giving tzedakah from a place of honesty and free will, not because we might somehow benefit.  As we read these words, we’re asked to think about our own behaviors and how we want to be perceived in the eyes of others.  Am I donating to a certain organization because of the tax deduction, or am I sincerely championing the cause?

Our parshah this week approaches these financial issues from multiple angles.  First we have the example of Moshe, who understands that we don’t just expect our leaders to be decent people.  We expect them to be better people.  Then we have the reminder that we should be upfront about our actions and who might benefit by them.  Imagine a world where each of us is held to that higher standard. Let’s look forward to the day when scams and schemes no longer make the news, not because they have become an accepted way of life, but because we realize that the strength of a healthy community of people is more valuable than anything we can put a price on.

ללמוד  To Learn: ללמד To Teach: As you go through your donations for the year to come, include your children in the decision making process. Perhaps explain to them why you choose to give to certain organizations and not others.  Teach them what you see as the benefit of giving and what you hope others take away from your gift. 

לשמור  To Keep  לעשות  To Do:  Our text teaches that Shabbat is to be a day of rest, no work, creative or otherwise is to be done.  Challenge yourself to have an eco-friendly, work free day where you do not use natural resources or monetary resources.  Spend the day together as a family.  Then, tell me about it.  Participate in National Day of Unplugging on March 23rd-24th 2012.  Visit http://www.sabbathmanifesto.org/unplug for more information.

Making a seating chart is possibly the most difficult part of preparing for class.  Organizing tables for my wedding seemed easy compared to the Tetris game of names when deciding who will work best with whom and how to organize the classroom so that learners are in the optimal position for learning.  There are entire lists of criteria to keep in mind:  who fights, who chats, who needs to be up front to see the board, who needs to be in the back because they prefer to stand.  Then comes the partnering.  I have to think of each student, their strengths, their challenges, their level of patience and their work ethic.  If one of these pieces is off, the entire seating chart can crumble.  I love the challenge of getting to know the students well enough to know exactly where they should be in my room and making sure that every single student is included, comfortable and ready for the best learning opportunity.

Specific tasks require specific people on the team to ensure the best results.  God picked Moshe as the leader because he possessed a specific quality that God wanted, and God included Aaron as Moshe’s counterpart to even out the team.  This week we read parshat Ki Tissa, which is filled with group think and missteps.  The parshah begins with the commandment to give a half shekel, instructions on preparing the oil and incense for sacrifices and ends with the creation of the Golden Calf, the punishment of the people, Moshe pleading with God for a second chance, a second set of tablets and Moshe radiating after being in God’s presence.  Hidden within the depths of this turning point for the Israelites is the appointing of Betzalel and Ohilev as the artists for the building of theMishkan, the Tabernacle. 

The end of chapter 30 and the beginning of chapter 31 instruct us on the types of metals to be used in the Mishkan, the proper variety of pleasant incense and unpleasant fragrances and the specific leaders in the creation of this Mishkan.  God selects Betzalel from the tribe of Judah because he has been “endowed with a divine spirit of skill, ability and knowledge in every kind of craft.”  God also appoints Ohilev of the tribe of Dan to help Betzalel in this creation.  A Medieval midrashic commentary points out that Judah is the largest and most prominent of the tribes, and Dan is the smallest tribe.  By choosing a partnership from these tribes, God had made sure that the largest, smallest and in between parts of Israelite society were involved in the creation of theMishkan.  And, by including the requirement for pleasant and unpleasant smelling fragrances in the ceremony, God has in a way taught us that agreeable and disagreeable people are also necessarily included in the community. 

Ki Tissa means “when you will raise up,” signifying the raising up of our community when we value each other for the special gifts we all offer.  The parshah teaches us about inclusion and team building.  Ultimately, if we want our project, lesson or team to succeed, we must start with a foundation of balance and characteristics that complement one another.  While the process of considering who works best with whom takes more time, and working with a variety of people takes more patience, the end result reflects the harmony of a well balanced team. 

ללמוד  To Learn: ללמד To Teach: God has serious trouble in this week’s parshah when the Israelites and their impatience leads to a blatant disregard for the 10 Commandments and shows a lack of faith in God.  We learn that God was so angry that He wanted to destroy the entire nation, and yet Moshe stood in God’s way to protect the people from God, and God from His own anger.  Who is the “Moshe” that helps you maintain control and perspective when you’re ready to rage?  How can we act as one another’s Moshe?

לשמור  To Keep  לעשות  To Do:  The parshah begins by asking each person over the age of 20 to give ½ a shekel as part of the communal census.  The word used in the text is ונתנו and they should give.  This word is special because it is a palindrome, spelled the same way forwards and backwards.  The rabbis teach that this is because giving is cyclical and we need to give because we never know when we will need to receive.  As you enter Shabbat, make sure that you, as a family are making the gift you can to continue to mark your role in taking care of the community.

I love being near water, whether it is the sound of waves crashing on a shoreline or rain falling from the sky and hitting our sky lights.  I love watching the ripples of a stream and seeing the expanse of open seas as a moment of freedom and connection.  I am mesmerized by the way water moves and sounds.  For me, living in Dallas means for the first time living without access to a large body of water.  I’m talking a big body of water, like Lake Michigan or the Pacific Ocean.  For me, there’s nothing like the water’s edge.    

But each of us has our place, our location where we could just sit forever and watch, listen, think, and feel at peace.  These are also places where we might meet somebody, where a chance encounter might mean meeting the person who changes our life.  And we give spaces certain purposes.  A sanctuary is a place where we go for our relationship with God, and a kitchen is where we go for our relationship with food and the people we eat with.  We also assign spaces a time.  We might pick a meeting spot, and know that every week at 8:00 we arrive to meet the same person in the same place. 

The Torah is also filled with places that create meaning, memories and connections.  We see connections with places made with Jacob as he realizes that God is in the place of his dream, but we don’t see that he comes back to this place to further his relationship and connection with God.  As the Israelites leave Egypt and continue on their journey through the wilderness they have many brief encounters with God, but nothing permanent until God instructs them to create, build and maintain the Tent of Meeting and the Tabernacle.  This week we read parshat Tetzaveh, which outlines not only the clothes the priests should wear, but also the purpose of setting the Tent of Meting as a regular place of holiness.

Up until now, holiness was only sporadically seen in the world, but by receiving the cycle of daily offerings and required interactions with God, the Israelites now have regular, daily experiences of holiness, completeness and calm.  The Israelites have seen God come and go, but never before have they received specific instructions on how to make a permanent space for God in their daily lives.  Chapter 29, verses 42-25 read: “For there I will meet with you, and there I will speak with you, and there I will meet with the Israelites, and it shall be sanctified by My Presence.  I will sanctify the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and I will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve Me as priest.  I will abide among the Israelites, and I will be their God.” 

The text teaches that while we might believe that our actions can bring God’s grace and abiding presence to our daily life, it is ultimately God who has chosen to dwell among us.  It is God who chose to be present in our daily lives and will be with us when we make space for God.

We often see space as a utility.  We would never build a new school with classrooms too small to learn in, nor would we be happy if we built a new house that included a tiny room with no purpose.  What the Torah is teaching us this week is that while the Tent of Meeting might be a place designed for Godly encounters, those encounters can only happen when your mind, body and soul are present.  What good is it for God to dwell in the Tent of Meeting if we never use it?  And what purpose does the Tent serve if our hearts and souls are not present in our actions?

We are implored to be not only physically present in our lives, but emotionally and spiritually present as well.  We have the choice to see mitzvot as commandments and burdens, or as stepping stones to being fully present and aware of our daily meetings, and rendezvous.  Who knows, the next meeting you have might change your life.

ללמוד  To Learn: ללמד  To Teach: לשמור  To Keep:  לעשות  To Do: This parshah teaches us about the way we present ourselves in public.  We learn that the priest was meant to wear specific clothing when performing his priestly duties.  We often get so wrapped up into fashion that we forget that what we put on our bodies sends messages to others about us.  As you get dressed for work, school, or play, ask yourself what message you are sending and is that message true to who you are.

As you walk around the halls of our school, you are likely to notice the inspirational quotes and posters hung on the walls.  They are meant to remind us to be ourselves, to stay positive and bring smiles to our faces.  One of these posters reads “When you’re with others, don’t be a chameleon.”  I love this poster, not only because it reminds me of a childhood story about a chameleon named Leon, but because it sends an incredibly important message. 

We often have different personalities that we wear on different occasions.  For our students it might be that in one teacher’s class they can’t stop talking, but in another they don’t ever utter a word until asked a direct question.  Out in public you might have this huge, charismatic persona, but in private you are quiet and reserved.  These are differences that might be seen as coping mechanisms for unfamiliar situations.  In other instances, a person might be two-faced – sweet when trying to win someone over, but conniving and hurtful when other people are around.  We all have varying degrees of versions of ourselves that we display at different times.

This week we read parshat Terumah, which discusses the gifts that were needed and which materials were necessary to build the Mishkan.  The text speaks of the idea that a gift must come from the heart.  God does not want the Mishkan to be created from gifts of coercion, but rather by the good and true intentions of the people of Israel.  These materials are to be used to build a remembrance of God.  They need to be as pure as the intentions of the people who provide them.

In chapter 25, verses 10-11, the text states “They shall make an ark of acacia wood, two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high.  Overlay it with pure gold – overlay it inside and out – and make upon it a gold molding round about.”  We get the idea that it’s to be a fancy wood box covered with gold, which is logical because the outside, the parts that will be seen, should be ornate and beautifully decorated.  But why does the inside need to be covered in gold too? 

Anyone who has cut and laid shelf paper in kitchen shelves has probably asked a similar question.  Does it really need to be perfect if no one will see it?  The answer according to the Torah is an emphatic YES!  The inside and the outside must match.  The rabbis teach that this is because who we are on the inside must shine through to our outer personality.  In the Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Yoma daf72b, we learn “Any scholar who is not the same kind of person in private as in public is not a true scholar.”  That is to say that we must be true to ourselves no matter what the situation and location. 

If you try too hard to become a chameleon and blend in, then you lose the unique spark that comes from your heart and makes your life a gift.  If a plain wood box is worthy enough to be covered in gold inside and out, so too are human beings – created in the image of God – worthy of letting the divine spark in each of us shine through and brighten our world. 

ללמוד  To Learn: ללמד  To Teach: לשמור  To Keep:  לעשות  To Do:  We often speak of our public and private spaces and what is appropriate in each space.  This week’s parshah teaches us that God dwells among us, wherever we dwell, which would seem to mean that even in our private space we have the responsibility of putting forth our best self.  Ask your family: How is your home a sacred space?