Parashat Pekudei
Michelle Kushnir | Assistant Director of Admissions, English Teacher
Depending on the Jewish year, last week’s parsha, Vayakhel, and this week’s parsha, Pekudei, are either read together on the same Shabbat or separately on two different weeks. This year, we read each portion on its own, and there is significance in this separation. Though Moses learned about the details of the building of the portable Mishkan (Tabernacle) from G-D in the previous Torah portions of Terumah and Tetzaveh, the portion of Vayakhel is when Moses relays this information to the Jewish people and they begin the construction process. Pekudei is when the Mishkan reaches its state of completion and we read how “the glory of G-D filled the Tabernacle” (Exodus 40:34). The people were assured that the Divine Presence would rest, as tradition says, “in the work of their hands.” The ultimate approval. Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks zt’l, inspired by the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn zt’l, highlights the sense of wholeness one might feel reading Vayakhel and Pekudei together. Moses instructed and commanded; the Israelites donated the necessary materials and followed through with the construction; finally, the ultimate blessing was bestowed upon them. And so concludes the last chapter of Exodus before we move on to Leviticus. But there are years we don’t get this sense of immediate fulfillment. This year, there is a week-long gap between commandment and completion.
There are moments in our lives when we have the inspiration to do something great. Maybe it’s not even “great” – maybe it’s just a small step that we know will pay off at some point in the future, and we’ve decided now is the time to start. But sometimes a “time gap” appears. We have to push off that really important goal we were set on accomplishing for any number of reasons. And then:
“It’s too late in the school year now to make this change.”
“I’m not sure I can even do this so many weeks/months later.”
“That idea will not look the same if I begin to construct it now after so much time has passed.”
And then we forget about it.
But that time gap does not need to stop us. The separation between Vayakhel and Pekudei reminds us that even when time passes between the birth of an idea and its completion, we can absolutely reap the benefits of that initial plan we have now put into action. We can be sure that, with the proper effort, we will reach that goal – every year, we do get to Pekudei eventually. True, the sense of accomplishment might feel different than a plan immediately executed, but maybe we need time to rethink, reimagine, and become re-inspired. Though we find ourselves so close to wrapping up the school year, this could be the best opportunity to follow through on that spark of inspiration we forgot about before winter break (!!). Let us be assured that the blessing will rest in the work of our hands.
