L'chaim Weekly 1161: PEKUDEI March 4, 2011 – 28 Adar I, 5771 1 L’Chaim Contains Words from Sacred Literature

d”sb FREE Take One! Weekly Publication for every Jewish Person LL''CChhaaiimm March 4, 2011 – 28 Adar I, 5771 1161: PEKUDEI This month’s L’CHAIM has been generously sponsored by: Living with the REBBE REBBE This week's Torah portion, Pekudei, Printed Circuit Board Design & Assembly relates how Moses made a personal account of all the Pressure Gauges • Industrial Supplies silver and copper that was donated to build the Sanctuary. The purpose of this inventory was to remove Harris Weisman any doubt that the donations were not being utilized for P: 480.464.8700 • Fax: 623.321.7910 • www.libertyaz.com their intended purpose. C onstant Change In a regular year, the calendars The Midrash, however, relates that Moses came up Be like the sun ‐ ever constant in emphasize the difference between the short when tallying the amount of silver: 1775 shekalim your principles, never wavering on cycles and the spiritual imperatives ‐ of silver were unaccounted for. At that moment, a your journey or straying from your adherence to principles or the growth heavenly voice rang out and proclaimed, "The 1775 path. Be like the moon ‐ ever changing process of truth ‐ they represent. For in [shekalim of silver] were used to make the hooks of the with each experience, always a regular year, the two calendars are pillars." In this way G-d declared Moses to be beyond out of sync, uncoordinated. wa ndering into a deeper truth and all suspicion, as it states, "Not so My servant Moses; in But in a leap year ‐ like this year ‐ we exploring tangents of growth. My entire house he is [the most] faithful." The sun and the moon symbolize a reconcile the two. The solar calendar A question is asked: If G-d's sole intent was to attest spiritual struggle. On the one hand, we and the lunar calendar ‐ and the to Moses' honesty, why was it necessary for him to recognize that, if the world is to be spiritual imperatives they represent ‐ moral and ordered, we must operate align and progress in complement to make an account in the first place? Why couldn't a by a set of immutable principles, each other. We achieve this "heavenly voice" have proclaimed Moses' faithfulness ethical axioms and spiritual laws. On reconcili a ti o n by adding a month ‐ a without his having to actually go through the process of the other hand, we are neither angels second Adar. counting? nor robots ‐ we must grow, Thus, a leap year teaches us an We learn from this that there was a deeper intent experience, and in the process of important lesson. We must be steadfast, behind Moses' taking inventory, a purpose that went living and earning, reveal insights ‐ l adhering always to the principles of the beyond merely tabulating the amounts of precious new truths, if you will. Torah. For the the mitzvot of the Torah metals that were donated or to remove suspicion. come directly from G‐d's Will; they are And the process of growth itself Rather, Moses played an integral role in the function requires periods of darkness, times infinite, always and everywhere of the Sanctuary itself, as will be explained. when the established disintegrates, relevant, always and everywhere the like the shell of a seed within the same. Although the Sanctuary was erected with the darkness of underground, so that a Simultaneously, though, we must contributions of individuals, at the same time, it was a new perception, a more insightful constantly move forward, progress in product of the Jewish people as a whole. This understanding, may sprout and grow. our understanding, uncover new transformation - from a collection of donations made by And these two symbolic opposites ‐ insights, new perspectives, new disparate individuals into an entirely new, collective the sun and the moon ‐ play out their transformative values. entity - was brought about by Moses, the leader of the opposition in their yearly cycles. The In a leap year we combine generation. seasons ‐ nature's time ‐ follows the faithfulness and originality, constancy and change. And in our personal lives, in When an individual Jew makes a contribution, his sun. The months ‐ man's time ‐ follows state of mind is an important factor. Some people make the moon. And we have two calendars our Divine service, we must also, and a donation willingly and with all their heart, while that reflect this difference. The solar always, combine these two. others are more hesitant. Moses, however, the Jewish calendar tells us when to sow, when to That we reconcile by adding a month, "king," whose "heart is the heart of the congregation of plant, when to harvest ‐ when to let and that month is Adar, also teaches us the land lie fallow. The lunar calendar, something of importance. For first we Israel," was able to combine and unite the singular upon which the Jewish calendar is must have the solar calendar. First we contributions and turn them into a collective whole. based, tells us when our efforts wane need the adherence to the principles of One of the reasons the Sanctuary is called "the and understanding fails, when we the Torah, that is, practical observance Sanctuary of testimony" is that the Divine Presence must retreat and evaluate (Tishrei, the of the mitzvot. Only then can we vary resting within it attested to G-d's having forgiven the month of the High Holidays, for and move. Jewish people for the sin of the Golden Calf. instance), and when joy ascends (our Also, the month we add is Adar ‐ the month of joy. When we are in spiritual Moses, the only Jew who remained absolutely current month of Adar, for example). untainted by the sin, was thus the only person who As the moon waxes, so some times concert, our joy is doubled. And, could effect this transformation and cause G-d's demand we engage, reveal; as it fades, conversely, to double our joy we must so some times demand we withdraw, be in spiritual concert ‐ constant in Presence to dwell in the physical world. reconsider and conceal. observance, growing in knowledge. Adapted from Likutei Sichot of the Rebbe Vol. 26 L'Chaim Weekly 1161: PEKUDEI March 4, 2011 – 28 Adar I, 5771 1 L’Chaim contains words from sacred literature. Please do not deface or discard. d”sb Mezuzah The Art of Mezuzah – Part III, The Parchment A Word From The quality of parchment which has now been acheived is called g’vil. This is a Did You heavy, thick substance. Jewish law enjoins us to use a more delicate quality of The Director parchment called klaf. Know??? The epidermis is unsuitable for parchment and is removed early in the process. In This Shabbat, in addition to the the case of sheepskin, two remaining layers of skin can, with great skill, be separated regular Torah portions read in shul, from each other. The dermis is then called klaf, and the under-skin is called duchsustus. we will also read Parshat Shekalim, Another way to obtain the klaf is to scrape away the under-skin while the skin is the Torah portion in which G-d still stretched on the frame. A special knife is used for this consisting of a large commands Moses to take a census of semicircular blade set in a thick mount which is held with both hands. The setting of the blade at exactly the right angle is very important. A mistake at this stage might split the Jewish people by collecting a the skin; after this it may well not be possible to continue to process it and all the half-shekel from each one. The scribe’s work will have been wasted. Rebbe explains that a census The klaf is now taken off the frame and every square inch of it is rubbed carefully emphasizes the unique importance of with different grades of pumice stone and chalk in order to obtain the rich smooth each individual while at the same surface which is necessary for writing. After at least a few weeks maturing in a dry time reminding us that every Jew's atmosphere the parchment is at last ready for the writing of a mezuzah or tefillin. existence is bound to that of his fellow man. T he Rebbe Writes Erev Shabbos Parshas Shekolim, 5726 [1966] The concept of "loving your fellow To All Participants in the "Evening With Lubavitch" in Philadelphia, Pa., G-d bless you - man" is further emphasized by the Greeting and Blessing: fact that every Jew, no matter how It is significant that the "Evening With Lubavitch" is taking place on Rosh Chodesh Adar [the rich or how poor, was required to new month of Adar]. In olden days, when the Beis Hamikdosh [Holy Temple] was in existence, give the exact same amount of the first day of Adar was noted for the "Shekolim Call" which went out on that day, whereupon money, a half-shekel. Moreover, the every Jew contributed a half-shekel [coin] to the Sanctuary chest which provided the public half-shekalim that were collected sacrifices in behalf of all the Jewish people. were used to bring communal The saintly Rebbe the "Tzemach Tzedek" (so named after his monumental Halachah [Jewish offerings on behalf of the entire Law] work) [Rabbi Menachem Mendel, third Rebbe of Chabad-Lubavitch] - and this year marks Jewish people. And although we are the 100th anniversary of his demise - in discussing the Mitzvah [commandment] of Machtzis in exile we can still fulfill the mitzva haShekel [the half shekel] in one of his renowned Chassidic-philosophical works, offers some of half-shekel by carrying out the insights into this Mitzvah requiring no more and no less than half a shekel.

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