Vayakhel-Pekudei

10 March 2018 23 Adar 5778 Shabbat ends London 6.43pm Jerusalem 6.20pm

In loving memory of Chaim ben Moshe Bentzion

"They made the Robe of the Ephod of a weaver's craft, entirely of turquoise wool" (Shemot 39:22). 1 Sidrah Summary: Vayekhel-Pekudei

1st Aliya (Kohen) – Shemot 35:1-29 Point to Consider: Who contributed the mirrors for Moshe gathers the nation. He instructs them to keep the base of the washstand? (see Rashi to 38:8) Shabbat and asks them to volunteer the materials 5th Aliya (Chamishi) – 39:2-22 needed for the construction of the Mishkan The priestly garments are made, starting with the (Tabernacle) and the priestly garments. Ephod, worn over Aharon’s tunic and robe. It has Question: Which particular forbidden action, two shoulder straps (Ketefot) and a belt (Cheshev) forbidden on Shabbat, is mentioned in the third attached. A precious Shoham stone is placed on verse? (35:3) Answer on bottom of page 6. each shoulder strap. The next item made is the 2nd Aliya (Levi) – 35:30-37:17 breastplate (Choshen), containing 12 different types Moshe announces the appointment of the wise- of precious stone (Avnei Miluim). hearted Betzalel and Aholiav to oversee the 6th Aliya (Shishi) – 39:22-43 construction, assisted by able craftsmen. When they The turquoise robe (Me’il) is made. Golden bells collect the materials volunteered, they find there is a (Pa’amonim) are placed between multi-coloured surplus. Moshe tells the Israelites not to bring any woollen ‘pomegranates’ (Rimonim) shapes hanging more materials. from the bottom hem. The work starts with the ten Yeriyot (curtains) and the A knitted tunic (Ketonet) with a grid-like pattern, a golden hooks joining them together. This is followed linen turban (Mitznefet), linen trousers (Michnasayim) by the Ohel (tent), draped over the Mishkan, with a and an embroidered sash (Avnet) are made, for every further double Michse (cover) on top. Next they Kohen to wear. The pure gold band (Tzitz) is made, make the parochet (partition) to cordon off the Holy to be placed on Aharon’s forehead. of Holies area. After the work is finished, Moshe inspects it and Betzalel makes the Aron (ark) from acacia wood, blesses the workers. plated with gold and with a gold crown (Zer). The 7th Aliya (Shevi’i) – 40:1-38 Kaporet (cover) of the aron is made from pure gold, God tells Moshe to erect the Mishkan on Rosh with two cherubs moulded on top. Chodesh Nisan and to anoint its vessels with oil The Shulchan (table) is made from gold-plated acacia and to inaugurate Aharon and his sons. A heavenly wood, with a gold crown (Zer) on its rim (Misgeret). cloud covers the Mishkan. When it lifts, the people 3rd Aliya (Shlishi) – 37:17-29 are allowed to journey on. The Menorah is hammered from one piece of pure Maftir (Shemot 30:11-16) gold, with seven lamps. The special reading for parashat Parah is taken The gold-plated small wooden Mizbeach (altar) is from the beginning of parashat Chukat (Bemidbar constructed for the twice-daily incense offering. 19:1-22), in which God instructed Moshe and Aharon The special anointing oil and the incense spices are how to purify someone who had come into prepared. contact with a human corpse. This involved 4th Aliya (Revi’i) – 38:1-39:1 slaughtering an unblemished red heifer (Parah The workers then construct a copper washstand Adumah) and mixing its ashes with water. (Kiyor) for the Kohanim, followed by the Chatzer Haftarah (courtyard) which surrounds the Mishkan, The prophet Yechezkel (Ezekiel) admonishes making its outer ‘fence’ of linen Yeriyot (curtains), the nation for worshipping idols and desecrating attached to wooden pillars. The Torah lists the His Name. However, God will purify us, giving us overall weight of gold, silver and copper used in a ‘new heart’ and returning us to the Land. building the Mishkan.

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2 Battling with Envy by Rabbi Elchonon Feldman, Bushey & District United Synagogue

“You [Moshe] shall anoint This, he writes, was understandable. When it them [Aharon’s sons], as you came to Aharon himself, Moshe was grateful to anointed their father [Aharon], Aharon for not protesting that his younger brother and they shall minister to Me. (Moshe) had been chosen to be the Jewish leader And so it shall be that their instead of himself. The Torah in fact relates that anointment shall be for them Aharon was joyful at his brother’s appointment, an eternal priesthood for their which inspired Moshe to rejoice when he was told generations” (Shemot 40:15). that Aharon would also have his own significant role as the High Priest. “It turned Brer Merlin green with envy and spite, which was a great satisfaction to me”, writes However, when it came to anointing Aharon’s Mark Twain in his book, A Connecticut Yankee, sons, things were very different. By anointing the associating feelings of jealousy with the colour next generation, Moshe knew that the priesthood green. This was not the first literary source to would continue in perpetuity through the connect the colour green with envy. In a few generations of Aharon’s offspring and not his places, Shakespeare refers to the “green-eyed own. At the same time, Moshe was given no monster” stirred by sensations of jealousy. assurance that his mantle of leadership would be Chaucer and Ovid also use the phrase “green passed on to his sons; indeed ultimately it was with envy”. not. On a subtle level, Moshe was envious that Aharon’s descendants would have a privilege not Besides the literary origins of envy manifesting given to his own. Therefore, God had to give itself in colour, the emotion of envy is generally Moshe an extra instruction, that he should not seen as a deficiency in moral character. Our Torah hesitate; rather he should tap into the love and joy sources relate this message too, as the sage which he felt when he had anointed his brother as Rabbi Elazar Hakapar states in Pirkei Avot: “Envy, the Kohen Gadol. lust and honour drive a person from the world” (Ethics of our Fathers 4:28, p. 550 in the green From here we see that the challenges of envy can siddur). be ever present. Even Moshe, our greatest teacher and prophet, faced this test of character. However, in the second of this week’s two Moshe, in his greatness, overcame the challenge. parashiyot, Pekudei, Rabbi Meir Simcha of Dvinsk (known as the Meshech Chochma, d. 1926) offers a warning that it is not just wicked people who struggle with envy. In fact, no one is immune from the temptations of jealousy. He derives this teaching from God’s commandment to Moshe (quoted above) to anoint the sons of Aharon “as you anointed their father”. The Meshech Chochma writes that although Moshe only had joy and love in his heart when he had originally anointed his brother Aharon to become the Kohen Gadol (High Priest), when it now came time for Moshe to anoint Aharon’s two sons, he hesitated.

In memory of Malka bat Peretz 3 Bein Adam Lechaveiro Part 29: The Ramban’s Letter (Igeret HaRamban) III by Rabbi Daniel Fine, Community Rabbi, Stanmore & Canons Park United Synagogue Over the last two weeks, we can grow and succeed, taking into account both have been studying the first this (temporary) world and the eternal world to paragraph of the Letter of the come. This obviates the isolation factor too; yes, Ramban (Igeret HaRamban), this difficult experience is happening to you and which was sent by the nobody else, but it is a carefully Divinely Ramban (Nachmanides d. constructed challenge, fit for purpose, calling 1270) to his son in Catalonia upon you to rise above and succeed. in the 13th century, which focuses on the topic of humility. This means that an antidote to feelings that lead to anger is internalising our belief in God and We are up to the Ramban’s quotation from the understanding that He is part of our everyday Talmud about the dangers of anger: “Whoever lives. This is of course easier said than done, but flares up in anger is subject to the to the as Rabbi Avraham ben Meir Ibn Ezra (d. 1167) strictures of Gehinom – [a place where souls writes, emotions can only go where we allow suffer in the afterlife for their misdemeanours on them to. For example, our emotions feel sorry for earth]” (Nedarim 22a). victims and loathe perpetrators, but our intellect first frames the situation, telling us who is the Why is anger so negative? victim and who is the perpetrator. Developing a philosophically sound understanding of God can Anger is often rooted in two feelings that can therefore go a long way towards removing anger. come about as a response to an occurrence. The first is a feeling of unfairness; “what have On a more profound level, the Talmud (Shabbat I done to deserve this?”. 105b) writes that “one who tears clothes, breaks vessels or throws away money in anger is akin to The second is a feeling of isolation – “why is this serving idols”. Why is extreme anger compared happening specifically to me?” For example, you to idolatry? True, anger might carry with it certain have an important meeting and you are rushing sentiments of rejecting God over one’s personal out of the house. You suddenly trip and injure needs, but what is the deeper explanation of this your leg, ending up in a cast. Or you are stuck in enigmatic comparison? In order to understand traffic and you are running late for your meeting. this, we must gain a sharper understanding of You are irate. Yet if this was happening to what idolatry is, which we shall attempt to do in everyone, you might not be fuming – it might be the next article, which will appear after Pesach. viewed as a regular, expected fact of life.

From the perspective of classical Jewish philosophy, both of these assumptions are incorrect. Whilst acknowledging how difficult this may be to swallow, especially in painful situations, there is no such thing as unfair in Jewish thought. Things are often upsetting. Events might be hurtful. Experiences might be non-understandable. Yet because the world is run by God, there can be no unfair. He manages the world and sees to it that people are given the requisite challenges and struggles so that they

In memory of Avraham ben Yehoshua 4 Preparing for Pesach II: Kashering Keilim by Rabbi Shmuli Sagal, Sutton & District United Synagogue

There are many things that which primarily come directly into contact with make a Jewish home the food (frying) and those where it is usually distinctive. A mezuzah on the through the medium of water (boiling). doorpost and a separation of meat and milk in the Moving beyond the technical aspect of these kitchen are perhaps the most important laws, there is a deeper spiritual obvious. Amongst the more message in these categories of kashering. Rabbi bizarre examples is the sight Joseph B. Soloveitchik (d. 1993) interprets of the bath tub full of kitchenware in the kashering as a metaphor for human self- weeks before Pesach. Perhaps many readers improvement. In some vessels, the non-kosher will only remember this from their parents’ or food only infiltrates superficially, therefore grandparents’ home, as it has become much boiling water or fire treatment are effective less common today, since new kitchen utensils methods of removing it. However, there are are relatively cheap and easily procurable. other vessels where the taste of the non-kosher permeates so deeply that it cannot be removed, The reason for giving the kitchenware a bath and the only remedy is smashing and then before Pesach is not just so they shine on the refashioning it. Seder table. The Shulchan Aruch (Code of Jewish Law, written 1562) teaches that one Similarly, there are some personal spiritual cannot use their regular pots and pans, or mistakes, as undesirable as they might be, cutlery on Pesach without kashering them first. which can be rectified through a relatively In short, this means that they need to be well simple process, much like kashering. Indeed, for cleaned and then either placed in boiling water certain deficiencies, immersion in water, which or heated in a red-hot fire, depending on the represents knowledge and self-contemplation, material of the utensil and how they are is enough. By contrast, correcting more serious generally utilised. This process purges the flaws can be likened to immersion in fire, which vessel of its chametz content and makes it represents the more radical act of breaking ready for Pesach use. (For further guidance, one’s will. Beyond this, there are some spiritual please speak to your shul Rabbi). failings that corrupt us so profoundly that the only redemption is through shattering. When In truth, this process of kashering is sourced in the negative trait pervades so deeply, it is Bemidbar chapter 31, when Moshe instructs beyond the usual methods of kashering, so that that the captured spoils of the defeated destroying and rebuilding is the only option. Midianites be kashered before use by the Israelites. Being that the Midianites utilised their utensils for cooking and eating non-kosher food, which therefore became absorbed into the pots and pans, they needed purging to be permitted for use. There is a distinction between utensils made of different materials. Earthenware is particularly porous and therefore cannot be kashered. Metal, by contrast, is less absorbent and hence kashering is effective. There is also a distinction between utensils

In memory of Harav Binyamin ben Harav Shalom 5 Insights into Jewish History Part 99: Nine Years of Serenity by Rebbetzen Ilana Epstein, Cockfosters & N Southgate United Synagogue; Head of Project Development, US Living & Learning

King Yannai had died and The vast ocean of Torah knowledge was once in his place Queen more allowed to flow freely within the city of Shlomtzion (Salome), now Jerusalem. twice widowed, had heeded Yannai’s advice The passing of Shimon Ben Shatach meant that a and transferred all power to new Nassi and Av Beit Din were appointed, the Pharisees, and control Shemaya and Avtalyon respectively. of her household to her brother Shimon ben Shatach. She was queen for the next nine years in name only. This new-found stability meant that scholars and pilgrims made their way from Babylonia to Judea. One of them was Hillel, who would, 40 years later, This period is barely mentioned by the Roman become one of the greatest Torah scholars. But at Jewish first-century historian Josephus. It was the the age of 40, Hillel refused all monetary support. first time in nearly a century of factional fighting He used half of his very meagre daily income to that the Pharisees found themselves ruling pay a porter at the yeshivah of Shemaya and entirely on their own. As the power of the Avtalyon to allow him in. On a snowy night, when Sadducees dwindled, the surviving Pharisees he did not have sufficient funds, such was his came out of hiding and returned from their devotion to study, he climbed up on the roof of sanctuaries in neighbouring countries. Others the yeshiva to listen to the halachic discourse were released from prison. The Queen reinstated through the chimney, but nearly froze to death all the Oral laws that the Sadducees had deemed (Talmud Yoma 35b) unlawful and resumed all Temple worship.

Hillel was doing what countless others were doing These sectarian wars had previously left Judea in in this period of relative peace, learning Torah in chaos; so much effort had been expended in Jerusalem. defending themselves from other factions, that there were never enough resources left to defend themselves from outside forces. The new halt in Yet the death of Shimon ben Shatach brought sectarian animosity meant that, for the first time in with it the end of his tempering influence over a long time, the nation was able to rebuild itself his nephew Aristobulus II, who in next week’s agriculturally, economically and militarily. episode presents his mother, Queen Shlomtzion with an impossible ultimatum.

This serene period is described in the Talmud: “In the days of Shimon ben Shatach…the wheat grew like kidneys, and the barley like the stones of olives, and the lentils like dinarim (an ancient currency) of gold” (Taanit 23a).

In Rabbi Avigdor Miller’s book Torah-Nation (1971), he writes: “The nation, before and after, never saw (since the first destruction) such happy years as the nine years the Sages were in power”.

Copper Coin of Alexandra Salome Answer: Lighting a fire. a Lighting Answer:

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