Parshat Pekudei Exodus 38:21 – 40:38 This we read Parashat Pekudei, the last parasha in the . As the reading begins, we hear once again that made all the furnishings for the mishkan. There is an accounting of all the , , and copper (or bronze) used in fashioning all the metal parts. Then once again, the robes and accoutrements of the High Priest are described.

By this point everything has been constructed – the Tent of Meeting, the mishkan and all of its contents and utensils, the altars, the lampstand, screens and hangings, and the clothing for the priests, including the Breastplate of Decision. The whole project is finished and everything is brought to , who verifies that it was all done according to G-d’s command. Moses blesses the craftsmen who performed this sacred work.

G-d then tells Moses when it is all to be put together and put in operation. Curtain time (literally, since curtains were part of the mishkan furnishings) will be on the first day of the first month, that is the first of . The day arrives and everything is assembled and sacrifices are, for the first time, offered on the mishkan altars. The majestic and magical moment arrives – the Divine Cloud descends and we are told k’vod adoshem maleh et hamishkan – the glory of G-d fills the mishkan.

The long and detailed descriptions of the plans for building the sacred space and the execution of those plans have all come to this: G-d now has a place to dwell among the . Now when they wander, G-d will go with them, as evidenced by the Divine Cloud during the day and a flame at night.

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks says that the main point of the Book of Exodus is one of “ordered liberty.” The mishkan “with its precisely ordered space at the heart of the camp is not just a symbol of G-d’s presence,” he says, “but also of G-d’s order, which characterizes both creation and redemption. The ordered society the Israelites are commanded to create brings to a kind of closure the story with which the began, G-d’s creation of an ordered universe.”

As the Book of Exodus closes, we say the traditional words upon completion of a book of Torah: chazak, chazak, v’nitchazek - Be strong, be strong and may we strengthen one another.

Haftarah 1 Kings 7:51-8:21 The comes from the First Book of Kings. This is part of what modern scholars call the Deuteronomistic History, the earlier books of the Nevi’im (Prophets). These books (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings) provide narratives of the early years of the Israelites in the Promised Land. They are believed to have been written by the same person or group of people who wrote the . The author or group of authors is referred to as the Deuteronomist, and abbreviated Dtr.

This week’s haftarah concerns the completion of the Temple in . Once it is complete, the contents of the mishkan and Tent of Meeting are brought into the Temple. The Cloud enters the Temple, indicating that G-d has accepted this as G-d’s house. speaks to G-d, saying that he has built the Temple for G-d to live in forever. He then turns and blesses the assembled people.

The haftarah parallels the in action and intention. Both concern the completion of the holy task of building a place for G-d to dwell and the cohanim to fulfill their priestly functions. In both stories the leader (Moses in the Torah, Solomon in the haftarah) accepts the work and offers a blessing and G-d descends in the form of a cloud. The big difference is that the mishkan is portable and the Temple is fixed. As Michael Fishbane says, this selection “describes a major transformation of sacred life in ancient Israel…With this event, the period of wilderness wandering – symbolized by the moveable – is brought to a close.”

Although the Temple is intended to be permanent, it will be destroyed and a new one built in its place. Like World War I, the First Temple didn’t get a number until there was a second. It is originally known as Solomon’s Temple or Beit Adoshem – the House of G-d.