Parashat Vayakhel Pekude
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Synopsis
Parashat Vayakhel-Pekude is one of seven torah portions that depending on the number of shabbatot in the year can be read seperately, as Vayakhel and Pekude, or together.
Vayakhel reiterates the importance of observing shabbat and that no work should be done on that day. It goes on to explain that Moses asked for donations from the people in order to build the mishkan and he appointed Bezalel and Oholiab to oversee the building of it.
Pekude is a description of the records kept of all the work and materials used in the construction of the mishkan. Moses and the Israelites celebrate it’s completion.
Themes
1) Shabbat as a Day of Rest
2) The Obligation of Charitable Giving
Shabbat as a Day of Rest
Why rest on Shabbat and what does rest mean? We are told that Shabbat should be a day of no work on several occasions in the torah and in Vayakhel-Pekude we are told what not to do on Shabbat. This includes making a fire, baking and cooking, gathering wood, moving from one boundary to another, ploughing and harvesting, carrying objects, engaging in business, and buying and selling. The idea of Shabbat is at the heart of Judaism. However you celebrate Shabbat make sure it is a day that it is a different day that is separate from your routine. I offer you a quote
“The Sabbath … prevents us from reducing our life to the level of a machine. The gathered experience of humanity that the break in the routine of work one day in seven will heighten the value of the very work itself is not lightly to be put aside. The sabbath is one of the glories of our humanity” Claude G. Montefiore
The Obligation of Charitable Giving
The idea of charitable giving is both at the core of Judaism and Socialism and therefore is very relevant to Habonim Dror. There are two types of charitable giving. The first is the more common interpretation of the term which is giving to the needy. This includes things like Poverty relieving charities, animal charities and environmental charities. There is also a less widely used interpretation of the term which is the support of public institutions, the pooling of resources for the good of the community. It is with this principle that the Mishkan was built. The spirit of giving is at the very core of Judaism.
“The more charity, the more peace.” (Hillel, Avot 2:7)
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