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Back to Question of the Week Q: Dear Kolel Cyber-community: Your humble Reb on the Web is a restless sort, always looking for new ideas to shake up the world of Internet Torah learning. So a few weeks ago, I posted an invitation for responses to my weekly commentary on the Torah portion of the week- in this case, Vayakhel, towards the end of the book of Exodus. My problem in that parsha is a cryptic comment made by our friend Rashi, who says that Moshe came down the mountain to give the instructions to build the Mishkan on the day after Yom Kippur. (For my thoughts on Rashi's intent, see our archived parashah.) Here are two other excellent perspectives from our community on the possible link between building the Mishkan and experiencing Yom Kippur: |
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A: From Sandy, in the Southwest: The Children of Israel sinned together (Golden Calf), they were forgiven by God as one community, and perhaps now God wants them to immediately move forward in holy pursuits together, as a community. That way they see that they are all responsible together, for each other, for the community. The Reb responds: Sandy, what I particularly like about your interpretation is that you see in the Torah itself an example of the rabbinic teaching "kol Yisrael areivim zeh ba'zeh," or "all Israel is responsible for one another-" something which we all need to be reminded of in these individualistic times. Regarding the idea of moving from a collective sin to a collective holy endeavor, as Rebbe Nachman of Bratzlav used to say: "if you believe you can break something, then believe you can fix it!" This would apply on a communal as well as an individual level- excellent insight!
Jeff, in Ontario, offers a different interpretation: I put this event (the gathering of the people and their involvement in building the mishkan) in a broader political context. I think that one of Moshe's grand tasks has been to be the spokesman for Hashem ["the name"- a euphemistic way of referring to the 4 letter name of God- ed.] in teaching this rag-tag, lost group of people to become a civilization in the service of Hashem. This is in fulfillment of the second half of Hashem's promise to Moshe (first is "I will lead the people from slavery" and the second is "so that they may worship me"). Joseph Telushkin suggests that now, at the foot of Sinai, is the time for the people to 'ante up', to learn to worship, and to accomplish this, Moshe must bring Hashem's teachings to the people. After 400 years of slavery, this change is not easily done. Moshe has repeated challenges and the whining is intense, we can surmise from the events that occur after the crossing of the Sea, and in the Golden Calf story. One strategy (well known in psychotherapy and human relations circles) to get people to participate in a new venture is to actually get them doing what you want them to do. If a leader wants people to be committed to a new direction or process, one effective strategy is to get the people tom actually be a part of the process. This way, they come to own the process. Philip Brickman's classic "Commitment, Conflict, and Caring" repeatedly illustrates this principle: The longer an activity is engaged in, the harder it is to quit...thus, the stronger the commitment. After the Golden Calf, Moshe, always the political thinker, must have wondered if (in spite of his slaying of the rebels) the people would ever rally around Hashem. When he comes back down the second time, with the 'symbols of forgiveness', his demeanor is changed. Instead of threatening with the sword, he now commands (maybe 'invites'?) the people to participate, perhaps knowing that by their very participation in the actual building of the mishkan they would feel a part of, and a commitment to, Hashem. They could look at the mishkan and say "that piece is mine" and together, all the pieces become one mishkan, and one people. By giving of themselves (i.e. their possessions) the Hebrews are led to care for the end product of their effort. I believe this is a turning point for Moshe and the Hebrews. While Moshe still has complaints after this, I do not believe (if I remember correctly) that he ever has to face another insurrection on the scale of the Golden Calf. The Reb responds: This psychological perspective blows me away- I never thought of it before, but of course you are right- the people need to become personally "invested" (with their gold and silver, no less) in the Mishkan, which is set up with the intention of helping them move away from the idols of Egypt. To put it another way, in Egypt they could have gods of nature, visible images of "higher power," but the Mishkan challenged the Israelites to become inspired by a physical place which was only a focussing tool for the transcendent, non-physical God. To help they "buy in," they had to be asked to help out- you can't just hand somebody a new world-view and expect them to accept it. Moshe does, in fact, face many more instances of complaining and whining among the people, (for example the episode of the spies) and at least one major insurrection, when Korach and his group challenge Moshe's authority. However, maybe Korach's rebellion proves your point, because he may have felt he had the right to challenge Moshe's leadership precisely because he too had a hand in building the religious "centerpiece" of the nation. Thank you both for helping us have a great discussion of Torah narrative! NJL |
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