Parshat Pikudei  4 Adar 2 5763, 8 March 2003

By Shlomo Riskin

Efrat, Israel -We have already seen how the five Torah readings of Terumah, Tezaveh, Ki Tisa, Vayakhel, and Pekudei deal in the main with the construction of the Sanctuary - 'And they shall build Me a Sanctuary so that I may dwell in their midst' (Exodus 25:8) - but do so with a very strange order of subject matter. The first two portions describe the Sanctuary and its accoutrements in detail, the third portion (Ki Tisa) reminds us to keep the Sabbath and tells of the tragic sin of the golden calf, the fourth portion again returns to the Sabbath, and then concludes, together with the fifth portion, with a repeat description of the details of the Sanctuary. Why discuss the Sabbath twice in the midst of the Sanctuary description ' and why sandwich the golden calf between the double repetition of the Sabbath commands?

I believe that a stunning insight not only into the proper Biblical interpretation of the interruption of the Sanctuary for the two Sabbath reminders and the golden calf but also into our real purpose here on earth, is to be found in a proper reading of two verses in this week's Torah reading of Pekudei. When the Bible records the conclusion of the construction of the Sanctuary, the sacred text uses the very same (and unique) terminology which appeared previously with regard to the creation of the world. At the completion of the Sanctuary, the Bible states, 'And Moses saw all the creative activity (melakhah) (Exodus 39:53), and wholly adorned (VaTeikhal from the verb Kallah) all the work of the Sanctuary (Exodus 39:32), and Moses blessed them (Ibid 43)' . Likewise at the conclusion of the creation of the world, the Bible states, 'And G-d saw all that He had made (Genesis 1:31), and G-d wholly adorned (Vayekhal) on the seventh day His creation activity (melakhto) which He had made and G-d blessed the seventh day.' (Genesis 2:2,3)

Clearly, the Bible is paralleling the Divine creation of the world with the human creation of the Sanctuary. On the simplest level, one might say that since G-d created a world in which we are to live, Moses and Israel returned the compliment by creating a Sanctuary in which G-d (as it were) was to live. But that is not what the Bible states: 'And they shall make for me a Sanctuary so that I may dwell in their midst,' not in its (the Sanctuarys) midst! And we must remember that after the sin of the golden calf, in Ki Tisa, G-d specifically states that as a result of Israels transgression He will not stand in their midst (Exodus 33:3), He will be more transcendent than immanent, His glory and compassion will not be obviously manifest in this world.

I would interpret this to mean that, in creating a world which allows for free choice, G-d has provided a world which has darkness as well as light, chaos as well as order, evil as well as good (Isaiah 45:7). The Almighty created human beings in His Divine image, expecting us to be His partners in perfecting an imperfect world. He expects us to harness the power of the atom not to destroy humanity but rather to cure cancer, to utilize our intellect and energy to right the wrongs of nature and to perfect human society. In short, He expects us to conquer the world, 'And you shall subdue & the earth.' (Genesis 1:26,28).

And the Israelites, having been given the Torah and charged with the mission of being a kingdom of priests ' teachers and a holy nation, must lead the way in projecting the vision of ethical monotheism and universal peace to the world. This is the true meaning of the command, in the beginning of our five-portion series, 'And you shall make for Me a Sanctuary so that I may dwell in their midst.' We, the Israelites together with universal humanity, must make the world a Sanctuary in which the Almighty will feel comfortable to live, as it were. And when all peoples of the world will live in peace and harmony, G-d in the fullness of His justice and compassion will be manifest and imminent in our midst!

There remains but one piece to work out the puzzle. There is a magnificent midrash relating to Adam and Eve. When they were banished from the Garden of Eden, that is when human history ' as we know it with all of its imperfections ' began, the first human beings complained to the Almighty that life in an imperfect world was more than they could bear. The Almighty then gave them two gifts to support them in their travail and challenge: the tear and the Sabbath day. When tragedy ' as it inevitably must ' will strike, tears will bring a certain measure of relief and comfort. And the Sabbath will give them a foretaste of the complete and perfect world to come, a glimpse of life in which humanity is not at war with nature and a society of peace and harmony.

Thus after the charge of 'making' (the Hebrew verb asoh) a Sanctuary, comes the command to 'make' the Sabbath day, a weekly vision of what is humanly possible to achieve and of what the Almighty guarantees will ultimately be realized: 'And the children of Israel will observe the Sabbath to make the Sabbath for their generations as an eternal covenant.' To be sure, the 'gift' of free choice can cause degenerations of the like of a golden calf, - idolatry adultery and murder, jihad and suicide bombers ' but ultimately the Sabbath and Sanctuary will prevail. G-d will help us achieve our goal of making the world into a Sanctuary so that G-d may come down and dwell once again, as He did in Eden, in our midst.

Shabbat Shalom.

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