- there are 70 faces to 
Post by alon on Feb 25, 2019 7:34:08 GMT -8
I am putting this up early. As you study this week, try to find places in the par'shah where the things talked about here are occurring. Then let's discuss them.
This week’s readings:
Date of reading- 2 March 2019/ 25 Adar 5779
Name of Par’shah- Va’ikahel, He Assembled
Par’shah- Ex 35:1 – 38:20
Haftara- 1 Kings 7:40-50
Brit Chadashah- 2 Cor 9.1-15; heb 9.1-14; rev 11.1-13
D’rash: Our par’shah and haftara concern the building of the Mishkan and making implements for the Temple, respectively. However in the par’shah something much more profound is happening.
א. וַיַּקְהֵל משֶׁה אֶת-כָּל-עֲדַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם אֵלֶּה הַדְּבָרִים אֲשֶׁר-צִוָּה יְהוָֹה לַעֲשׂת אֹתָם:
Va’ikahel Moshe et chol’adat bane Yisrael va’yomer alehem ele hadvarim asher tzivah YHVH La’asot otum
Exodus 35:1 (ESI) And Moses gathered all the congregation of the people of Israel together, and said to them, These are the words which the Lord has commanded, that you should do them.
Of 3 Hebrew words for community, two are used in this opening line of our par’shah:
edah (adat)- a group with a collective identity
tzibur- a community brought together because of circumstances, but who may not belong together normally
kehillah (kahel)- a gathering; a group of different people united for a common cause
According to Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, “Moses act is … a restoration, a making good again, the redemption of a past misdemeanor (actually a transgression, ed.). Just as the sin (of the Golden Calf) was committed by the people acting as a community, a kahal or kehilla so atonement was to be achieved by their again acting as a kehilla, this time by making a home (Mishkan) for the Divine Presence as they earlier sought to make a substitute for it. Moses orchestrates the people for good , as they had once been assembled for bad.” … “To preserve the diversity of a tzibur with the unity of purpose of an edah- that is the challenge of a kehillah formation, community-building, itself the greatest task of a great leader.”
Moshe has gathered a kehillah, a diverse group of people who, after the sin of the calf and its consequences had to be feeling very low. I imagine many were ready to give up. But nothing brings people together like sacrificing their fortunes, their time and efforts to accomplish a common goal. The building of the Mishkan was as much to build Israel as it was a place to worship El Elohay Yisroel, the Lord God of Israel (Ex 32:27). Moshe as God’s shaliach was building an edah, a nation with a collective identity! He was making repairs (tikkun)!
Exodus 35:2 (ESV) Six days work shall be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death.
Yael Eckstein once said that more than anything else, through all their history and trials it was Shabbat which held the Jews together as a community. And here, as we see Moshe preparing to do an act of tikkun, of repairing the damage done the Hebrew community by the sin of the calf, the first instruction YHWH-Rapha God Who Heals (Ex 15:26) gives is to keep Shabbat.
Exodus 35:21 (NASB) Everyone whose heart stirred him and everyone whose spirit moved him came and brought the Lord’s contribution for the work of the tent of meeting and for all its service and for the holy garments.
In this El Channun, the Gracious God (Jonah 4:2) also makes tikkun:
2 Corinthians 9:6-8 (ESV) The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.
Not only do those who give freely have the benefits of a generous heart, but God blesses them as well. My father used to preach there is only one area where God tells us to test Him, and that is in giving:
Malachi 3:10 (ESV) Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.
There are other places where He allows it, but nowhere else I know that He tells us to test Him.
It is interesting that God gave detailed instructions on the tasks at hand, however He left it to the people to volunteer their time and talents. וְכֹ֡ל אֲשֶׁר֩ נָדְבָ֨ה רוּח֜וֹ אֹת֗וֹ v’chol asher nadvah rucho oto, and everyone who volunteered. Rucho has the same root as ruach, so while the ESV translates vs 21 as “whose spirit moved him ,” it is possible that the Ruach HaKodesh is at work here as well. We also see the word נָדְבָ֨ה nadvah, volunteer. In contemporary Hebrew the term mitnadev means a volunteer. Same root. But it was extremely important that the heart of the individual respond to the Ruach and that his efforts were those of a volunteer. He must be a mitnadev!
Ephesians 4:11-13, 15-16 (CJB) Furthermore, he gave some people as emissaries, some as prophets, some as proclaimers of the Good News, and some as shepherds and teachers. Their task is to equip God’s people for the work of service that builds the body of the Messiah, until we all arrive at the unity implied by trusting and knowing the Son of God, at full manhood, at the standard of maturity set by the Messiah’s perfection. … Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in every respect grow up into him who is the head, the Messiah. Under his control, the whole body is being fitted and held together by the support of every joint, with each part working to fulfill its function; this is how the body grows and builds itself up in love.
“For the work of service that builds the body of the Messiah” in Jewish thought is the building of the community, the ekklessia. This is a parallel to Moshe building an edah.
In addition to tithes and offerings, whatever talents we have, we should give them to El Chaiyai, the God Of My Life (Pslm 42:8). We should all become mitnadim for Avinu, Our Father (Is 64:8).
Mekarot: Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, former Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth; Yael Eckstein, Chairwoman for the IFCJ; Dr. Eisenberg of the IBC; ESM Interlinear Bible; Rav S, my Dad, and others
Dan C
This week’s readings:
Date of reading- 2 March 2019/ 25 Adar 5779
Name of Par’shah- Va’ikahel, He Assembled
Par’shah- Ex 35:1 – 38:20
Haftara- 1 Kings 7:40-50
Brit Chadashah- 2 Cor 9.1-15; heb 9.1-14; rev 11.1-13
D’rash: Our par’shah and haftara concern the building of the Mishkan and making implements for the Temple, respectively. However in the par’shah something much more profound is happening.
א. וַיַּקְהֵל משֶׁה אֶת-כָּל-עֲדַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם אֵלֶּה הַדְּבָרִים אֲשֶׁר-צִוָּה יְהוָֹה לַעֲשׂת אֹתָם:
Va’ikahel Moshe et chol’adat bane Yisrael va’yomer alehem ele hadvarim asher tzivah YHVH La’asot otum
Exodus 35:1 (ESI) And Moses gathered all the congregation of the people of Israel together, and said to them, These are the words which the Lord has commanded, that you should do them.
Of 3 Hebrew words for community, two are used in this opening line of our par’shah:
edah (adat)- a group with a collective identity
tzibur- a community brought together because of circumstances, but who may not belong together normally
kehillah (kahel)- a gathering; a group of different people united for a common cause
According to Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, “Moses act is … a restoration, a making good again, the redemption of a past misdemeanor (actually a transgression, ed.). Just as the sin (of the Golden Calf) was committed by the people acting as a community, a kahal or kehilla so atonement was to be achieved by their again acting as a kehilla, this time by making a home (Mishkan) for the Divine Presence as they earlier sought to make a substitute for it. Moses orchestrates the people for good , as they had once been assembled for bad.” … “To preserve the diversity of a tzibur with the unity of purpose of an edah- that is the challenge of a kehillah formation, community-building, itself the greatest task of a great leader.”
Moshe has gathered a kehillah, a diverse group of people who, after the sin of the calf and its consequences had to be feeling very low. I imagine many were ready to give up. But nothing brings people together like sacrificing their fortunes, their time and efforts to accomplish a common goal. The building of the Mishkan was as much to build Israel as it was a place to worship El Elohay Yisroel, the Lord God of Israel (Ex 32:27). Moshe as God’s shaliach was building an edah, a nation with a collective identity! He was making repairs (tikkun)!
Exodus 35:2 (ESV) Six days work shall be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death.
Yael Eckstein once said that more than anything else, through all their history and trials it was Shabbat which held the Jews together as a community. And here, as we see Moshe preparing to do an act of tikkun, of repairing the damage done the Hebrew community by the sin of the calf, the first instruction YHWH-Rapha God Who Heals (Ex 15:26) gives is to keep Shabbat.
Exodus 35:21 (NASB) Everyone whose heart stirred him and everyone whose spirit moved him came and brought the Lord’s contribution for the work of the tent of meeting and for all its service and for the holy garments.
In this El Channun, the Gracious God (Jonah 4:2) also makes tikkun:
2 Corinthians 9:6-8 (ESV) The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.
Not only do those who give freely have the benefits of a generous heart, but God blesses them as well. My father used to preach there is only one area where God tells us to test Him, and that is in giving:
Malachi 3:10 (ESV) Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.
There are other places where He allows it, but nowhere else I know that He tells us to test Him.
It is interesting that God gave detailed instructions on the tasks at hand, however He left it to the people to volunteer their time and talents. וְכֹ֡ל אֲשֶׁר֩ נָדְבָ֨ה רוּח֜וֹ אֹת֗וֹ v’chol asher nadvah rucho oto, and everyone who volunteered. Rucho has the same root as ruach, so while the ESV translates vs 21 as “whose spirit moved him ,” it is possible that the Ruach HaKodesh is at work here as well. We also see the word נָדְבָ֨ה nadvah, volunteer. In contemporary Hebrew the term mitnadev means a volunteer. Same root. But it was extremely important that the heart of the individual respond to the Ruach and that his efforts were those of a volunteer. He must be a mitnadev!
Ephesians 4:11-13, 15-16 (CJB) Furthermore, he gave some people as emissaries, some as prophets, some as proclaimers of the Good News, and some as shepherds and teachers. Their task is to equip God’s people for the work of service that builds the body of the Messiah, until we all arrive at the unity implied by trusting and knowing the Son of God, at full manhood, at the standard of maturity set by the Messiah’s perfection. … Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in every respect grow up into him who is the head, the Messiah. Under his control, the whole body is being fitted and held together by the support of every joint, with each part working to fulfill its function; this is how the body grows and builds itself up in love.
“For the work of service that builds the body of the Messiah” in Jewish thought is the building of the community, the ekklessia. This is a parallel to Moshe building an edah.
In addition to tithes and offerings, whatever talents we have, we should give them to El Chaiyai, the God Of My Life (Pslm 42:8). We should all become mitnadim for Avinu, Our Father (Is 64:8).
Mekarot: Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, former Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth; Yael Eckstein, Chairwoman for the IFCJ; Dr. Eisenberg of the IBC; ESM Interlinear Bible; Rav S, my Dad, and others
Dan C
