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Yedidya Bejell is a former Shaliach in Chicago (2007-2008), currently a structural engineer
Dedicated in memory of Yaakov ben Avraham and Sarah Aharonov z"
“When you take a census of the Israelite men according to their army enrolment, each shall pay Hashem a ransom for himself on being enrolled, that no plague may come upon them through their being enrolled.
This is what everyone who is entered in the records shall pay: a half-shekel by the sanctuary weight—twenty gerahs to the shekel—a half-shekel as an offering to Hashem”
Our Parashah concludes a sequence of parshiyot instructing in detail the construction and assembly of the mishkan and all its elements.
The opening paragraph discusses the mitzvah of machatzit hashekel, a census which is also used as a fundraiser for the Mishkan. In this mitzvah every man gives exactly half a shekel. No less and no more. This Parshiya is also read as the first of the sequence of 4 parashiyot read before and after purim.
The following topics in the Parashah are:
-Kior Hanechoshet (the copper sink) and the mitzvah of the kohanim to purify themselves before entering the mishkan (tabernacle).
-The inauguration oil for the mishkan.
-Conclusion of the mishkan commandments.
-Commandment to keep Shabbat.
-The sin of the golden calf, followed by Moshe breaking the original luchot habrit, and eventually creating new ones.
While the topics relating to the mishkan overall fit into the sequence, when the Parashah turns to discussing Shabbat and chet haegel (the golden calf) it looks out of place. What is the message coming from arranging the parashiyout this way?
If we look at the wider scope - this Parashah represents a climax - Am Yisrael was extracted from Egypt, Moshe Rabeinu is about to conclude receiving the Torah, and then comes the crash - Bnei Yisrael slide back to idol worship. In this case, he sees no choice but to shatter the Luchot Habrit which were carved by G-d himself, and start over.
What went wrong?
One explanation is that Am Yisrael is just rising from the world of idolatry. They were stunned by the incredible supernatural miracles bestowed on them. But at one critical moment when Moshe was one day late coming down from Mt. Sinai - they did not know what to do. They needed the earthly manifestation for the divine. When they thought Moshe was lost they created the golden calf and sang “this is your God Israel”.
Moshe realises Am Yisrael can't just have the holiness bestowed on them but rather they have to make an effort to build themselves from below to receive.
The new tablets are carved by man and not by G-d. Also, the original sequence of commandments to build the Mishkan - call for building it from the interior outward, first the holy vessels and the structures come later, while when they actually build in the next Parashah they start from the outside - inward.
These represents a shift in which bringing the divine holiness down to earth requires effort from below.
We need to make G-d’s sanctuary so he would dwell among us, both physically in building a temple, and spiritually - making a place in our hearts and lives.
This theme also hinted at the two additional mitzvot in the Parashah - Shabbat, and Machatzit Hashekel.
Shabbat appears here to remind us that even while building the Mishkan we shall not forget Shabbat, which is a no less important symbol of the bond between Hashem and man. Furthermore, the Parashah repeats itself three times commanding us to actively “shomer” - keep the shabbat.
Finally, we return to Machatzit Hashekel. On the one hand it’s a census - but it is used for the Mishkan. Unlike the voluntary Truma, this is given as a mandatory equal sum of half a shekel. It is a joint contribution of Klal Yisrael to the mishkan.
In Parashat Pikudei we learn what the copper from machatzit hashekel was used for - the “adanim” the foundations of the walls of the Mishkan.
May we be zoche to join together to create a Mikdash for Hashem in our lives.
“And let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them"
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