|
|
March 3, 2000/26 Adar 1, 5760, Vol. 52, No.26
True value of possessions depends on how they're used
Torah Study
RABBI ELLIOTT A. KLEINMAN
Vayakhel/Exodus 35:1-38:20
The Torah is filled with great drama. Moviemakers and even animators turn to the text repeatedly for its stunning visual imagery and profound drama. This week's Torah portion, Vayakhel, is replete with both.
Close your eyes and imagine the following: Some 600,000 Jews are encamped at the foot of Mount Sinai. One after another, people come forward, bearing gifts. A midrash tells us they brought earrings of gold, bracelets of silver, and brilliant jewels. For their leaders, they brought tunics of fine cloth and embroidery.
This is a description of what happened after Moses requested that the people:
"Take from among you gifts to God; everyone whose heart so moves him shall bring them - gifts for Adonai: gold, silver and copper; blue, purple and crimson yarns, fine linen and goats' hair; tanned ram skins, dolphin skins; and acacia wood; oil for lighting, spices for the anointing oil and for the aromatic incense; lapis lazuli and other stones for setting, for the ephod and the breastpiece" (Exodus 35:5-9).
The bringing of voluntary gifts to build the Mishkan (the sacred Place of Assembly in the wilderness) is the central theme of this week's portion. However, this description can also be applied to last week's parashah, when the Israelites willingly contributed to and collaborated in the building of the golden calf: "And all the people took off the gold rings that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. This he took from them and cast in a mold, and made it into a molten calf" (Exodus 32:3-4).
This week the scene is the same - one after another, the Israelites bring gold and silver, wonderful clothes and brilliant jewels - but the purpose is different. This time their intent is to build a Mishkan.
A common adage declares that whoever dies with the most toys wins. This saying purports to instruct us about the value of things. But the true value of things can be better ascertained from this week's Torah portion. What we learn here is that a thing is neither good nor bad on its own. It is what we do with things - whether we make a destructive idol or create a sacred space - that gives them value. Reflecting on these two Torah portions, the sages say, "With earrings the Israelites sinned and with earrings were they redeemed."
This teaching highlights the ambivalent nature of possessions and wealth. All the things we have -money, cars, homes, clothes, time, and emotions - are the modern equivalent of the Israelites' gold and silver, which we can use to build either idols or sanctuaries.
How are we to decide which we will build? Parashat Vayakhel opens with a command to observe the Sabbath. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel teaches us that Shabbat is a "sanctuary in time." According to Heschel, in providing us with this model of a sanctuary in time, God gives us a taste of the holiness that could be ours if we choose to create a sacred space. Consequently, the holiness we experience in abstract time immeasurably intensifies our yearning to experience holiness in concrete space.
Each Shabbat can help us get through the coming week. By enabling us to taste a bit of holiness in time, Shabbat reminds us to seek holiness throughout the week. We leave the sanctuary of Shabbat time rededicated to the construction of the many sanctuaries in our lives - in our homes, congregations, communities, and workplaces. We can seek holiness by avoiding the urge to create idols and using our wealth, our hopes, and our dreams as building blocks to create a better world.
Rabbi Elliott A. Kleinman is the regional director of the UAHC Northeast Lakes Council. Torat Hayim is produced by the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. It is available on the Internet at www.uahc.org/growth.
|
