Parashat Pekudei
Torah: Exodus 38:21 – 40:38 (Chazak!)
Haftarah: 1 Kings 7:51-8:21 (Ashkenazim); 1 Kings 7:40-50 (Sephardim)
Adar Hasheni 2, 5782 / March 4-5, 2022
This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Feigel bat Kreina and D'vorah bat Feigel.
Check out our wonderful community, and get lots of info about becoming a Chaver and our various programs, at: https://bnaihayim.org/
Lunch and Learn meets Tuesdays at 12:30 PM on Zoom and Facebook Live. We’re continuing to read and discuss the Midrashic collection Ein Ya’akov. On March 8, we'll be at page 7 (my pagination) of Chapter 5 of Berakhot (32a) - "...וידבר ה׳ אל משה לך רד" - "And the Lord spoke unto Moses, Go, get thee down!...” The reading may be found at:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/18naYXIfd37WqagfJ5UfJoH84amqt2-tA/view?usp=sharing
Rabbi Van Leeuwen has a blog which you should read at:
https://rebjasonblog.wordpress.com/blog/
Dr. Steve Pearlman writes up the "Midrashim of the Week", which you can read here:
Rabbi Van Leeuwen has a blog which you should read at:
https://rebjasonblog.wordpress.com/blog/
Dr. Steve Pearlman writes up the "Midrashim of the Week", which you can read here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Kb2Gt3jkjrBchBp1TGsmjwStU6fE7kbQ/view
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משנכנס אדר, מרבין בשמחה Mishenichnas Adar, marbin b’simchah! – With the beginning of Adar, we increase joy! (BT Ta'anit 29a)
HERE'S A LITTLE PURIM TORAH CONTEST
As this is a Jewish Leap Year, it raises a question, and the person who gives me whatever I believe to be the best answer will be awarded one slightly used bottle of slivovitz (the decision of the judge and the amount of slivovitz remaining after he drinks from the bottle are in his sole discretion and are final): Since we are instructed by our rabbis to be joyful in Adar, and Adar is twice as long this year, does that mean that we will have twice as much joy in total this year than in non-leap years, or, does it mean that on any given day in the months of Adar, we are only half as joyful as we would have been in a non-leap year because our joy must be spread over twice as many days? There is no right or wrong answer! Be creative with proof texts!
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Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source
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SOME BEAN COUNTER!
משנכנס אדר, מרבין בשמחה Mishenichnas Adar, marbin b’simchah! – With the beginning of Adar, we increase joy! (BT Ta'anit 29a)
HERE'S A LITTLE PURIM TORAH CONTEST
As this is a Jewish Leap Year, it raises a question, and the person who gives me whatever I believe to be the best answer will be awarded one slightly used bottle of slivovitz (the decision of the judge and the amount of slivovitz remaining after he drinks from the bottle are in his sole discretion and are final): Since we are instructed by our rabbis to be joyful in Adar, and Adar is twice as long this year, does that mean that we will have twice as much joy in total this year than in non-leap years, or, does it mean that on any given day in the months of Adar, we are only half as joyful as we would have been in a non-leap year because our joy must be spread over twice as many days? There is no right or wrong answer! Be creative with proof texts!
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Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source
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SOME BEAN COUNTER!
“These are the accountings (pekudei) of the Tabernacle, the Tabernacle of Testimony, which was accounted for (pukad) at the behest of Moses ... “Exodus 38:21
I must confess that, all too often, the subtleties of Hebrew grammar are lost on me. The Hebrew root "pkd" gives rise to words which, in various constructions, mean “account”, “count”, “command(er)”, “deposit”, “official”, and “bureaucrat”, among others. Some are laudatory, some are derogatory. How exactly was it used in our verse?
One could read this verse to mean that Moses was acting merely as a functionary, a bureaucrat, a pencil pushing bean counter - you get the idea. Somehow, I do not believe that this is the way that Moses would have liked to be remembered. Because of the passive voice, it's not clear what his motivation was.
"Moses Beholds All the Work" - Marc Chagall, 1966
The midrash suggests that Moses ordered the accounting because he did not want anybody to accuse him of stealing. This sort of self-protective mentality is laudable, in one respect, because it shows that Moses had nothing to hide. Everything that had been collected for the Tabernacle had actually been used in its construction. On the other hand, it is a bit unseemly, showing that he perhaps did not believe the people trusted him. Why should Moses have feared the Children of Israel? After all, they believed so strongly in him, that when he did not reappear after climbing Mount Sinai , they assumed that God had abandoned them!
A third possible way to look at this is that Moses ordered the accounting because he believed that the people had a right to know. He wasn't a drudge and he wasn't afraid. Rather, he was shedding light where there was potential for darkness; he was an early advocate for transparency. Note also that God did not command Moses to do this.
Lost in all this, and in our attitudes towards bureaucrats, is that ultimately, Moses' motivation is irrelevant. The bottom line is that the people were reassured. He was a good public servant. That is all that we can hope to expect from anybody that works on behalf of the community. And a job well done is something you can take to the bank!
Shabbat Shalom!
Grand Rabbi Abba Reuven ben Menachem Mendel Flom, Sh’lita
Der Heiliger Shlabodkieville Rebbe
Av Beis Din - Chelm
Av Beis Din - Chelm
משנכנס אדר, מרבין בשמחה Mishenichnas Adar, marbin b’simchah!
With the beginning of Adar, we increase joy! (BT Ta'anit 29a)
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