B"H

Monday, 27 Adar 1, 5776 / March 7, 2016 – HAKHEL YEAR

This week’s Parsha, Pekudei, which concludes the second Book of the Torah, the Book of Exodus, is a detailed summary of all the articles which went into the construction of the Tabernacle (Mishkan).

The Parsha begins, “These are the accounts of the Tabernacle, the Tabernacle of Testimony which were counted at Moshe’s command...”

In the Parsha, Moshe gives an exact account of the weight of all the gold; the weight of all the silver and copper which was collected from the people for the construction of the Mishkan.  It also describes the articles which were made from each of these items.

When everything was ready, all the articles were brought to Moshe. When Moshe saw all that the craftsmen and women completed, he was very pleased and blessed them that G-d’s presence should rest in the works of their hands.

Then G-d told Moshe to put up the Mishkan.  G-d gave Moshe the special mitzvah of assembling and erecting the Mishkan.  Although the Mishkan was very heavy and it was impossible for one person to lift and assemble,  a miracle occurred and Moshe put it together all by himself.

Q.  G-d didn’t ask Moshe to give an accounting of all the articles. In fact, the Torah tells us that G-d attests about Moshe, “In all My house he is trustworthy.” So, why did Moshe give an accounting? 

A. The Torah commentator “Ohr Hachayim” says, “No one asked Moshe for an accounting. But Moshe himself wanted to have an exact accounting, because our sages say, “One should always come clean before G-d and before people.”

The Code of Jewish law says, “Even though charity collectors whom we know to be honest do not have to be scrutinized, yet, it is a good idea that collectors for charity and those who distribute charity funds should come clean and give an accounting of all their activities.”

Q.   Why does the Torah write the word Tabernacle twice; “These are the accounts of the Tabernacle, the Tabernacle of Testimony.”  It should have said Tabernacle only once, “These are the accounts of the Tabernacle of Testimony”?   

A.   In this Parsha, when the Torah tells us about the completion of the Tabernacle in the desert, the Torah also hints to the two Holy Temples, which were built in Jerusalem many years later.  Thus, the Torah writes “Mishkan” (Tabernacle) twice to allude to the Two Temples which were built in Jerusalem.         

The numerical value of the word Mishkan (Tabernacle) is 410 which is the number of years the First Temple stood in Jerusalem.  

HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY