One love, one heart
Let's get together and I'll feel alright
- Bob Marley
Let's get together and I'll feel alright
- Bob Marley
(לב) וַתֵּ֕כֶל כׇּל־עֲבֹדַ֕ת מִשְׁכַּ֖ן אֹ֣הֶל מוֹעֵ֑ד וַֽיַּעֲשׂוּ֙ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל כְּ֠כֹ֠ל אֲשֶׁ֨ר צִוָּ֧ה יְהֹוָ֛ה אֶת־מֹשֶׁ֖ה כֵּ֥ן עָשֽׂוּ׃ {פ}
Thus was completed all the work of the Tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting. The Israelites did so; just as the Eternal had commanded Moses, so they did.
(א) ותכל. ויעשו בני ישראל. הפעולה כולה על שלימותה נעשתה על ידי כל ישראל, כי קצתם התנדבו ממון וקצתם עשו המלאכה בנדבת לבם לעשות רצון קונם: (ב) כן עשו. לא פחות ולא יותר:
"Thus was completed" - the work in its totality was attributed to all the people of Israel seeing that each one of them had a direct or indirect share in it, whether by contributing material, labor, or skill.
(מב) כְּכֹ֛ל אֲשֶׁר־צִוָּ֥ה יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶת־מֹשֶׁ֑ה כֵּ֤ן עָשׂוּ֙ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל אֵ֖ת כׇּל־הָעֲבֹדָֽה׃ (מג) וַיַּ֨רְא מֹשֶׁ֜ה אֶת־כׇּל־הַמְּלָאכָ֗ה וְהִנֵּה֙ עָשׂ֣וּ אֹתָ֔הּ כַּאֲשֶׁ֛ר צִוָּ֥ה יְהֹוָ֖ה כֵּ֣ן עָשׂ֑וּ וַיְבָ֥רֶךְ אֹתָ֖ם מֹשֶֽׁה׃ {פ}
Just as the Eternal had commanded Moses, so the Israelites had done all the work. And when Moses saw that they had performed all the tasks - as the Eternal had commanded, so they had done - Moses blessed them.
Carol Towarnicky
The same is true as we work to build a holy global community. We may not be able to do the intense physical labor required to build community centers in Honduras or Uganda, but we are able to contribute funds to those who can. We may not be able to provide medical care to refugees from Darfur, but we can commit to keeping the crisis at the forefront of our thoughts and actions. We may not be able to stop the AIDS pandemic, but we can advocate for better legislation to meet the needs of those suffering from the disease.
The mishkan was completed a year following the exodus from Egypt, leaving 39 more years in the desert. The Israelites did not wake up the morning following its completion with nothing left to do. For them, and for us, the task of making the universe a worthy dwelling place for God continues, requiring us to repair and renovate the many situations that are broken.
The same is true as we work to build a holy global community. We may not be able to do the intense physical labor required to build community centers in Honduras or Uganda, but we are able to contribute funds to those who can. We may not be able to provide medical care to refugees from Darfur, but we can commit to keeping the crisis at the forefront of our thoughts and actions. We may not be able to stop the AIDS pandemic, but we can advocate for better legislation to meet the needs of those suffering from the disease.
The mishkan was completed a year following the exodus from Egypt, leaving 39 more years in the desert. The Israelites did not wake up the morning following its completion with nothing left to do. For them, and for us, the task of making the universe a worthy dwelling place for God continues, requiring us to repair and renovate the many situations that are broken.
Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks
The building of the Tabernacle was the first great project the Israelites undertook together. [...]When a central power – even when this is God – does everything on behalf of the people, they remain in a state of arrested development. They complain instead of acting. They give way easily to despair. When the leader, in this case Moses, is missing, they do foolish things, none more so than making a golden calf.
There is only one solution: to make the people co-architects of their own destiny, to get them to build something together, to shape them into a team and show them that they are not helpless, that they are responsible and capable of collaborative action. Genesis begins with God creating the universe as a home for human beings. Exodus ends with human beings creating the Mishkan, as a ‘home’ for God.
Hence the basic principle of Judaism, that we are called on to become co-creators with God. And hence too the corollary: that leaders do not do the work on behalf of the people. They teach people how to do the work themselves. It is not what God does for us but what we do for God that allows us to reach dignity and responsibility.
The building of the Tabernacle was the first great project the Israelites undertook together. [...]When a central power – even when this is God – does everything on behalf of the people, they remain in a state of arrested development. They complain instead of acting. They give way easily to despair. When the leader, in this case Moses, is missing, they do foolish things, none more so than making a golden calf.
There is only one solution: to make the people co-architects of their own destiny, to get them to build something together, to shape them into a team and show them that they are not helpless, that they are responsible and capable of collaborative action. Genesis begins with God creating the universe as a home for human beings. Exodus ends with human beings creating the Mishkan, as a ‘home’ for God.
Hence the basic principle of Judaism, that we are called on to become co-creators with God. And hence too the corollary: that leaders do not do the work on behalf of the people. They teach people how to do the work themselves. It is not what God does for us but what we do for God that allows us to reach dignity and responsibility.