Vayakhel
Exodus 35:1–38:20
I Kings 7:40–7:50
In the convocation of the Israelites upon his return from Sinai, Moses, whose face is now shining from his proximity to the Divine Presence, brings two very oddly juxtaposed requirements: to keep a day of rest on Shabbat, and to collect and create a beautiful tabernacle for the Divine Presence.
Neither of these is surprising in itself, but he has just received a revised set of commandments (remember that the first ones were broken as a result of the incident with the Golden Calf), and the Sabbath is included in both the old and the new, but without the harshness of this version.
While on the mountain, Moses received the following, much in line with the first version in the spoken commandments: “Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall cease from labor; you shall cease from labor even at plowing time and harvest time.”
Now that he has returned, he is more stringent: “These are the things that the Lord has commanded you to do: On six days work may be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a Sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Lord; whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. You shall kindle no fire throughout your settlements on the Sabbath day.”
Put to death? Is this Moses’ riff on the Sabbath? Or a transmission that we do not get from the text before? We do know that someone collecting sticks on Shabbat was given this ultimate penalty.
Of course, we can say that this is a fence, a way of assuring that the Sabbath will be kept. I’d like to suggest we continue in the parshah, and that perhaps the surprising harshness is mitigated by the next request.
Now Moses asks for gifts: “[E]veryone whose heart so moves him shall bring them — gifts for the Lord: gold, silver and copper; blue, purple and crimson yarns, fine linen, and goats’ hair; seven 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 breast piece. And let all among you who are skilled come and make all that the Lord has commanded: the Tabernacle, etc.”
So all those whose spirit moved them came, “all who would make an elevation offering of gold to the Lord.”
This is in parallel, perhaps, to the other offering of earrings and gold that created the Golden Calf. From this openness of spirit, and generosity, a new sort of relationship is formed, one of invitation and desire. The fear and uncertainty that led to the creation of the calf is replaced with knowledge that through the critical moment of the passing over of Moses by the Divine Presence, forgiveness is possible.
God has been waiting for this moment: through the flawed relationships with Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah, and the generations leading up to the choice of Abraham and Sarah; through the development of bonds with this one specific family; through the purgatory and awfulness of slavery, the glimmer of the day of giving, the day of receiving at Sinai held a flame of hope for the creation of the perfect society.
All the laws and commandments were in place to help the people, now prepared with the glory of the crossing of the sea, to create a harmonic, holy society.
The one missing ingredient is that of mercy. It is clear that the people will make mistakes, even with the commandments immediately in front of them.
Once they see that the commandments are there to guide them, and that they can transgress and return, then they are free both to accept the severity of the import of rest and Shabbat, as well as to come before God with free will and offering, joy and willingness to create God’s sanctuary in their midst.
The All-Powerful is also All-Loving. And in that knowledge, they, and we, are able to move into the future, to create a better life for themselves and their children.
Rabbi Elisheva Salamo is the spiritual leader of Keddem Congregation in Palo Alto.