PEKUDEI, EXODUS 38:21 - 40:38, SHABBAT HACHODESH

 PEKUDEI, EXODUS 38:21 - 40:38, SHABBAT HACHODESH

----------------------------------------

Pekudei (“Accountings Of”) is the final Torah reading in the Book of Exodus. It describes the making of priestly garments worn in the Mishkan (Tabernacle) and the completion of its construction. At Hashem's command, Moses erects the Mishkan and puts its vessels in place, and the Divine Presence fills the Mishkan.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Tabernacle in the Wilderness (illustration from the 1890 Holman Bible)

On this Shabbat we conclude the reading of Sefer Shemot with the concluding Parsha, Pekudei. 

There is a 19^th century saying attributed to Lord Acton that goes as follows: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men..."

It would seem what is very much true now, was also true in the time of Moshe Rabbeinu.   Moshe, our greatest leader, gives an accounting before the people of the gifts and donations brought by B’nei Yisrael in conjunction with the construction of the Mishkan.  For Moshe there is complete transparency. 

By comparison, for Solomon there is enough information to condemn him for his travesty.

Psalm 24:3-4: “Who shall ascend into the mountain of the LORD? and who shall stand in His holy place?  He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart;  who hath not taken My name in vain, and hath not sworn deceitfully.”

This week’s parsha concludes with the Mishkan being completed. All its

components are brought to Moses, who erects it and anoints it with the holy anointing oil.  Moses initiates Aaron and his four sons into the priesthood. A cloud appears over the Mishkan, signifying the Divine Presence, the Shekinah, has come to dwell within it.  

May it continue to do so.

------------------------------------------

At the conclusion pf Parshat Pekudei in Chapter 40 there are some very significant things going on:

The Mishkan has been completed and is ready to accommodate the Divine Presence. Although the Divine Presence is beyond our capacity to understand its meaning, It is a manifestation of Hashem in the form of a cloud that has chosen to dwell in the Mishkan.

34 - And the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the Mishkan.

38 - For the cloud of the Lord was upon the Mishkan by day, and there was fire within it at night, before the eyes of the entire house of Israel in all their journeys.

There has been a downside in having Hashem being so close by. On one hand He has been our ultimate protection on all of our Journeys, but on the other hand, He knows when we have strayed from His path and the course corrections have not been pleasant.

Today the Land of Israel takes the place of the Mishkan. The Divine Presence is manifest. It has been made clear to us to our enemies what Jews must do in order to protect the Land from their evil intent. And so we do.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

https://www.rabbiwein.com/blog/post-2556.html

 In his essay, Rabbi Wein sets out the template for all further Jewish history. There are always ups and downs, plus and minuses in the national behavior of the Jewish people. The book of Shemot ends on a triumphant note – the spirit of God, so to speak, invests and dwells within the Jewish people, and the Mishkan/Tabernacle that they so lovingly built –promising an eternal relationship.

-------------------------------------------------------

We conclude our reading of the Book of Exodus with:

חזק חזק ונתחזק

Be strong; Be strong, and let us strengthen one another.

Chazak Chazak Ve-Nit’Chazek 

-----------------------------------------------------------

The haftarah for the parashah when there is no special Sabbath is: for Sephardi Jews: 1 Kings 7:40–50 and for Ashkenazi Jews: 1 Kings 7:51–8:21

Both the parashah and the haftarah report the leader's construction of the holy place—Moses' setting up the Tabernacle, and Solomon's building of the Temple in Jerusalem. Both the parashah and the haftarah report that the builders finished the work: 

"Moses finished the work" וַיְכַל מֹשֶׁה, אֶת-הַמְּלָא in Exodus 40:33, 

 "so Hiram made an end of doing all the work" וַיְכַל חִירָם, לַעֲשׂוֹת אֶת-כָּל-הַמְּלָאכָה‎,  in 1 Kings 7:40.

We all know about Moshe Rabbeinu. Hashem tells him to build the Mishkan.

Hiram is from the Tribe of Naftali and lives in Tyre. King Solomon entrusts him to fabricate the vessels in the Temple.

There is no comparison.

----------------------------------------------------

This Shabbos is Shabbat Hachodesh. The Haftarah reading is from Ezekiel 45:18-25, 46:1-15; and 1Samuel 20:18, 20:42.

It concludes with Jonathan saying to David:

יְהֹוָ֞ה יִֽהְיֶ֣ה | בֵּינִ֣י וּבֵינֶ֗ךָ וּבֵ֥ין זַרְעִ֛י וּבֵ֥ין זַרְעֲךָ֖ עַד־עוֹלָֽם

Hashem shall be between me and you, and between my seed and your seed, forever.' 

----------------------------------------------------------------

Shabbat HaChodesh

Shabbat HaChodesh שבת החודש takes place on the Shabbat preceding the first of the Hebrew month of Nisan (or on the 1st of Nisan itself if it falls on Shabbat), during which Passover is celebrated. A special maftir, Exodus 12:1-20 (from Parashah Bo) is read, in which the laws of Passover are defined. On the first day of Nisan, God presented the first commandment of how to "sanctify the new moon" (Kiddush Hachodesh) for the onset of Rosh Chodesh and thus Nisan becomes the first month of the Jewish year (counting by months).