PEKUDEI. Welcome to the Aleph Beta Study Guide to Parshat Pekudei!

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1 PEKUDEI Welcome to the Aleph Beta Study Guide to Parshat Pekudei! All About that Mishkan If you ve been paying attention to the parshas that we ve been reading for the past four weeks, you probably noticed that there s been some similarity between them. It s been Mishkan, Mishkan and more Mishkan. But that s a little bit of an exaggeration, because there s actually been one major interruption in that flow. The interruption is none other than the ordeal of the golden calf. Parshat Ki Tisa begins with Mishkan, but it quickly transitions into the story of Israel s greatest sin ever recorded. And the question is: Why? Why would the Torah start out talking about the Mishkan, interrupt itself with this whole other story, and then return to the Mishkan, as if nothing happened, three chapters later? Wasn t there an editor to organize this thing? A Remedy for Disorder Whenever there s seeming disorder in the text of the Bible, it s wise to consider that there may be an intentional order at play - we re just not seeing it. And in this case, that turns out to be right. There is a fascinating pattern here, lurking just beneath the surface of the words - and this pattern extends through the entire second half of the Book of Exodus, culminating in this parsha. It s epic -- and it has ramifications for how we understand the text. In this guide, we ll be unearthing it and seeking to understand its meaning. PONDER THIS In this guide, we re going to focus on one type of pattern in particular, the one which is featured in this parsha. But before we get there, let s get our minds into it with the following thought experiment: The Bible doesn t use bold font, italics or underlines. But that doesn t mean that it doesn t use its own clever devices to accomplish the same goal. Let s say that you were writing the Bible, and you wanted to point the reader to a specific idea - but you only had one size, one color, one font, and no footnotes. What could you do? Is there a way that you could structure the text? ALEPH BETA STUDY GUIDE ON PARSHAT PEKUDEI - PAGE 1

2 INSTRUCTIONS There are a lot of divrei Torah on the parsha. How is this different? At Aleph Beta, we believe that the Torah is a guidebook that answers life s biggest questions, offering profound insights about how we should live our lives. Moreover, we believe that Jewish tradition has always recognized the right of all readers, in every generation, to look at the text themselves and try to decide what they think it means. That means you. That s why you are the most important author of this quest through the sources. We think that this guide offers a fun, stimulating and relevant path through the sources, but if you get wrapped up in a stimulating discussion and never make it past page 2, we ll consider that a success! Is this guide for self-study or should I study it with others? Either works! You can gather a small group of friends to explore it together, share it with a chevruta (learning partner), or go through it by yourself. Do I need to prepare anything or can I just jump in? Just jump in! Even if you re planning to use this for a group discussion, just open up to page 1 and get going. (If you read it in advance, it will spoil the fun!) The only thing you should do in advance is print out copies of the Source Sheet for the other participants, so everyone can follow along and engage with the sources. About the Author Most of the material within although not the particular language contained in this guide - was first developed and taught by Rabbi David Fohrman, founder and CEO of Aleph Beta, and is presented in his video, Parshat Pekudei: A Giant Chiasm In Sefer Shmot (available for viewing at ). This guide was written by Yaakov Trump, Writer at Aleph Beta, edited by Rivky Stern and Beth Lesch, and arranged by Laura Schembre. A Bullseye in the Bible ELEMENT A ELEMENT B ELEMENT C CENTER ELEMENT C ELEMENT B ELEMENT A If you wanted to point the reader to a specific idea, there are a number of things that you could do -- and one of those things is called a chiasm. What is a chiasm? It s an A-B-A pattern, a pattern in which the first element mirrors the last element, the second element mirrors the second-to-last element, and so on. The pattern continues, building until its climax in the center. All of the matching pairs act to frame the center, directing your attention inward. It s the Bible s way of drawing a bullseye around a particular word, verse or section of text and saying: Look here! This admittedly all sounds a bit abstract -- so let s dive back into the text and see the chiasm for ourselves. The Basic Structure We started out by noticing a funny pattern in the second half of the Book of Exodus -- Mishkan, Golden Calf, and then Mishkan. It seemed odd, like a random interruption. But now that we know that we re looking for a chiasm, it makes perfect sense. It s an A-B-A pattern. We ve got something in the middle (the Golden Calf), bookended on either side by the same theme (the Mishkan). ALEPH BETA STUDY GUIDE ON PARSHAT PEKUDEI - PAGE 2

3 Interrupted Again That s the most basic structure of the chiasm - but there s much more to it than that. Because it turns out that we re oversimplifying things a bit. The Mishkan discussion does not lead straight into the story of the Golden Calf. There are seven verses in the middle - a mini interruption before the interruption of the Golden Calf. Here s an excerpt: Exodus 31:16 16 Thus shall the children of Israel observe the Sabbath, to make the Sabbath throughout their generations as an everlasting covenant. שמות לא:טז טז ו ש מ רו ב נ י-י ש ר א ל, א ת-ה ש ב ת, ל ע ש ו ת א ת-ה ש ב ת ל ד ר ת ם, ב ר ית עו ל ם. So there s this mini interruption as the Bible transitions from Mishkan to Golden Calf -- and as you might have expected, there s another mini interruption as the Bible transitions back to Mishkan. Take a look: Exodus 35:1-2 1 Moses called the whole community of the children of Israel to gather, and he said to them: These are the things that the Lord commanded to do. 2 Six days work may be done, but on the seventh day you shall have sanctity, a day of complete rest to the Lord... שמות לה:א ב א ו י ק ה ל מ ש ה, א ת-כ ל-ע ד ת ב נ י י ש ר א ל--ו י אמ ר א ל ה ם: א ל ה, ה ד ב ר ים, א ש ר-צ ו ה י קו ה, ל ע ש ת א ת ם. ב ש ש ת י מ ים, ת ע ש ה מ ל אכ ה, ו ב י ו ם ה ש ב יע י י ה י ה ל כ ם ק ד ש ש ב ת ש ב תו ן, ל יקו ה... It is only after these short verses about the Sabbath that we start to hear about the Mishkan again. So the episode of the Golden Calf is bookended on either side by what? The commandment to keep the Sabbath. That means that we really have three elements in this pattern. It s A-B-C-B-A. Zooming in on the Details So far we ve outlined the rough parameters of this chiasm - but if you look closely at each section, there are even more layers. This chiasm spans the entire second half of the Book of Exodus, and consists of over 200 parts! We don t have the space to explore them all in this guide, so we ll just zoom in on a few of the highlights. 1 Let s start by looking at the transition between Sabbath and the Golden Calf - because it turns out that there s a tiny layer hidden right there, on both sides. At the start of the Golden Calf ordeal, we re told the following: Exodus 32:1 1 When the people saw that Moses was late in coming down from the mountain, the people gathered against Aaron, and they said to him: Come on! Make us gods... שמות לב:א א ו י ר א ה ע ם, כ י-ב ש ש מ ש ה ל ר ד ת מ ן-ה ה ר; ו י ק ה ל ה ע ם ע ל-א ה ר ן, ו י אמ רו א ל יו קו ם ע ש ה-ל נו א ל ה ים... 1 If you re curious to see the entire chiasm, with all of its parts, check out Rabbi Fohrman s audio series, Shattered Tablets and the Calf of God, available online to Premium subscribers. ALEPH BETA STUDY GUIDE ON PARSHAT PEKUDEI - PAGE 3

4 According to the verse, the people gathered against Aaron. The Hebrew word for gathered is ו י ק ה ל. Now stop right there. How many times do you think this combination of letters, in this order, appears in the entire Book of Exodus? time. appears twice. This is the first ו י ק ה ל ויקהל PONDER THIS What is the second time that we find ו י ק ה ל in the Book of Exodus? Hint: We saw this verse earlier in the guide... If you guessed the beginning of Parshat Vayahkel, you re right: Exodus 35:1 שמות לה:א 1 Moses called the whole community of the children of Israel to gather, and he said to them: These are the things that the Lord commanded to do. א ו י ק ה ל מ ש ה, א ת-כ ל-ע ד ת ב נ י י ש ר א ל--ו י אמ ר א ל ה ם: א ל ה, ה ד ב ר ים, א ש ר-צ ו ה י קו ה, ל ע ש ת א ת ם. The vowels are slightly different, but the letters are exactly the same. And wouldn t you know it - it s at exactly the corresponding spot on the other side of the chiasm: the transition from the Golden Calf back to Sabbath. You can see the chiasm playing out beautifully in even the smallest details - and this is just one example of dozens. ויקהל ויקהל Asking the Big Question We can really see the chiasm starting to take shape now -- and it s all very well and interesting to discover a chiasm in the text, but that s only the beginning. The real question we have to ask is: Why? Why does the Bible tell the story in this way? You told me about the command to build the Mishkan, so now, tell me the story of its building - don t put it off for four chapters! You started to tell me about the importance of keeping the Sabbath, so finish telling me about its laws - why interrupt the discussion and then pick it up again, seemingly out of the blue? Sure, the chiasm looks cool - but the Bible could have avoided all of this intricacy and told its story in a far more intuitive way. So why didn t it? We mentioned earlier that one of the things a chiasm does is highlight the center. In fact, you often find that a chiasm centers on a verse or a topic which seemed really unimportant at first glance, and the whole point of the chiasm is to tell us: Whoa, don t overlook this; it s way more important than it seems! ALEPH BETA STUDY GUIDE ON PARSHAT PEKUDEI - PAGE 4

5 But that doesn t seem to be what s going on here. Because remember, the chiasm s center is none other than the Golden Calf -- and let s be honest, no one was overlooking the Golden Calf. We all know that it s important. It s the great sin of our people -- the sin that nearly leads to our destruction, the sin that damns us to forty years of wandering in the desert. So if the message of the chiasm is: The Golden Calf was a really big deal! -- well, that seems obvious, and unnecessary. Beyond the Center We all knew that the story of the Golden Calf was important - but I want to suggest that the entire second half of the Book of Exodus actually revolves around it. All of those chapters about the building of the Mishkan, the explanations of the laws of the Sabbath - in some sense, their center of gravity is the Golden Calf. By locating the Golden Calf at its center, this chiasm is telling us that the Golden Calf brought about a fundamental shift in reality. The Golden Calf changed everything - and therefore, we need to look at everything that happens after the Golden Calf and contrast it with everything that happens before. And when we do, we will see a story emerge, a story about the nature of the relationship between God and His people. Looking for Differences Let s start with the last part of the chiasm that we uncovered: the double,ויקהל just before and after the Golden Calf. It s plain to see what the verses have in common: they both share the same combination of letters. But in what ways are they different? How is the ויקהל after the Golden Calf different from the ויקהל before? LOOK INSIDE Contrast the two ויקהל verses. What are the differences between them? Try to find as many as you can. Hint: In each verse, ask yourself: Why are they gathering? How are the people feeling at this moment? Where is Moses? Exodus 32:1 1 When the people saw that Moses was late in coming down from the mountain, the people gathered against Aaron, and they said to him: Come on! Make us gods that will go before us, because this man Moses, who brought us up from the land of Egypt we don t know what has become of him. Exodus 35:1 1 Moses called the whole community of the children of Israel to gather, and he said to them: These are the things that the Lord commanded to do. שמות לב:א א ו י ר א ה ע ם, כ י-ב ש ש מ ש ה ל ר ד ת מ ן-ה ה ר; ו י ק ה ל ה ע ם ע ל-א ה ר ן, ו י אמ רו א ל יו קו ם ע ש ה-ל נו א ל ה ים א ש ר י ל כו ל פ נ ינו --כ י-ז ה מ ש ה ה א יש א ש ר ה ע ל נו מ א ר ץ מ צ ר י ם, ל א י ד ע נו מ ה-ה י ה לו לה:א א ו י ק ה ל מ ש ה, א ת-כ ל-ע ד ת ב נ י י ש ר א ל--ו י אמ ר א ל ה ם: א ל ה, ה ד ב ר ים, א ש ר-צ ו ה י קו ה, ל ע ש ת א ת ם. ALEPH BETA STUDY GUIDE ON PARSHAT PEKUDEI - PAGE 5

6 Here s my take on it: In the first,ויקהל Moses is on top of the mountain and the people are down below. The people start to worry that he s never going to return. They re scared; they feel abandoned, disconnected. So they gather against Aaron and demand a new god, a leader to go before them. And so begins the most egregious sin in the history of our people. This,ויקהל this gathering against, could not be more tragic. But what of the second?ויקהל It paints a very different picture. Moses is no longer missing in action. He has returned from the top of the mountain and stands there with his people, gathering them together in the wake of their sin. And what are they gathering to do? To hear God s commandment about His Sabbath: perhaps Israel s most important testament of loyalty to its creator. In gathering to hear him, the people are embracing Moses authority and, ultimately, God s higher authority. There s no doubt that the people are still spooked by what just happened -- by the sin of the Golden Calf and the subsequent killing of thousands of men who conspired in it -- but this is a moment of re-commitment, of taking a step back towards God and His law. This,ויקהל this gathering together, is nothing like the first. In other words, this chiasm tells a story of redemption, of return from the greatest of failures. The point isn t to highlight the devastation of the Golden Calf. It s exactly the opposite: to highlight the repair. A Tale of Two Clouds It turns out that there s much more to this story of redemption. Let s try our hand at contrasting another pair of parallel elements. In fact, it s a part of the chiasm that we haven t even uncovered yet. Right now we ve traced the chiasm as far as the Mishkan - but the question you can always ask about a chiasm is: How far does it go? What are its outer edges? It turns out that this one goes even farther than we thought. Let s start by looking after the first Mishkan description. That brings us to the end of Chapter 40, when the work of building the Mishkan was finally complete: Exodus 40:34-35 שמות מ:לד לה 34 And the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the Mishkan. 35 Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud rested upon it and the glory of the Lord filled the Mishkan. לד ו י כ ס ה ע נ ן, א ת-א ה ל מו ע ד; ו כ בו ד י קו ה, מ ל א א ת-ה מ ש כ ן. לה ו ל א-י כ ל מ ש ה, ל בו א א ל-א ה ל מו ע ד--כ י-ש כ ן ע ל יו, ה ע נ ן; ו כ בו ד י קו ה, מ ל א א ת-ה מ ש כ ן. PONDER THIS Was there another time in the Bible, before the building of the Mishkan, when a cloud of God s presence came to rest on something? ALEPH BETA STUDY GUIDE ON PARSHAT PEKUDEI - PAGE 6

7 Indeed, we find very similar language when the Bible describes God s presence coming to rest on top of Mount Sinai, just before giving the Law to Moses. And wouldn t you know it? It s at exactly the corresponding spot on the other side of the chiasm: at the end of Chapter 24, just before the first Mishkan description. Moses has just gone up to Mount Sinai to receive the tablets from God: Exodus 24: And Moses went up to the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 16 And the glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days...18 And Moses came within the cloud, and he went up to the mountain, and Moses was upon the mountain forty days and forty nights. שמות כד:טו יח טו ו י ע ל מ ש ה, א ל-ה ה ר; ו י כ ס ה ע נ ן, א ת - ה ה ר. טז ו י ש כ ן כ בו ד-י קו ה ע ל-ה ר ס ינ י, ו י כ ס הו ה ע נ ן ש ש ת י מ ים יח ו י ב א מ ש ה ב תו ך ה ע נ ן, ו י ע ל א ל-ה ה ר; ו י ה י מ ש ה, ב ה ר, א ר ב ע ים יו ם, ו א ר ב ע ים ל י ל ה. Cloud (ch. 24) Cloud (ch. 40) Isn t that fascinating! At the two ends of the chiasm, we have two different stories about the cloud of God s presence. In one case, God s presence is resting on Mount Sinai. In the other case, God s presence resting is inside the Tabernacle. It s two totally different stories - but the connection is hard to ignore. LOOK INSIDE We ve seen the common thread in these stories; now let s look at the differences. Look back at the two cloud quotes. If you re Moses, what s the difference between these two clouds? Hint: Take a look at verse 40:35 and 24:18. If you re Moses, you relate to these two clouds in very different ways. Because the cloud that rested upon Mount Sinai: miraculously, you actually went within it. You dwelled there for forty days and forty nights. But your experience with the cloud over the Mishkan was altogether different. You tried to enter it -- but you found that you couldn t. PONDER THIS Moses was able to enter the cloud at the top of Mount Sinai, but he couldn t enter the cloud in the Mishkan. Why do you think that was so? ALEPH BETA STUDY GUIDE ON PARSHAT PEKUDEI - PAGE 7

8 Here s how I see it: The text is going out of its way to compare the Sinai experience to the Mishkan experience. And it seems to be saying that however much God was present at Mount Sinai, it was just a drop in the ocean of intensity of God s presence in the Mishkan - such that not even Moses could enter. This represents a stunning victory for the Israelite people. In the wake of the Golden Calf, in the center of our chiasm, God had said: Exodus 33:5 ר ג ע א ח ד א ע ל ה ב ק ר ב ך, ו כ ל ית יך If I go up into your midst for one moment, I will destroy you Such was the violence of God s anger, after the people s sin, that He dared not enter their midst. But bit by bit, Israel had built back their relationship with God - climaxing in this crowning moment when God would actually come back and dwell in their presence. This time, God isn t dwelling at the top of a mountain, but inside the Mishkan, a manmade structure. Yes, God gave the instructions for the Mishkan, but it was built by people -- a people who had just committed the greatest sin imaginable! And yet it becomes a resting place for God s presence in an encounter of such intensity that it dwarfed the Sinai experience itself. It s a powerful repair after the rupture of the Golden Calf. 2 When we first looked at the second half of the Book of Exodus, we found the story of the Golden Calf interrupting the details of the Mishkan - and we wondered why that should be so. Now we can see why. This chiasm, which we ve only been able to see the outlines of, tells a stunning story. Yes, it s a story of how the children of Israel descended to their greatest sin -- but it doesn t stop there. It s a story about how they recovered. It s about the transformation in the relationship between God and His people, about this new reality in which he comes to dwell in the house that they made for Him. It s not about the devastation, it s about the redemption, the harnessing of an even more potent intimacy than ever before. The people returned to God - and He returned to their midst. Love the guide? Then SHARE and SUPPORT! Think of friends and family who will love it as much as you did - and share it with them! And when you do, please remember to support Aleph Beta. Nothing makes us happier than bringing eye-opening, soul-heartening, life-changing Torah directly to you but it all costs money. Like the cost of the writing, editing, design and circulation of the guide that you re reading. So until we win the lottery, we need your support. Encourage your friends to subscribe to Aleph Beta, so they can get the guides sent directly to them! Or if you shared it with a friend and it was an awesome experience for both of you, consider making a small donation to show your love. Thanks for understanding - we love you guys, too. 2 There is another piece of evidence which testifies powerfully to this point. In both passages - God at Mount Sinai and God in the Mishkan - we find fire. At Sinai, it was described as a devouring fire at the top of the mountain (Ex. 24:17). It was intimidating, and the entire people stood back at a distance, in awe, and gazed at it. At the Mishkan, there is fire again - but it s a different kind of fire. It s a fire which illuminates the night for the people, providing guidance, comfort, light (Ex. 40:38). No longer intimidating, it s gentle and benevolent. It s yet another sign that in this post-sin world, the distance between God and His people is shrinking, and a sort of intimacy has taken its place. ALEPH BETA STUDY GUIDE ON PARSHAT PEKUDEI - PAGE 8

9 Source Sheet Exodus 24:15-18 שמות כד:טו יח 15 And Moses went up to the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 16 And the glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days...18 And Moses came within the cloud, and he went up to the mountain, and Moses was upon the mountain forty days and forty nights. טו ו י ע ל מ ש ה, א ל-ה ה ר; ו י כ ס ה ע נ ן, א ת - ה ה ר. טז ו י ש כ ן כ בו ד-י קו ה ע ל-ה ר ס ינ י, ו י כ ס הו ה ע נ ן ש ש ת י מ ים יח ו י ב א מ ש ה ב תו ך ה ע נ ן, ו י ע ל א ל-ה ה ר; ו י ה י מ ש ה, ב ה ר, א ר ב ע ים יו ם, ו א ר ב ע ים ל י ל ה. Exodus 31:16 שמות לא:טז 16 Thus shall the children of Israel observe the Sabbath, to make the Sabbath throughout their generations as an everlasting covenant. טז ו ש מ רו ב נ י-י ש ר א ל, א ת-ה ש ב ת, ל ע ש ו ת א ת-ה ש ב ת ל ד ר ת ם, ב ר ית עו ל ם. Exodus 32:1 שמות לב:א 1 When the people saw that Moses was late in coming down from the mountain, the people gathered against Aaron, and they said to him: Come on! Make us gods that will go before us, because this man Moses, who brought us up from the land of Egypt we don t know what has become of him. א ו י ר א ה ע ם, כ י-ב ש ש מ ש ה ל ר ד ת מ ן-ה ה ר; ו י ק ה ל ה ע ם ע ל-א ה ר ן, ו י אמ רו א ל יו קו ם ע ש ה-ל נו א ל ה ים א ש ר י ל כו ל פ נ ינו --כ י-ז ה מ ש ה ה א יש א ש ר ה ע ל נו מ א ר ץ מ צ ר י ם, ל א י ד ע נו מ ה-ה י ה לו... Exodus 35:1 3 שמות לה:א ב 1 Moses called the whole community of the children of Israel to gather, and he said to them: These are the things that the Lord commanded to do. 2 Six days work may be done, but on the seventh day you shall have sanctity, a day of complete rest to the Lord... Exodus 40:34-35 א ו י ק ה ל מ ש ה, א ת-כ ל-ע ד ת ב נ י י ש ר א ל--ו י אמ ר א ל ה ם: א ל ה, ה ד ב ר ים, א ש ר-צ ו ה י קו ה, ל ע ש ת א ת ם. ב ש ש ת י מ ים, ת ע ש ה מ ל אכ ה, ו ב י ו ם ה ש ב יע י י ה י ה ל כ ם ק ד ש ש ב ת ש ב תו ן, ל יקו ה... שמות מ:לד לה 34 And the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the Mishkan. 35 Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud rested upon it and the glory of the Lord filled the Mishkan. לד ו י כ ס ה ע נ ן, א ת-א ה ל מו ע ד; ו כ בו ד י קו ה, מ ל א א ת-ה מ ש כ ן. לה ו ל א-י כ ל מ ש ה, ל בו א א ל-א ה ל מו ע ד--כ י-ש כ ן ע ל יו, ה ע נ ן; ו כ בו ד י קו ה, מ ל א א ת-ה מ ש כ ן. ALEPH BETA STUDY GUIDE ON PARSHAT PEKUDEI - PAGE 9