Torah Posting: ויקהל
Now that Mosheh has received the revised download of the Law, it’s time to teach it to the whole community.
The first thing he mentions is Shabbat, adding a specific emphasis that the people are not to kindle any fire throughout their settlements on Shabbat. This one turns out to be very important throughout the ages; the rabbis eventually interpret the turning on and off of electrical appliances to be in violation of this commandment.
Then Mosheh details the offerings of materials for building all the components of the Mishkan, which we have already covered exhaustively, but this parashah gives a nice, tight recap of all the little pieces.
It seems these two sections suffice as a summary for what Mosheh relates to the people here, because now they go off and begin communally building the Mishkan, offering up their jewelry, clothing, fabrics and wood, and the skilled among them begin spinning the fibers. The two craftsmen who were singled out by God to lead the project, Betzalel and Oholiav, are given their assignment.
Eventually, the artisans start coming to Mosheh to inform him that the people are bringing more offerings than the project even needs, and Mosheh has to command them to stop, a nice moment of inspiring piety that maybe makes up for the golden calf incident a little bit.
The rest of this parashah consists entirely of building the Mishkan step by step. There’s not much to comment on that wasn’t already covered when the requirements were given. But I urge you to read the whole thing and just see it see it all come together in your mind as you go. This is the difference between relating to this kind of Torah portion as a boring list and relating to it as a sacred text. Having it all laid out for us like this lets us participate in the construction of the dwelling place of God.
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