Sacred Time and Space
This is a week for recovery, after reading about the egregious sin we committed when worshipping, dancing, and cavorting around the Golden Calf last week1. Commentators say that about 3,000 people were involved while the rest were also responsible because they said nothing.2
A community can either rise up to its great calling, or sink to levels not imaginable just a few hours3, if not days before. How can people living together be inspired to elevate themselves to the highest possible level?
In this Torah portion, Vayakhel, which actually is a form of the word meaning community4 provides us with two conceptions for creating connections between each other and the All-One5, and each is a response to a created time / space reality. The very first verse of this portion has much to teach us.
וַיַּקְהֵ֣ל מֹשֶׁ֗ה אֶֽת־כׇּל־עֲדַ֛ת בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֲלֵהֶ֑ם אֵ֚לֶּה הַדְּבָרִ֔ים אֲשֶׁר־צִוָּ֥ה יְהֹוָ֖ה לַעֲשֹׂ֥ת אֹתָֽם׃
Moses then convoked the whole Israelite community and said to them: These are the things that יהוה has commanded you to do:
The community that Moses convenes is already connected. The word Eidat (root word Ayin-D /Ayin-Dalet / עד) implies a group who has some similarities within the larger whole of B’nai Yisrael. The root word itself means ‘witness’, as in people sharing a point of view, and the letter Ayin means ‘eye’ or ‘to see’6.
So, the text tells us that although there are distinct tribal groups, there is a joining together for a common purpose. What makes this even more beautiful, and provides a structure for how a community is supposed to function, is that although there are Eidot, and a Kahal (community) the directive is for each person is to give their own special gift. Each person has a value. In some cases, every person is to give the exact same donation (a half-shekel) for the construction of the portable sanctuary / mishkan, but regarding voluntary donations, each person makes the choice to give what is appropriate for them. There is an inherent harmonizing foundation in these instructions, as they work to build up the individual, the tribe, and the community.
But what is the purpose? The Torah tells us that the common purpose is commanded by the One, and includes observance of Shabbat and the building of the portable sanctuary, the mishkan. This is nothing less than the transformation of both time and space. We sanctify time and create a space for connection to a higher realm.
The very next verse expands on the idea of Shabbat:
שֵׁ֣שֶׁת יָמִים֮ תֵּעָשֶׂ֣ה מְלָאכָה֒ וּבַיּ֣וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֗י יִהְיֶ֨ה לָכֶ֥ם קֹ֛דֶשׁ שַׁבַּ֥ת שַׁבָּת֖וֹן לַיהֹוָ֑ה כׇּל־הָעֹשֶׂ֥ה ב֛וֹ מְלָאכָ֖ה יוּמָֽת׃
On six days work may be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a sabbath of complete rest, holy to יהוה; whoever does any work on it shall be put to death.
The word for work in this verse is the Hebrew is melakhah / מְלָאכָה֒ , but there is a deeper meaning. This word connects us back to Hashem. The first time we see this word is in Genesis, when Hashem creates the world and then ceases his ‘work’, his melakhah. We can grasp a trace of the Holy One when we too, cease our melakhah, reveling in what has been accomplished the week before. We are to live in the space of perfection, of completion.
What does it mean to be in that space? It means that on this day, we give up our pretense of mastery over things. We enjoy all of creation without the need to create anything else.
It is interesting then, that the letters for the word for melakhah is exactly the word for ‘angel’ or messenger. An angel is empowered only to accomplish something—-to do a mission, a task.
What becomes holy is recognizing the distinctiveness of Shabbat. The idea of the holy only becomes apparent when we separate it from the mundane. And we are to experience that sensation together. If one chooses a different path, it becomes a kind of death to your soul. You are depriving your very inner being of being at one with the larger whole, the All-One.
In the Torah portion Ki Tisa.
This is of course, much more complicated, since Aaron himself appeased them by agreeing to its construction. The point though, is that when living in community, there is an implicit shared responsibility.
Commentators also note that Moses was about six hours ‘late’, although some say that the whole night / day thing was a miscalculation on the part of the Israelites.
The words vayakhel and kehillah for example, are derivative of the Hebrew root word K-H-L (Kuf, Hei, Lamed) meaning community or gathering.
My previous posts explain why I do not prefer to use the term God.
There are many more spiritual meanings, but for here, it’s practical to just focus on these meanings.