Vayakhel

Exodus 35:4 – 9

Moses said to the entire assembly of the Children of Israel, saying: “This is the word that God has commanded, saying: ‘Take from yourselves a portion for God, everyone whose heart motivates him shall bring it, as the gift for God: gold, silver, copper, turquoise, purple and scarlet wool; linen, goat hair, red dyed ram skins, tachash skins, acacia wood; oil for illumination, spices for the anointment oil, and the aromatic incense; shoham stones and stones for the settings, for the Ephod and the Breastplate.

We know that the construction of the Mishkan, donating for it, etc. was all part of an opportunity to atone for having made the golden calf. At that time, Israel had destroyed the unity of God by donating one element, i.e. gold. Now they would restore God’s unity by tonating 13 different materials, equaling the numerical value of the letters in the word, “Echad,” One,” i.e. numerical value of 13 (aleph – 1, chet – 8, daled – 4)…The gifts had to equal and surpass those made for the golden calf if they were to impress God with the donor’s sincerity. They had to consist of things which would make future aberrations such as the golden calf unlikely. They had to be offered in a way that did not constitute “a good deed which was based on (the result of the advantage gained) by an earlier sin.

Moshe Alshich

But the most significant element in this experience which preceded the construction of the first Sanctuary is as follows: The nation had committed the most serious crime in its history thus far, and yet it had been able to regain the greatest demonstration of Divine favor without having a temple and without making any offerings. If any more proof were needed that a temple and offerings in themselves do not secure God’s favor but are intended only as guides to show how God’s favor can be won, then such proof if most cogently offered by this experience, which preceded the construction of the first Sanctuary and which has become so inextricably woven into Israel’s history.

Samson Raphael Hirsch

To enhance our power in the world of space is our main objective. Yet to have more does not mean to be more. We must not forget that it is not a thing that lends significance to a moment, it is the moment that lends significance to things…The mythical mind would expect that after heaven and earth have been established, God would create a holy place – a holy mountain or a holy spring – whereupon a sanctuary is to be established…Yet is seems as if to the Bible it is holiness in time, the Shabbat, which come first…It was only after the people had succumbed to the temptation of worshipping a thing, a golden calf, that erection of a Tabernacle, of holiness in space, was commanded.

Abraham Joshua Heschel

The Midrash throws into relief the greatness of Israel. If they fell, they rose again. They made amends with the very same thing with which they had sinned. It was their “gold earrings” that gilded the calf and again their “earrings and every kind of gold ornaments: that they contributed to the Tabernacle. What is more; gold alone was given to the calf, but gold and a willing heart was given to the Tabernacle. The giving of the heart was essential.

Nechama Leibowitz

The biblical writers reflected the belief that between the transcendent God who created the world and the human beings who lived in that world there would always remain a separation. It was the task of human beings to draw themselves closer to God through fulfillment of them oral and ritual obligations of the torah. Those acts that through disregard of the commandments increased the distance between God and human beings were considered sinful.

Thus we can better understand the meaning of the word for offerings, korbanot, which derives from the Hebrew root meaning “draw close, approach.” The offerings of the ancient Mishkan system were indeed korbanot – their purpose was to draw human beings closer to God.

Richard Hirsch

We don’t have to go very far into this week’s portion to realize that the words sound familiar. As we continue it becomes apparent that virtually all of the Vayakel repeats the instructions of Truma and Tetzaveh. We are to hear again about the ritual objects and furnishing of the Sanctuary…There are so many repetitions…why?...Theoritacally one verse could have stated that the “children of Israel did everything that god commanded them to do.” End of story. But instead the Torah spells out the exact details and measurements.

If we look at the Golden Calf as a betrayal of the marriage metaphor between God and Israel, how do they pick up the pieces of their relationship? They go back to where they used to be. Life goes on, nail by nail, beam by beam. Indeed, the greatest tangible expression of their undying love is the building of the home together…The sign of forgiveness is that God and Israel resumed their relationship precisely at the point it broke up, continuing to build their home together.

Shlomo Riskin