Voices of WRJ: Vayak'heil/P'kudei

In Vayak’heil/P’kudei, we read about the engagement of the whole people in building the Mishkan, a dwelling place on earth for God in which religious rituals can be observed. The recently freed people use their own means to build the Mishkan, its furnishings, and the clothes for the Cohanim.

It is a huge project. The men and women are called to make “gifts of the heart” for the Eternal, in other words, the materials needed for the construction, according to the design God had given. In addition, all “wise-hearted people” (the skilled artisans), men and women, are instructed to use their skills for in this effort, to ensure the Tabernacle will be as beautiful as possible.

Regarding the monetary contributions, in contrast to other such passages in the Torah, there is no exact amount commanded for this project. But it doesn’t matter. The people’s generous impulses, from their hearts, exceed what is necessary!  In fact, Moses tells the people to stop bringing gifts!

It is interesting how women appear in these parashot. Their participation is clearly important for the project’s success. Not only are they obviously the experts in textile production, but the text also makes it clear that the women – not only the men - owned valuables and could decide for themselves what to donate. In fact, according to Nahmanides, the men followed their wives and other women’s examples, only donating their own valuables after the women had generously led the way.

Virtually the entire text of both parashot is devoted to the enormous task of taking inventory of all the collected materials, fabricating the components for the Tabernacle, making the special holy garments for Aharon and his descendants, and the construction and setting up of the Tabernacle.

What fueled this extraordinary effort was the heart. Hearts that gave valuables for this glorious project. Hearts that were wise and skilled for artistic work. Strong, expert and discerning hearts that moved the people into giving to the creation of something amazing in the middle of the desert.

As I write about Vayak’hel/P’kudei, it is Carnival in Brazil...our extraordinary annual national festivity and I find a true connection between the dedication of our people in building the Mishkan and the Brazilians who, as a people, make Carnival happen every year.

The Israelites dedicated so much of what they were able to take when they fled Mitzraim as slaves. Similarly, poor Brazilians spend what is to them a large amount of money to build amazing costumes and “carros alegoricos” (gigantic decorated trucks used for the Carnival parade). While Bezalel and Oholiab guided the Israelites as they used their skills in building every individual piece of the Tabernacle, as God instructed, leaders of Escolas de Samba organize an army of people to build every single detail for the parade out of mountains of glue, feather, sequins, paper, fabric, and other materials.

Sweat and tears build the Brazilian Carnival; the numbers are impressive. 14 million people participated in street carnival parades (“bloquinhos”) and 120 thousand people attended the League of Schools of Samba de São Paulo at the Sambódromo. The calculated income generated by the São Paulo Carnival 2019 was over half a billion dollars, surpassing all expectations and establishing Carnival the most important event in the city all year. And São Paulo, though it is the largest city in Brazil, with 12 million inhabitants, is only one of the major carnival locales in Brazil, and not the biggest.

Moved by their hearts, the Israelites’ work was rewarded.  God dwelled among them during the entire desert journey. They built from scratch as a united people what they needed to assure a sense of security and protection for their journey to the Promised Land.

Today’s Brazilian sambistas and the Israelites of thousands of years ago teach us the same lesson: that dedication, sweat and tears, loving hearts, and wisdom, are the key tools necessary to build magnificent things. With liberty, even a poor and wandering people can cause the Divine presence to dwell among them. Art is the wisdom of the heart, and with art, we can build miracles.

Andrea Kulikovsky is the Executive Director of WUPJ’s União do Judaísmo Reformista of Latin America, a member of WUPJ’s Reviewing Committee of the Plaut Chumash in Portuguese, and WUPJ’s International Youth Committee. She is the Director of Youth and Education at Congregação Israelita Paulista, and a rabbinical student at Instituto Iberoamericano de Formación Rabinica Reformista. She is the mother of three children.