by Jonathan Kaplan,

Ruach Israel Messianic Synagogue (www.ruachisrael.org)

This week we move into a new phase in the Torah - from Sefer HaBrit, the Book of the Covenant (Ex 21:1-24:18) to the building of the Mishkan.  This new phase will occupy our reading until the end of the Book of Exodus, except for a brief interlude for the golden calf affair.  Within the instructions for the building of the Mishkan (Ex 25:1-31:18) are seven subsections each introduced by the formula vayyedabber Hashem el Moshe "and God spoke to Moses" or vayyomer Hashem el Mosheh "and God said to Moses" (25:1; 30:11, 17, 22, 34; 31:1, 12).  The first six sections deal with creation and the seventh with Shabbat.  Central to the instruction for the building of the Mishkan is the cadence of 6 and 1, of work and rest.  This cadence is the very pattern of the fabric of creation.

Martin Buber, the great Jewish philosopher and careful biblical exegete, also noticed this association of the work of creation and the building of the Mishkan.  He cited seven major linguistic parallels between both enterprises (as cited in Leibowitz, Studies on Exodus, 479-81).

1. And God made the firmament (Gen 1:7).
     And God made the two great lights (Gen 1:16).
     And God made the beasts of the earth (Gen 1:25). (etc. 200 times)
     And let them make me a sanctuary (Ex 25:8).
     And let shall make an ark (Ex 25:10).
     And you shall make a table (Ex 25:23).
     And you shall make a candlestick of pure gold (Ex 25:31). (etc. seven times)
2. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in
them (Ex 20:11).
And the glory of the Lord dwelt upon Mt. Sinai and the cloud covered it six days
(Ex 24:16).
3. And rested on the seventh day (Ex 20:11).
And the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud (Ex
24:16).
4. And the heaven and the earth were finished, and all the host of them and on
the seventh day God finished his work which he had made (Gen 2:1-2).
5. And God saw every thing that he had made (Gen 1:31).
                 And Moses saw all the work (Ex 39:43).
6. And behold it was very good (Gen 1:31).
                 And, behold, they had done it; as the Lord commanded, even so ad they done it (Ex 39:43).

7. And God blessed the seventh day (Gen 2:3).
                And Moses blessed them (Ex 39:43).

This link between the cadence of creation and the construction of the Mishkan is made even more clear when we also remember that the Mishkan was erected by Moses on the first day of the first month of the second year (Ex 40:17).  It is unclear whether this first month refers to the one year anniversary of the Exodus or from Tishrei, that is Rosh HaShanah, the anniversary of the creation of the world.  The medieval commentator Chizquni suggests that both are possible interpretations.  Regardless, the pattern of the Torah in Exodus is clear.  The construction of the Mishkan proceeds on the cadence of work and Shabbat.  The Mishkan is itself a product of the very cadence of God's creation.

 

Israel's construction of the Mishkan according to the cadence of 6 and 1 shapes their life together.  The cadence of slavery is marched out of them as they work in submission to their God.  Israel's construction of the Mishkan is the way Israel makes space for the Holy One in their midst.  As Tzedaq La-derekh notes

In this day, when we are without Mishkan or Temple, keeping the cadence of Shabbat is how we carve out space for the Holy One in our midst.  It is how we, as the Jewish people, constitute the Temple of God.  This cadence of 6-1 marks time for our testimony to God's presence in our midst and in the world.  The content of our testimony is God's deliverance of us from Egypt (zecher yetziat mitzraim) and God's work of creation (zecher lemaaseh bereshit) and for us as Messianic Jews God's work of redemption in Messiah Yeshua.  Our keeping of Shabbat is a memorial (zecher, zikaron, etc.), or what would be termed in Christian theology a sacrementum or mysterion, of the reality of God's ongoing presence in our life as a people.

It is this memorial or sacramental keeping of Shabbat which shapes our ethical life as a community.  Remember, the title of this parashah is Terumah (gifts).  It begins with God's invitation through Moses for Israel to bring gifts "from every person whose heart so moves him" kol 'ish 'asher yiddebennu libbo (25:2).  Israel brings gifts out of gratitude and generosity to enable the presence of the Other in their midst.  Likewise, the cadence of 6 and 1 imbibes in us a recognition that we are not slaves nor should force others to work for us on Shabbat when we ourselves are resting (Ex 20:10).  Thus the construction of the Mishkan cultivates in Israel a life marked by gratitude, regard for the other, and resistance to domination and oppression.  The construction of the Mishkan is a project which shapes us into a people of profound commitment to the other through our devotion to the ultimate Other, the God who created the world, called us, and delivered us from bondage in Egypt.

The Haftarah reading for this week parallels the construction of the Mishkan with the erection of Solomon's Temple (1 Kgs 5:26-6:13).  Instead of being constructed by the people out a common life shaped by gratitude, regard for the other, and resistance to domination and oppression, this sanctuary for God is carved out by an imperial power through the largesse of his kingdom and with the use of Israelite forced labor.  Gratitude and free giving are replaced with force.  Regard for the other is replaced with Solomon's concern for himself and displaying the power of his kingdom.  Resistance to domination and oppression is substituted with accommodation to imperial power and the enslaving of a community whose very life as a free people should testify to the Creator and Redeemer God's ongoing presence in history.

The contrast between the construction of these two sanctuaries challenges us to ask what type of synagogue communities are we cultivating?  What type of UMJC are we nurturing?  What type of messianic Judaism are we working to mature?  Is it one shaped by the ethical commitments of the Jewish people during the Exodus?  Is it marked by the cadence of 6 of 1, a cadence which manifests itself in a community which practices gratitude, regard for the other, and resistance to domination and oppression?  This is the community who is the "Temple of God," who carves out space for the Holy One in their midst.  May we be such a community.  

Shabbat Shalom.