VAYAKHEL-PEKUDE 1983

In the Torah portions Vayakhel-Pekude we have recounted how the Tabernacle was finished.  We learn how afterwards the cloud covered the Tabernacle and the glory of G-d filled the Mishkan.  G-d's presence could be felt by everyone.  It is interesting to note that this book of Exodus, Shmos, is known as Sefer Haga'ula, the book of the redemption.  It, course, deals with the redemption of the Jewish people from Egypt and it also deals with the building of the Mishkan.  In fact, if we were to deal with the number of verses there are probably more verses to do with the building of the Mishkan than the redemption from Egypt itself.  This is a little hard to understand.  What's more, interspersed throughout the reciting of the details of the building of the Mishkan are the laws of the Sabbath.  In fact, the very opening of the Torah portion, Vayakhel, teaches us that we are not to create fire on Sabbath.  We con use one already in existence, but we cannot create fire.  Why should it be that the glory of G-d did not descend upon the Jewish people until after they had built the Mishkan?  After all, wasn't the Exodus from Egypt the greater event?  What did the completion of the Mishkan have to do with G-d's glory descending and why is the whole book of Shmos called the book of redemption when only the first part deals with the redemption from Egypt?  It seems to me that we are being told something very important here.  This is indicated by the use of the word Vayakhel.  The word Vayakhel is used when we refer to something which is finished but not completed.  In the very beginning when G-d created the word it said, "Vayakhel, He finished the world," but it was not completed.  We are given the job of completing the world.  It is very easy to start things.  It is harder to finish them, and it is the most difficult to maintain them, to complete them.  So many people who have started buildings have even finished them, but then they let them run down.  They do not maintain them.  There are many people who start things but do not know how to maintain things.  This is especially true in relationships.  They just cannot maintain them.  There are many people who know how to start things and know how to finish them, but are very poor administrators.  There are many synagogues in the United states which are falling apart because people do not know how to maintain them.  In life it is very important that we know how to maintain relationships, that we know how to nurture them and let them grow.  Some women are accused of not being creative because they stay home and raise a family.  Here they have children and are nurturing them and letting them grow.  What could be more creative than that?  G-d's glory could not come down on the Jewish people until they learned how to maintain their relationship with G-d.  The Rabbis say that they were not allowed to build the Mishkan on Shabbos because Shabbos is a day where we maintain what we have, where we learn how to complete what we have finished.  Our use of fire is limited on Shabbos to teach us that the highest form of creativity, the highest form of human achievement is not in creating but in maintaining.  G-d's glory did not come upon the Mishkan until it was actually in use.  The Mishkan was finished actually around Chanukah time in the month of Kislev.  It was not dedicated and used until Nissan.  Only then did G-d's glory descend.  G-d's glory did not descend upon the Jewish people in full force when they left Egypt, only when they learned how to maintain their relationships.  The story about the man who came into an antique shop and asked how much an item was.  He was told it was $450.  He came back the next week and asked how much the same item was.  He was told it was $500.  He asked why and the owner said, "Don't you realize how much labor and materials have gone up?"  We, too, have sacrificed permanent values for the restless pursuits after new starts.  It is not as important starting as it is to learn how to maintain and deepen what you have.