Parshat Pekudei: G-d is in the Details
Original author - Rabbi Eliezer Shore, PhD, edited by the GrowTorah Summer Inchworms 2021
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Pekudei is the parsha of details. This short, seemingly redundant parsha does little more than sum up the information already presented twice in the preceding prakim. In Parshat Terumah and Tetzaveh, Moshe receives the instructions for building the Mishkan, including its utensils and the Bigdei Kehunah. Vayakhel describes the actual construction of these items.
But Pekudei begins with another listing of all the material that went into the project, and concludes with a further recounting of the Mishkan’s parts as they are finally compiled into a single structure by Moshe.[1] Considering how incredibly sparing the Torah is with words,[2] it seems strange that this parsha should spend so much time summing up what was said before. Why wasn’t it enough for the Torah to simply state: “And the people did all that Moshe commanded, and Moshe assembled the Mishkan.”
One explanation lies in the unique purpose of the Mishkan, and its relationship to Creation.
According to the Ramban,[3] the Mishkan was the continuation of the Sinaitic revelation. Just as Hashem spoke to Moshe from the top of Har Sinai, so He continued to address him from the Mishkan.[4] The Mishkan was a “portable” Har Sinai. It was a place of continual revelation, where Hashem’s presence could be vividly felt and experienced.
According to the Midrash,[5] the Mishkan’s significance goes beyond this. The Sages describe it as a microcosm of the universe, with each of its vessels corresponding to another part of Creation: the Ohel Mo’eid paralleled the firmament, the Menorah paralleled the sun and moon, the Kiyor paralleled the oceans, and so on. The structure of the Mishkan was therefore a model of a redeemed Creation, fulfilling Hashem’s original intention for the world as a setting for revelation.
The Torah’s precise recounting of the Mishkan’s construction is, in this way, a form of summary of Creation. It is on an entirely different scale, as is clear from the final pesukim of Parshat Pekudei:
And Hashem spoke to Moshe, saying: On the first day of the first month shall you set up the Mishkan of the Ohel Moed. And you shall put in it the Aron HaEdut (Ark of the Testimony), and hang the veil before the Aron. And you shall bring in the table, and set in order the things upon it; and you shall bring in the candlestick, and light its lamps. And you shall set the altar of gold for incense before the Aron HaEdut, and put the screen of the door to the Mishkan. And you shall set the altar of the burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the Ohel Moed…
Thus did Moshe, according to all that the Lord commanded him, so he did… Then a cloud covered the Ohel Moed, and the Glory of G-d filled the Mishkan. And Moshe was not able to enter the Ohel Moed, because the cloud rested on it, and the Glory of G-d filled the Mishkan.[6][7]
As opposed to the creation in Bereisheit, the construction of the Mishkan is very gradual. The Mishkan is not miraculously made by speaking it into existence: precision and care must be taken to do everything correctly and in the proper order. But each piece, each movement, each detail—from hanging the veil to lighting each candle—is actually of supreme importance. We tend to think of revelation as a grand event, but Hashem’s revelation here is born out of attention to the smallest details. These passages tell us that through the precise alignment of details, something infinitely greater than the sum of their parts can be revealed.
We might think that what we need is a grand revelation, a brand new start to Creation—Hashem can speak the words, and plants will grow on a perfect earth. Today, even individuals with little environmental awareness realize the life-threatening changes that are occurring on a global level.[8] It is easy to get lost in the big picture of climate change—the corporate transformation and government action necessary to mitigate and respond to the disastrous effects of atmospheric warming. Often, that leaves individuals feeling powerless, even meaningless.
But, there is hope in the details of Pekudei. Just as the Mishkan models the creation of the world, so does the value of minutiae extend to every aspect of our world’s environment. Our climate is affected by factors far greater than any one individual.[9] But at the same time, each plant and animal, each piece of litter, and every watt of electricity are important parts of the greater whole. There could be no sum without its parts, and no environmental harmony without attention paid to each individual.
If we are looking to perfect the world, the place to begin is the Mishkan of our own lives—our homes and workplaces. While our eyes and hearts must always be on the larger picture, the repair of the world begins in the locales closest to us, with the smallest details of our lives. This is the preeminent way of Jewish thinking, which recognizes the importance of details in the redemption of the world at large. And one learns to think on both these levels simultaneously, as a natural consequence of a Torah lifestyle.[10]
May Hashem help us see His presence in the details of our lives, as well as in the majesty of the cosmos.
Suggested Action Items:
To enhance the attention to detail in your life and your environmental impact, use the calculators at www.footprintcalculator.org and www.waterfootprint.org. You can use the tips and information that the calculators provide to make your lifestyle more sustainable.
Original Canfei Nesharim Sponsorships:
The Parsha of Pekudei is dedicated by Baruch and Ora Sheinson, in honor of Mordechai Ya'akov Sheinson.
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Notes:
[1] In-between is a short section detailing the manufacturing of the priestly garments.
[2]As the Mishnah in Hagigah 1:8 states, many laws are like “mountains hanging on a single thread of verses.”
[3] Ramban on Shemot 25:1.
[4] Shemot 19:20: “And Hashem Moshe to the top of the mount…”; Vayikra 1:1. “And Hashem called to Moshe, and spoke to him from out of the tent of meeting…”
[5] Bamidbar Rabbah 12:13.
[6] Shemot 40:1-7, 16, 33-38.
[7] Compare this to remarkably similar passages in I Kings 7:48-51, 8:6, 10-11.
[8] I have heard from people who work in environmental organizations that many activists, after leaving college and actually entering the field, become so overwhelmed by the extent of the destruction and the job of repair they now face that they fall into deep depression for a while.
[9] For a very simple explanation of the climate system, see here.
[10] Jewish ecologists often like to point to the words of Maimonides as suggesting this approach (Mishnah Torah, Laws of Repentance 3:4): “Every individual must think of himself and of the world as a whole as if their merits and demerits were balanced. By committing one sin, he pushes himself and the entire world to the side of demerit, thereby destroying himself; whereas by doing one mitzvah, he pushes himself and the entire world to the side of merit, and brings upon him deliverance.”
