The Designer

Pekudei 5784 - That’s the kind of community I hope we can create.

Hashiveinu by Rabbi Micah Shapiro and Aaren Alpert

Over the last few weeks we’ve gotten an abundance of information and seemingly minute details about all of the material and supplies that went into the building of the Mishkan. Every single thing that people brought and the instructions about how it was supposed to be used. At the very end of the book of Exodus comes parashat Pekudei, which is basically an accounting and beta test of the Mishkan itself. 

It begins with an accounting of every single thing that was made, from the rings and hooks of the altar to the stones and jewels of the priestly breastplates. When everything has been accounted for we read the verse:

כְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר־צִוָּה ה׳ אֶת־מֹשֶׁה כֵּן עָשׂוּ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֵת כּל־הָעֲבֹדָה׃ 

Just as God had commanded Moses, so the Israelites had done all the work. (Ex. 39:42)

The entire community of Israel were the artisans in the project of building the Tabernacle (Mishkan). 

What is this like? It’s like if a particular designer was given a project by a king to create something of exceeding beauty and grandeur in the city. The designer then proceeded to engage the entire population of the city in the process in order to make something deep and complex of multiple parts, and each person was in charge of one aspect of its creation. 

When they brought it to the king, he asked, who was it who took part in this creation? And the designer paraded every single artisan through the throne room to see the king and explain their piece.

So too with Moses - When given this task of creating the Mishkan, he engaged every single person in the process, and each person felt so moved to give and create of their own heart, and therefore every single person was able to claim a connection to this project and was invested in it for life. 

What would it be like to create and engage community in this way? To deepen relationships in community to such an extent that everyone feels so moved to take all of their talent, raw material, meaningful history, and artistry and bring it to the project of our collective achievement and success. 

That’s the kind of community I hope we can create. Inevitably this will lead to Holy Space we can all be proud of, take ownership in, feel connection to, and subsequently enjoy.

Shabbat Shalom,

Josh Warshawsky