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Parsha PEKUDEI

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Jeremiah Unterman

Apr 24, 2018, 12:03 PM

The Bible's stand on migrants is loud and clear

Ruth on the fields of Boaz by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld (cropped) (Cc via Wikipedia)

Jewish scripture teaches that failure to attend to the rights of resident aliens will result in national catastrophe

William Hamilton

Mar 9, 2018, 7:27 PM

‘Do something with all this mess that was left here’

Students returned to their Parkland, Florida High School two weeks after the destruction. Israeli trauma-survival specialists brought some advice. But the voices of the students remained revealing. “There is no rule book or guidelines to follow” one continued, “we’re...

Mar 8, 2018, 8:53 PM

Illustration of the Ark at the erection of the Tabernacle and the sacred vessels, as in Exodus 40:17-19, from 1728. (Gerard Hoet and others, published by P. de Hondt in The Hague/ Wikipedia)

Our highest achievement is self-limitation -- moving ourselves over for the sake of someone else (Vayakhel-Pekudei)

Mar 8, 2018, 1:37 PM

The Jewish value of sanctifying intimacy [Parshat Vayak’hel / Pekudei]

The Sanctuary and all of its furnishings are described in exquisite detail in this week’s Torah portion, Vayak’hel-Pekudei, with one exception: the Ki’ur, the large wash basin in which the priests sanctified themselves by washing their hands and feet...

Mar 8, 2018, 9:02 AM

“DIV-STD-1760” Parashat Vayakhel-Pekudei 5778

Rocket scientists come in all shapes and sizes. Each one has his or her own specialty, including software, electronics, mechanics, propulsion, pyrotechnics, heat transfer, and guidance and control. My specialty is system integration -- taking two disjoint systems and...

Sharona Margolin Halickman

Mar 7, 2018, 2:20 PM

The importance of the artists

In Parshat Pekudei (Shmot 39:32), B’nai Yisrael received the credit for building the Mishkan (Tabernacle): Thus was finished all the work of the Tabernacle of the tent of meeting; and B’nai Yisrael did according to all that the Lord commanded...

Mar 6, 2018, 10:39 PM

Parshat Pekudei: Why is silver for the Mishkan sourced differently than gold and copper?

Earlier, in Parshat Terumah G-d, via Moses, had called for the voluntary contribution of various precious and other materials needed for the design and construction of the משכן, the Tabernacle. Only those men who were twenty or older and...

Ariel Ben Avraham

Mar 4, 2018, 7:13 PM

Parshat Vayakhel-Pekudei: Living our bond with God (II)

“Them has He filled with wisdom of heart (…)” (Exodus 35:35) This verse appears in the context of the two men God chose to craft the items and utensils for the Tabernacle, in order to tell us that all the...

Mar 24, 2017, 9:09 AM

Building the Tabernacle

Parashat Vayakhel and Pekudei are read together this year, the sum of their gematria is 351, which is the triangle number of 26: Vayakhel וַיַּקְהֵל 151 Pekudei פְקוּדֵי 200 351 26 is the gematria of YHVH, the key theme of both portions is about building the...

Mar 23, 2017, 4:47 PM

“To Serve and to Protect” Parashat Vayakhel – Pekudei 5777

All of the systems and subsystems of the Mishkan have been assembled and now everything must be put in its proper place. This week we’re going to take a closer look at the parochet, a curtain that hung inside...

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