Spirituality
TORAH PORTiON
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Healing The Body
And The Spirit
Parshat Pekudei, Shabbat Shekalim:
Exodus 38:21-40:38; /1 Kings 12:1-17.
p
salm 147:3 says, "God is the
Healer of the broken-hearted
and the One who binds up
their sorrows!'
In February 2007,
I sat in the chapel at
the Northern Michigan
Hospital in Petoskey. My
mother-in-law had suf-
fered a stroke the week
before and had taken a
turn for the worse. Her
room, where my wife,
Rebecca, and her dad
sat, looked out onto Lake
Michigan. But at that time,
I needed to spend a few
moments in the chapel.
I pulled a Bible off
the shelf and began
reading psalms. It
was all I could do —
that as well as sitting
together with our fam-
ily. I prayed and read,
and sat and prayed
some more.
In our Torah por-
tion this week, Parshat
Pekudei, we read that
our male ancestors
of fighting age ful-
filled their mandate
to give a half shekel of silver each
to the construction of the mishkan
(Tabernacle), that desert sanctuary
(Exodus 38:26). The total count of
half-shekels represented 603,550
men above the age of 20 years old.
While the usage of the silver is
evident and its importance obvi-
ous in the construction of the
Tabernacle, our rabbis ask the ques-
tion: Why was only a half-shekel
required rather than a full shekel?
Several commentators explain
that, simply, the mandate given
reflected the amount of silver need-
ed. According to the Gerer Ray, how-
ever, the Hebrew word shekel has the
same numerical value as the Hebrew
word for soul, nefesh: 430. "God
wants half a shekel because God
wants half a soul: a bro-
ken spirit, not an arrogant
one." While we should be
open to letting God into
our lives at all times, it is
when we are broken that
we are most open.
Rebecca's mom, Carol,
fought for two months
until that day in April
2007 when she finally
found eternal peace; it
was the seventh day of
Pesach. Rebecca was nine
months pregnant.
Despite the pain
and sadness we felt,
we remembered
Carol's favorite
words in good
times and bad:
"God is good."
And later that
week, through
our tears we once
again affirmed the
goodness of God
in the words of the
Mourner's Kaddish:
Yitgadal v'yitkadash shmei rabbah;
Great and holy is God's awesome
name.
This Shabbat of Parshat Pekudei,
may each of us recognize that in our
brokenness there is a Healer, and in
our seeking the One who spoke and
so caused the world to come into
being, there is exultation.
"Those who sow in tears:' the
psalmist promises us, "will reap in
joy" (Psalm 126:5). P1
While we should
let God into our
lives at all times,
it is when we are
broken that we
are most open.
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Seena Rubin, resident
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March 3 e 2011
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