>> Torah portion

A depiction
of the top of

the Mishkan

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AT THE HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL CENTER ZEKELMAN FAMILY CAMPUS

Become a member and join us for an
evening with Holocaust Survivor Ela Stein
Weissberger, an original cast member of
Brundibar, the children's opera performed at
the Thesienstadt concentration camp.

Parshat Pekudei: Exodus 38:21-
40:38, 30:11-16; I Kings 7:51-8:21.

T

he completion of the Mishkan
(Tabernacle), the central
event in this week's Torah
portion, was an accomplishment
momentous enough to merit being
described with language similar to
the language that the Torah uses to
describe the completion of creation.
Yet this was not merely a significant
accomplishment, but also the third
part of a trilogy of events that marked
the latter half of the Book of Exodus.
During the first event, the ecstasy
of receiving the Torah at Sinai, the
Children of Israel enthusi-
astically accepted the com-
mandments and committed
themselves collectively to
obey them. This commit-
ment cemented the connec-
tion between God and Israel
to the point where Moses,
as emissary of the people,
is invited to approach and
enter the divine realm that
had, for the moment, situat-
ed itself atop the mountain,
at a distance.
The second event, the
fiasco of the Golden Calf, undermined
and belied this commitment entirely.
The fashioning and worshiping of
this icon was not only a violation of a
divine commandment, but a violation
of the very first two commandments
— "I am the Lord your God ... you
shall have no other gods ... you shall
not fashion nor worship any image"
Worse still, the revelry surrounding
the worship of the calf was heralded
with a perverse paraphrasing of the
very tribute that had previously been
reserved for God: "This [golden calf]
is the god who brought you out of
Egypt." The sublime ecstasy of encoun-
tering God at Sinai having worn off,
Israel quickly reverted to disobedience
and faithlessness expressed as idolatry.
God is left, for the moment, with
no recourse other than despair and a
growing impulse to abandon the peo-
ple of Israel and start over with Moses.
And Moses, usually the great mediator
between God and Israel, can only shat-
ter the tablets — the lone piece of the
divine realm he was allowed to share
with the people. What had earlier
seemed like perfect harmony is left
shattered on the ground.

In light of this calamity, the con-
struction and completion of the
Mishkan, the final part of this trilogy,
was an act of collective atonement and
tikkun — that is, repair and restora-
tion. The Children of Israel, re-enact-
ing in a more temporal and finite way
the Creation, fashioned a home for
God on Earth.
More importantly, in order to build
this home, they followed a detailed
and lengthy series of divine instruc-
tions, each not only reminding them
of their earlier failure to obey, but also
providing the therapeutic
opportunity to demonstrate
repeatedly their capability
to obey faithfully and with-
out question — a fitting
atonement for the complete
lack of faith that had got-
ten them into trouble in
the first place — and the
realization of their original
promise to heed the com-
mandments.
In the end, atone-
ment and restoration are
achieved, as the glory of
God, that had hitherto surrounded
Mount Sinai, now filled the Mishkan.
When all is said and done, this tril-
ogy lays bare a simple but powerful
lesson about human nature. We often
take for granted that which is handed
to us, even when we have the best of
intentions; and we appreciate much
more that which we labor to attain or
create.
Only after toiling to construct the
Mishkan are the Children of Israel able
to appreciate the intricate beauty of
creation and the magnificence of God
who created the cosmos.
In this regard, it is not surprising that
completion of the Mishkan is not the
end, but only a first step in mending
the shattered tablets and restoring the
faith of God in the chosen people; sub-
sequent instructions would soon follow.
But it was an important first step.
The immediacy of Sinai was not
fully restored but, at least, partially
restored.

Featuring a performance by members of the
Michigan Opera Theatre Children's Chorus of
an excerpt from their upcoming production
of Brundibar.

Middle school students and older are welcome at this event.

Member Event Chairs: Elyse and David Foltyn

Supported in part by the Michigan Opera Theatre Children's Chorus

For membership information or to RSVP,
please call 248.553.2400, ext. 129

HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL CENTER ZEKELMAN FAMILY CAMPUS

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28123 Orchard Lake Rd. • Farmington Hills, MI 48334 www.holocaustcenter.org

1894340

Read Annie's Ghosts Now...

Meet the Author in May

Author Steve Luxenberg

ANNIE'S GHOSTS

A Journey into a Family Secret

Beth Luxenberg

was an only child,

or so everyone

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thought.

Six months after

her death, the

secret emerged...

Annie.

ANNIE'S GHOSTS

A Journey into a Family Secret

OSO

S

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1: I UNI

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❑

Howard N. Lupovitch is associate professor

of history at Wayne State University and

director of its Cohn-Haddow Center for

For more information visit www.jfsdetroit.org
call 248-592-2301,
or email anniesghosts@jfsdetroit.org
www. holocaustcenter. org

Judaic Studies.

1897670

February 27 • 2014

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