FEBRUARY 25 • 2021 | 27
I
read a story about a
Jewish immigrant from
Europe who moved to the
lower east side of New York
in the early years of 20th
century.
To get a job, he changed
his traditional clothes and
worked on Shabbat and
holidays. He needed to feed
his family and felt he had no
other choice.
He often slept at work
because of late hours at night
and early hours in morning.
He often seemed distant,
depressed and lost.
At night, his children
would go to work where
he was asleep at a desk
and put down a different
ritual item: Kiddush cup,
Shabbat candles, tallit,
Chanukah candles.
The man came
back to life. The items
reconnected him
to his past and his
family. They reminded
him who he was: a
human entitled to
dignity, not just a
drone.
This is the main
point in our Torah
portion. When we
remember who we
are, we can face
the challenges of life more
optimistically and joyfully.
The portion describes the
fancy, elaborate clothing of
the priesthood when making
sacrifices. It also describes
the Ark of the Covenant that
was to be covered in gold.
It seems strange that while
the Israelites are trying
to get to the promised
land they stop and make
such elaborate costumes
and objects.
Doing so was not
ritual for ritual’s sake
and not for God,
because God does
not need anything.
It was to remind a
group of recently freed
slaves that they were
capable of beauty and
splendor, that they could
remember who they
really were, and not Pharaoh’s
vision of who they were.
The Kiddush cup,
candlesticks and challah on
Shabbat remind us that we
are entitled to rest and a life
at home that is joyous and
happy.
The mezuzah reminds
us to remember our values
when we leave for work and
when we come back home.
The tallit reminds us that
we are robed in splendor, no
matter how modest our lives.
The purpose of ritual, of
doing Jewish, is to remember
that we are all capable of
goodness and that we can
create a world of beauty and
splendor even when we feel
like we are in the wilderness.
Aaron Bergman is a rabbi at Adat
Shalom Synagogue in Farmington
Hills.
SPIRIT
Remembering
Who We Are
TORAH PORTION
Rabbi Aaron
Bergman
Parshat
Tetzaveh:
Exodus 27:28-
30:10; Ezekiel
43_10-27.
(Shushan
Purim)
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