Readings for Saturday, March 22, 2025 Shabbat Parah

Readings for Saturday, March 22, 2025

Shabbat Parah

Two scrolls are used on this Shabbat.  The first is for the regular weekly portion.  The second is for the special reading for Shabbat Parah.

First Scroll

Vayakhel (Assembled)

35:1-38:20 Shemot (Exodus)

Vayakhel is the tenth sedrah in the Book of Shemot.  It takes its name from the first Hebrew word in the first sentence of the reading.  “Vayakhel Moshe” or “Moses assembled (Vayakhel) all the congregation of the children of Israel and said unto them....”  This comparatively brief sedrah describes the actual building of the Tabernacle and all of its furnishings.  It appears to be a recapitulation of the information presented in Terumah.  According to the sages, Terumah described the plan.  Vayakhel describes the actual construction of the holy dwelling places and its vessels.  As the commentators in Etz Hayim point out, Terumah began with a description of the items in the Mishkan and ended with a description of the Mishkan.  In Vayakhel, the order is reversed which would be logical.  First you build the edifice and then you make the things that will go inside.  (First you build the house, then you buy the furniture.)  The basic explication of the text will follow the divisions in Etz Hayim combined with sub-headings from the Stone Chumash as well as a couple from the author.  Together, they provide definition for the reading while avoiding the numbing detail found in some other texts.  The parenthesized notations indicate earlier mention of these items in Shemot.

The Convening of the People - 35:1-19

The People’s Response - 35:20-29;

The Master Craftsmen - 35:30-36:1;

·        The Sabbath;

·        The Contributions for the Tabernacle;

·        The Construction of the Tabernacle.

The sedrah begins with Moshe assembling “Kol Adat B’nai Yisrael,” literally “all the congregation of the children of Israel.”  He has returned from his second trip to the top of Mount Sinai.  He has returned with the new set of Tablets.  So now it is time to reassemble the whole nation; to re-kindle the original spirit that had existed when the whole nation had stood at Sinai before the Golden Calf episode.  Moshe has called them together to begin the building of the Mishkan.  But he starts with a repetition of the commands concerning the observance of Shabbat.  From this we learn that the observance of Shabbat is of critical importance; it is even more important than building the Tabernacle, the Ark and the holy vessels.

The Overabundance of Donations - 36:2-7

The generosity of the people was overwhelming.  Moshe finally had to call a halt.  He had what was needed.  To go beyond that would be the kind of greed or self-aggrandizement associated with potentates, not Moshe or the Lord he served.  This generation stands in stark contrast to the behavior of the leaders described earlier (35:27-28).  They made their donations of precious stones for the breastplate only after the rest of the people had brought their donations.  According to some commentators they waited until last for what they thought was a good reason.  They assumed that there would be a shortfall in the offerings and they planned to make up for whatever had not been given.  If this was their fear, then they should have lead by example - if they had made generous contributions at the outset they would have encouraged the rest of the nation to do likewise.  In the game of life, leaders ante up first.

The Work of Construction - 36:8-36:37

·        Making the Curtains;

·        Making the Cover;

·        Making the Planks and Their Components;

·        Making the Partitions;

·        Making the Screen;

The Manufacture of the Furniture and Accessories - 37:1-38:20

·        Making the Ark - 25:10-21;

·        Making the Cover;

·        Making the Table - 25:23-30;

·        Making the Menorah - 25:31-40;

·        Making the Incense Altar - 30:1-10;

·        Making the Oil and Incense - 30:22-37;

·        Making the Elevation-Offering Altar - 27:1-8;

·        Making the Laver;

·        Making the Courtyard - 27:9-19;

·        Making the Screen.

Themes

Commandments

114.  The prohibition against making a fire on Shabbat (35:13):  “You shall kindle no fire throughout your settlements on Shabbat.”

Biblical Literacy by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin

Shabbat

In reading Shemot, we have seen laws pertaining to Shabbat given over and over again.  Considering the obvious importance of Shabbat, it is quite fitting that the last commandment in Shemot should be one concerning the observance of our most frequent holiday.  The placement of the commandment just before the description of the building of the Mishkan and its furnishings provides the source for the Rabbis to deduce the 39 types of activities that constitute work and are thus prohibited on Shabbat.  According to the Oral Law, the prohibition against “kindling any fire” means you cannot create a fire on Shabbat but you can enjoy the heat and light from a fire started before Shabbat.  The Karaites, an eighth century sect founded in Babylonia, rejected the Oral Law.  Amongst other things, this meant they had no fires burning in their homes at all on Shabbat.  In modern times, the question has arisen if turning on an electric light violates this prohibition.  For the Orthodox it does.  For Reform it is a meaningless question.  And as usual, the Conservative Movement is split.

Women

Once again, the Torah provides examples of the importance of women.  They contribute along with the men when Moshe makes his request.  There are those who say that it was really the women who gave the jewelry because the men had wasted theirs on the Golden Calf.  Also, it was their mirrors that provided the copper for the holy vessels.  Finally, there is the explicit mention of the “skilled women” who did the spinning and weaving.

The Sukkah and the Mishkan

According to the commentators, Moshe told the people about building the Mishkan on the day after Yom Kippur.  In English we call the Mishkan the Tabernacle.  It is customary to start building a Sukkah after one comes home from the synagogue at the end of Yom Kippur (which is technically the day after Yom Kippur).  In English we call the holiday of Sukkoth The Feast of Tabernacles.  Is there a connection between these two building activities?  Supposedly we build these booths to remind ourselves of the time our ancestors spent in the Wilderness.  Is a Sukkah a “poor man’s” Mishkan?  This is a question you can discuss at Sukkoth when you sit in your Sukkah.

Assembled

The same Hebrew word that begins this sedrah is also found in Shemot 32:1.  In the earlier reading which describes the making of the Golden Calf, the text states, “the people assembled against Aaron” and demanded that he “make us a god.…”  Here, Moshe assembled the community to tell them about building the Tabernacle and to prove that God had forgiven them for the Sin of the Golden Calf.  Once again, it is not just what you do, but why you do it that matters.

More on the Mishkan

The Torah spends quite a bit of time describing the Mishkan or Sanctuary.  The question one must ask is why the Torah devotes so much space to describing a temporary edifice that will only be used until the building of the Temple.  Why is so much time and attention devoted to what is a “one shot deal?”  When the Temple was destroyed and the Jews were exiled to Babylonia, why didn’t they build a Mishkan?  Again, when the Second Temple was destroyed, why didn’t anybody build a Mishkan since they had the complete blueprint?  (In fact, they used an edifice that is not mentioned in the Torah - the Synagogue or Shul.)  This is your chance to supply the answer because I do not have one.

The Shabbos Goy

“Reb Nachum of Chernobyl once spent Shabbat at the home of Reb Shimon of Shlomo…  In accordance with the custom of the household a long candle was lit before sunset which was to last until morning, in order to give light to anyone wanting to rise and study Torah before daybreak.  A little after midnight, the host and his family saw Reb Nachum groping his way about the house like one moving in absolute darkness, and were afraid lest he bump into something and hurt himself.  Hearing that they were also awake, Reb Nachum asked them:  ‘Why did you not light a candle to last through the night?’  This they could not fathom; that very room was in fact illuminated by the candle they had lit.  They investigated and found that it had earlier blown out, and the gentile maid had relit it.  But because it had been lit on Shabbat, the tzaddik was able to see nothing by its light.”

This Chassidic tale is included in a compilation by Rabbi Shlomo Yosef Zevin of blessed memory.  The story is intended to reinforce the commandment found in this week’s Torah portion:  “You shall kindle no fire…on the day of Shabbat” (35:3).  But Reb Nachum may have been trying to teach us a deeper lesson.  Reb Nachum was no slouch since he was a disciple of the Maggid of Mezritch, the successor to the Baal Shem Tov.  It was a common practice among many observant Jews to retain a “Shabbos Goy,” a gentile who would perform functions on Shabbat that Jews were forbidden to perform.  In the story we just read, it would make sense for Reb Nachum not to have seen the light if the candle had been lit by a Jew.  But the gentile maid was not violating a commandment by lighting the candle on Shabbat, since only the Jews are commanded to “observe the Sabbath and keep it holy.”  So if Reb Nachum could not see the light from a candle kindled by a “Shabbos Goy” lit in violation of the commandments we can assume that we are not supposed to hire people to perform activities forbidden to Jews.  For Reb Nachum, hiring the “Shabbos Goy” was not a way around the law, it was just another way for Jews to violate the law.

Saving the Sedrah

For as long as I can remember, I have found this week’s portion to be boring, repetitive and rather pointless; something for Popular Mechanics rather than the TaNaCh.  Since nothing in the Torah is without meaning, the challenge has been to keep at it until I found it.  Thanks to Rabbi Sacks, this seemingly interminable building project finally provides one of those timeless messages for which we are always searching.  Sacks encourages us to step back and view this week’s portion as part of a series of events that began with the Golden Calf.  When Moses came down from the mountain “the people were peruah, meaning ‘wild disorderly, chaotic, unruly or tumultuous.’”  Initially, the only way Moses could establish some sort of control was to impose martial law (the Levites slaughtering three thousand men).  But this was no way to create a community, to make the term the House of Israel a reality as opposed to just a literary expression.  Drawing on his managerial skills, Moses knew that giving the people a common activity would draw them together.  As Colonel Nicholson saw in the Bridge on the River Kwai, there is no better way to draw people together than to have them building something and the Mishkan was big, really big.  The building project forced the people to come together and cooperate in reaching a common goal.  More importantly, in building the Mishkan, the people were building a connection to God.  Abstract ideas, and there is no more abstract idea than an omniscient, omnipresent, non-corporeal deity, can be difficult for people to connect to on an ongoing basis.  So the trick is to build a bridge where the actions of the person can connect the person to God.  This is the function of ritual.  Ritual - whether it is prayers, observance of Kashrut, lighting Shabbat candles or baking Hamantaschen - provides that physical connection.  Judaism is a religion of action, of deeds.  These deeds, like the building of the Mishkan, bring us closer to one another and closer to God.

Second Scroll

Special Reading for Shabbat Parah (Sabbath of the (Red) Heifer)

19:1-22 Bamidbar (Numbers)

Shabbat Parah - Sabbath of the (Red) Heifer is the third of the four special Sabbaths (not counting Shabbat Ha-Gadol) that precede the holiday of Pesach.  Each of these special Sabbaths has a special connection with the story of the Exodus or the preparations for observing the holiday.  On Shabbat Parah two scrolls are taken from the ark.  The first scroll is used for reading the sedrah of the week.  The second scroll contains the special reading for the holiday, the first 22 verses from chapter 19 of Bamidbar (the Book of Numbers).  This passage deals with the ritual of the Red Heifer.  In Hebrew, the Red Heifer is called the Parah Adumah.  Parah is translated as cow or heifer.  Adumah is the Hebrew word for red.  Hence the name of the Sabbath is “Shabbat Parah.”  The ashes of the Red Heifer were used for ritual purification.  In the days of the Temple, those who were unclean could not participate in the sacrificial process.  This reading reminds us of the importance of cleansing oneself prior to taking part in the sacrifices for Pesach.  We do not offer sacrifices.  Nor are we able to use the ashes of the Red Heifer.  So the reading provides a symbolic method of connecting us with the ancient ritual.  It also can remind us that Pesach is a time of new beginnings and that the time prior to Pesach can be used to cleanse ourselves spiritually just as we cleanse our homes of chametz.

A Tale of Two Bovines

At this time of the year we read the stories of two forms of livestock - The Golden Calf and the Red Heifer.  In the material world, a calf made of gold would certainly fetch a higher price than a cow that has not shown that it can produce a calf.  But in the spiritual world, the world where the word of God dominates, the red heifer is of the greater value because, unlike the Golden Calf, it serves His purpose.  When we measure the true value of things, it might help us to remember that the ultimate Judge is the one who determines worth, not the Wall Street Financiers or the gnomes of Zurich.

Special Haftarah for Shabbat Parah

36:16-38 (Ashkenazim)

36: 16-36 (Sephardim)

Ezekiel

The Man:  Ezekiel was one of the three Major Prophets.  He was a younger contemporary of the Prophet Jeremiah.  He was part of the Jewish population that went into exile after the destruction of the First Temple.  He preached to the Jews of Babylonia in what were some of the darkest days in ancient Jewish History.

The Message:  Ezekiel assured the people that they would return to their homeland after the Exile.  Here he stressed the importance of obeying a strict moral code once they had returned to the Promised Land.  Exile had been punishment for disobeying the commandments.  Redemption would only be successful if the commandments were followed.

Theme-Link:  Usually there is a connection between the haftarah and the weekly Torah portion.  This is not one of those times.  This week the connection is with events on the calendar - namely Shabbat Parah.  The emphasis of the special Torah portion for Shabbat Parah is on the need for ritual cleanliness.  This is tied directly to preparing for the observance of Pesach.  The haftarah serves to reinforce a similar message of the need for purity in all of our actions.