Orientation
Parashah = Torah portion studied and read every week in Jewish communities. The Torah (the 5 books) is divided into 54 portions to cover the whole jewish year.
Vayakhel is the name of the 22nd Torah portion and is found in the 2nd book of the Torah, Exodus/Shemot.
Here is a list of all the Torah portions.
First things first. This first session of the 9th semester of Ze Kollel brings us directly into the desert with the Bnei Israel (aka the Hebrew people, as strangers called them). So let's go for a quick summary of what has happened from the 1st to the 22nd parashiot.
All drawings by Elul Scharf ©
Genesis / Bereshit (book #1)
Creation of the world and all that is inside, then being kicked out of Gan Eden (gan = garden).
Then (or before, who knows), Adam and Eve have two sons: Cain and Abel. Cain is jealous of Abel and kills him. Adam and Eve have a third son: Seth.
Then: The flood myth. God is so disappointed by humanity. They want to start everything from scratch again with the human beings. Noah, his wife (with no name) and his three sons (Shem, Ham, and Japheth) + their wives (with no name) embark on a long journey in the ark with a pair of all the animals (except the fishes).
The rest looks like "Dynasty" (reference for the youngsters among us : "Dynasty " is a TV show created by Richard and Esther Shapiro and produced by Aaron Spelling, 1981-1989).
Sarah, formerly aka Saraï ; Abraham/Avraham, formerly aka Avram ; Rebecca = Rivka ; Isaac = Yitzchak ; Rachel = Ra'hel ; Jacob = Yaakov.
In short: 3 patriarchs aka "the three fathers" = Abraham, Isaac, Jacob + 4 matriarchs aka "the four mothers" = Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Lea. At the end, the fathers of the 12 tribes of Israel, from where the dynasty becomes a people.
Note the importance of Joseph, the favorite son of Jacob. His brothers hate him ("Brotherhood and Jealousy", season 2). They get rid of him. He is a slave in Egypt until he becomes the most powerful man there. At the end, the whole family goes to Egypt to escape famine. They live there happily, but not ever after.
Exodus / Shemot (book #2)
Fast forward 400 years later. A new Pharaoh is on the throne. Nobody remembers the goodness Joseph had brought to the country. The Hebrew people has grown and Pharaoh doesn't like this foreign people being so numerous in his country. He enslaves them. It's not enough to stop their expansion. He orders for all male babies to be killed. That is how a hebrew baby ends up adopted by Pharaoh's daughter. She names him Moses (Moshe, in original version).
Long story short, Moses becomes the leader of the hebrew people, God shows how powerful he is (the 10 plagues),
the hebrew people flees from Egypt through the sea (great miracle)...
...and wanders in the desert. It will last 40 years, but we don't know that yet (sorry for the spoiler).
In the desert, Moses listens to God for hours. God explains everything the Bnei Israel have to do. They are a special people to God: their goal in life is to serve God, and God explains how through lots of rules. Moses spends twice 40 days on Mount Sinai where he listens a lot and receives the tablets of stone (twice, yes).
Our Parashah of the week : themes in Vayakhel
Our parashah this week is telling us about how Moses, after coming back for the second time from Sinai, explains to the people everything God told him (for us, readers, it's a bit repetitive).
In a nutshell: the purpose of the hebrew people is the service of God.
How to serve God? By:
- keeping the Shabbat
- making offerings
What is needed to make offerings (also called "sacrifices")?
- build the Mishkan / Tabernacle, sort of portative temple that looks like a huge tent ;
- make everything that goes with it, furniture and objects: altars, table for showbread, menorah, incense...
- make the clothes of the Cohen Gadol (chief of the priest) and the cohanim (priests).
The name of the parashah: Vayakhel
Every text or book is named according to the first meaningful term of the text.
In our case, it happens to be also the first word, but that is not always the case.
וַיַּקְהֵ֣ל מֹשֶׁ֗ה אֶֽת־כׇּל־עֲדַ֛ת בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֲלֵהֶ֑ם אֵ֚לֶּה הַדְּבָרִ֔ים אֲשֶׁר־צִוָּ֥ה יהוה לַעֲשֹׂ֥ת אֹתָֽם׃
Moses then convoked the whole Israelite community and said to them: These are the things that יהוה has commanded you to do:
וַיַּקְהֵ֣ל
comes from the root :
קָהַל
which means "to assemble, gather"
and is from the same root as קְהִלָּה
which means "assembly, community".
Who is part of our "kehila"?
Option #1
In the following verses, analyse every term referring to a member of the community. How many different terms are used? Can you group them in meaningful subcategories? How many do you find?
Look at the hebrew terms in the text, see how they are translated. (Double click on the hebrew term to get the translation in a new side panel)
Then see which action is attributed to which term. Do you think it makes some sort of sense?
(כא) וַיָּבֹ֕אוּ כׇּל־אִ֖ישׁ אֲשֶׁר־נְשָׂא֣וֹ לִבּ֑וֹ וְכֹ֡ל אֲשֶׁר֩ נָדְבָ֨ה רוּח֜וֹ אֹת֗וֹ הֵ֠בִ֠יאוּ אֶת־תְּרוּמַ֨ת יהוה לִמְלֶ֨אכֶת אֹ֤הֶל מוֹעֵד֙ וּלְכׇל־עֲבֹ֣דָת֔וֹ וּלְבִגְדֵ֖י הַקֹּֽדֶשׁ׃ (כב) וַיָּבֹ֥אוּ הָאֲנָשִׁ֖ים עַל־הַנָּשִׁ֑ים כֹּ֣ל ׀ נְדִ֣יב לֵ֗ב הֵ֠בִ֠יאוּ חָ֣ח וָנֶ֜זֶם וְטַבַּ֤עַת וְכוּמָז֙ כׇּל־כְּלִ֣י זָהָ֔ב וְכׇל־אִ֕ישׁ אֲשֶׁ֥ר הֵנִ֛יף תְּנוּפַ֥ת זָהָ֖ב לַיהוה׃ (כג) וְכׇל־אִ֞ישׁ אֲשֶׁר־נִמְצָ֣א אִתּ֗וֹ תְּכֵ֧לֶת וְאַרְגָּמָ֛ן וְתוֹלַ֥עַת שָׁנִ֖י וְשֵׁ֣שׁ וְעִזִּ֑ים וְעֹרֹ֨ת אֵילִ֧ם מְאׇדָּמִ֛ים וְעֹרֹ֥ת תְּחָשִׁ֖ים הֵבִֽיאוּ׃ (כד) כׇּל־מֵרִ֗ים תְּר֤וּמַת כֶּ֙סֶף֙ וּנְחֹ֔שֶׁת הֵבִ֕יאוּ אֵ֖ת תְּרוּמַ֣ת יהוה וְכֹ֡ל אֲשֶׁר֩ נִמְצָ֨א אִתּ֜וֹ עֲצֵ֥י שִׁטִּ֛ים לְכׇל־מְלֶ֥אכֶת הָעֲבֹדָ֖ה הֵבִֽיאוּ׃ (כה) וְכׇל־אִשָּׁ֥ה חַכְמַת־לֵ֖ב בְּיָדֶ֣יהָ טָו֑וּ וַיָּבִ֣יאוּ מַטְוֶ֗ה אֶֽת־הַתְּכֵ֙לֶת֙ וְאֶת־הָֽאַרְגָּמָ֔ן אֶת־תּוֹלַ֥עַת הַשָּׁנִ֖י וְאֶת־הַשֵּֽׁשׁ׃ (כו) וְכׇ֨ל־הַנָּשִׁ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֨ר נָשָׂ֥א לִבָּ֛ן אֹתָ֖נָה בְּחׇכְמָ֑ה טָו֖וּ אֶת־הָעִזִּֽים׃ (כז) וְהַנְּשִׂאִ֣ם הֵבִ֔יאוּ אֵ֚ת אַבְנֵ֣י הַשֹּׁ֔הַם וְאֵ֖ת אַבְנֵ֣י הַמִּלֻּאִ֑ים לָאֵפ֖וֹד וְלַחֹֽשֶׁן׃ (כח) וְאֶת־הַבֹּ֖שֶׂם וְאֶת־הַשָּׁ֑מֶן לְמָא֕וֹר וּלְשֶׁ֙מֶן֙ הַמִּשְׁחָ֔ה וְלִקְטֹ֖רֶת הַסַּמִּֽים׃ (כט) כׇּל־אִ֣ישׁ וְאִשָּׁ֗ה אֲשֶׁ֨ר נָדַ֣ב לִבָּם֮ אֹתָם֒ לְהָבִיא֙ לְכׇל־הַמְּלָאכָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֨ר צִוָּ֧ה יהוה לַעֲשׂ֖וֹת בְּיַד־מֹשֶׁ֑ה הֵבִ֧יאוּ בְנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל נְדָבָ֖ה לַיהוה׃ {פ}
(21) And everyone who excelled in ability and everyone whose spirit was moved came, bringing to יהוה an offering for the work of the Tent of Meeting and for all its service and for the sacral vestments. (22) Men and women, all whose hearts moved them, all who would make an elevation offering of gold to יהוה, came bringing brooches, earrings, rings, and pendants —gold objects of all kinds. (23) And everyone who possessed blue, purple, and crimson yarns, fine linen, goats’ hair, tanned ram skins, and dolphin skins, brought them; (24) everyone who would make gifts of silver or copper brought them as gifts for יהוה; and everyone who possessed acacia wood for any work of the service brought that. (25) And all the skilled women spun with their own hands, and brought what they had spun, in blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and in fine linen. (26) And all the women who excelled in that skill spun the goats’ hair. (27) And the chieftains brought lapis lazuli and other stones for setting, for the ephod and for the breastpiece; (28) and spices and oil for lighting, for the anointing oil, and for the aromatic incense. (29) All the men and women whose hearts moved them to bring anything for the work that יהוה, through Moses, had commanded to be done, brought it as a freewill offering to יהוה.
Bonus question: In the next verse, look up the signification of the hebrew word translated into "women". What made the translator here, as many others in other translations, decide this term can be translated as "women"?
(ח) וַיַּ֗עַשׂ אֵ֚ת הַכִּיּ֣וֹר נְחֹ֔שֶׁת וְאֵ֖ת כַּנּ֣וֹ נְחֹ֑שֶׁת בְּמַרְאֹת֙ הַצֹּ֣בְאֹ֔ת אֲשֶׁ֣ר צָֽבְא֔וּ פֶּ֖תַח אֹ֥הֶל מוֹעֵֽד׃ {ס}
(8) He (Betzalel) made the laver of copper and its stand of copper, from the mirrors of the women who performed tasks at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.
Note from the JPS translation of the Tanakh.
Option #2
Read the same verses and discuss who is participating in the building of what is needed for the service of God. Who is included and how? Who is mentioned and who is not mentioned?
Bonus reading
Extract from The Women's Torah Commentary, New Insights from Women Rabbis on the 54 Weekly Torah Portions, edited by Rabbi Elyse Goldstein. Article on Vayakhel by Rabbi Nancy H. Wiener.
"Why is this portion, Vayakhel, different from all other Torah portions? In this portion, and this portion alone, the women of the children of Israel are identified as a significant group withing the larger whole. Other portions mention individual women as part of the larger narrative, but no other so clearly demonstrates the significant place that women qua omen have within the larger community. Elsewhere we learn of the deeds of individual women. But details of women's daily lives and activities are markedly absent. We know something about how men spent their time - how they labored and what concerned them. But this is the only portion that gives us a taste of the variety of ways that women contributed to the vitality and maintenance of the people's material and spiritual life. In this portion, women respond to God's command to build the mishkan, the Tabernacle, a dwelling place for God's presence among the people. Women contribute to the spiritual life of the people. Women are explicitly mentioned both alongside the men and independently of them. (...)
The Torah unequivocally highlights that women are participating in the single most important sacred endeavor of the community of Israel's collective existence: the building of the mishkan, the place in which God's presence will dwell among the people and travel with them as they journey toward the Promised Land. (...)
The explicit inclusion of women in this week's portion is like a blast on the shofar. it stands in stark contrast to the deafening silence that pervades most of the Torah. This portion makes us wonder about the many ways that women's experiences were written out of our people's collective memory and history. (...)
But women did not and do not have an exclusive claim to invisibility. We are not the only victims of collective amnesia. Each generation has members whose stories are included in the community's narrative, and those whose stories are consciously or unconsciously excluded. (...)
The choice is ours. We can let our communities be like those of so many others that preceded us and most that surround us today. (...) Or we can strive to follow the stunning example of this portion, and set our communities apart from most by encouraging everyone who hears and heeds God's voice, and wishes to participate, to do so. It is only by choosing the latter that we make each of our communities a holy community, worthy of being known as a kehillah kedoshah.*
*Litteraly "holy community", "most common phrase utilized to describe a Jewish community".
Bonus Behind the Scenes : DIY Parasha Study
See here how to change the languages in Sefaria.
See here the Sefaria's learning tips (or how to use this website to the maximum).
See here Sefaria's tutorial (text and video) on how to make a source sheet.
See here the tech update from 2022, with how to look for a translation in one double-click.
See here for an official "Sefaria 101 webinar" from November 2023.