Pekudei Archives | Academy for Jewish Religion

24 03, 2025

Parashat Pekudei – 5785

By Marisa Amith|2025-03-24T11:44:17-04:00March 24, 2025|

Both Sides Now

A D’var Torah for Parashat Pekudei

By Cantor Robin Anne Joseph

Let’s look at clouds. From all sides now. Shall we?

Clouds are—what? The presence of God? A cover for God? A signal from God? In Parashat Pekudei, they are D) All of the above. And then some.

One cloud in particular makes a brief, but spectacular, cameo appearance as the curtain comes down on the second “act” (Book) of the Five Books of Moses. Not just any cloud, not just a cloud, but The Cloud (הֶעָנָ֖ן). As much a supporting actor in the Torah as anyone (or anything) else, I’m continually surprised not to see the word “cloud” capitalized in the English translation whenever the article “the” precedes it.

This is not the first time that The Cloud has made an appearance in the Torah.

As early as in the Book of Genesis, when God makes a covenant, a Brit, with Noah to never again destroy the earth by flood, God sets God’s “bow in the cloud.” Read More >

13 03, 2024

Parashat Pekudei 5784

By Linda Ripps|2024-03-13T16:31:15-04:00March 13, 2024|

The portion Pikudei includes the action of building the mishkan, the portable sanctuary in the desert and the making of the vestments for the high priest.

13 03, 2023

Parshiyot Vayakhel-Pekudei 5783

By Linda Ripps|2023-05-03T12:08:59-04:00March 13, 2023|

Click HERE for an audio recording of this D’var Torah

Where do we face in our holy space?
A D’var Torah for Parshiyot Vayakhel-Pekudei
By Rabbi Rob Scheinberg

“Once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, “and what is the use of a book,” thought Alice, “without pictures or conversations?” — Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

Alice might have approved of the Talmud, which has conversations among the sages on every page. But she might have been disappointed that there are not very many pictures. There is, however, an evocative picture inspired by a verse from this week’s Torah portion, found in printed editions of the Babylonian Talmud in Rashbam’s commentary to Tractate Bava Batra 99a, that carries some relevance for us as we Read More >

3 03, 2022

Parashat Pekudei 5782

By Linda Ripps|2022-11-09T14:59:21-05:00March 3, 2022|

Click HERE for an audio recording of this D’var Torah

Making Space
A D’var Torah for Parashat Pekudei
By Rabbi Lizz Goldstein (’16)

Some weeks feel like there is just so much ungodliness in the world; it’s hard to know where to even begin shining the light of Torah. I believe in the power of Torah, of the Divine, of our spiritual connections, to help clear away the shadows of sadness and fear, but sometimes there are just too many shadows to get all of them, and I just feel overwhelmed.

In this week’s Torah portion, Parashat Pekudei, our scripture may not directly address the horrors of war in Europe, refugees traversing continents, impending climate disaster, changes to public health recommendations that will surely continue to drag out the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, nor the regressive laws across the country right now attacking the bodily autonomy of people with uteruses and the rights of Read More >

12 03, 2021

Parshiyot Vayakhel-Pikudei

By Rabbi Ariann Weitzman|2022-07-29T11:24:21-04:00March 12, 2021|

Click HERE for an audio recording of this D’var Torah

A D’var Torah for Parshiyot Vayakhel-Pekudei
By Rabbi Ariann Weitzman (’11)

Parshiyot Vayakhel-Pekudei recount the building, but more importantly, the embellishment, of the Tabernacle in the wilderness, according to detailed instructions given in last week’s parashah. This lavish description of fabrics, stones, weaving, woodworking, and artisanship comes on the heels of the building and destruction of the Golden Calf. There are some commentators who read the Golden Calf and the Tabernacle as two potential ends to the same impulse: a desire to build a physical presence to represent the ineffable, and to create a home for worship and supplication.

While the episode of the Golden Calf represented the worst possible process for building a site for communal worship, the Tabernacle represented the best. While the Golden Calf was constructed under the leadership of Aaron, who failed to either provide authority or vision, Read More >

20 03, 2020

Parashat Vayak’hel / P’kudei 5780

By Bruce Alpert|2022-07-29T11:24:28-04:00March 20, 2020|

A D’var Torah for Parashat Vayak’hel P’kudei
By Rabbi Bruce Alpert (’11)What does it mean to have a “willing heart?” The phrase is used three times in the opening verses of this week’s parashah, Vayak’hel/P’kudei (Exodus 35:5, 22, and 29). It likewise appears in Parashat Terumah, Exodus 25:2. In each instance the circumstances are the same; it describes the voluntary donations of precious materials (gold, silver, jewels, rare fabrics) used for the construction of the Mishkan – God’s dwelling place among the Israelite tribes. These donations are all made by those whose heart moves them to do so, and they are made in such profusion that Moses ultimately must command the Israelites to stop (Exodus 36:6).

But we only realize how evocative is the phrase “willing heart” when we consider the source of these gifts. These materials were acquired by the Israelites as they left Egypt, stripping it of its precious objects as Read More >

7 03, 2019

Parashat Pekudei 5779

By Rabbi Jill Hammer, PhD|2019-03-07T12:55:26-05:00March 7, 2019|

A Bell and a Pomegranate
A D’var Torah for Parashat Pekudei
By Rabbi Jill Hammer

A few months ago, I had the pleasure of visiting the Rubin Museum of Art in southern Manhattan, which displays items from the cultures of the Himalayas, India, and neighboring regions, with a particular emphasis on Tibetan art. Much of this art is spiritual, and related to Buddhist or Hindu practices. One ritual item I saw in multiple forms was the bell, one of the most important tools of Tibetan Buddhism. The bell, in that tradition, represents emptiness, wisdom, and truth. Another item, the vajra or scepter, represents bliss, action, and compassion, and is considered the complement to the bell—together they represent the union of all dualities, including the feminine and masculine. This got me thinking about bells and their companions a little closer to home: the bells and pomegranates on the bottom of the robe of the high priest in Parashat Pekudei.

The text Read More >

8 03, 2018

March 8, 2018 – Parashat VaYakhel-Pekudei, 5778

By Rabbi Rena Kieval|2018-03-08T10:17:34-05:00March 8, 2018|

You Gotta Have Heart…or Do You?
A D’var Torah for VaYakhel-Pekudei
by Rabbi Rena H. Kieval, ’06

The great communal building project of the mishkan, the wilderness tabernacle, finally gets underway in this week’s double Torah portion, and the participants who craft, create and assemble it are reportedly full of heart. The Hebrew word for heart –lev – and its variants libo, libam, and so on, are repeated at least a dozen times. We read of the generous of heart – nedivei lev (Ex. 35:5, 35:22), who donate their jewels and fine fabrics for the structure; the wise of heart – hokhmei lev (Ex. 35:10, 35:25), who are skilled and able to share their artistic talents, and their building and organizational abilities. We read too of the nesi’ei lev (Ex. 35:21, 35:26) those with uplifted hearts, or perhaps, those whose hearts have lifted them up to participate. The hearts of this community are so overflowing Read More >

10 03, 2016

Parashat Pekudei

By Rabbi Jill Hammer, PhD|2016-03-10T09:18:30-05:00March 10, 2016|

Parashat Pekudei: These are the Redemptions

by Rabbi Jill Hammer

There is a way that Parashat Pekudei brings the Exodus to its conclusion. At the end of Genesis, when Joseph is dying, he promises his family: pakod yifkod, God will surely take note of you. At the beginning of the book of Exodus the people cry out for God’s intervention, and God promises to redeem them: pakod pakadti, I will surely remember them. Now, at the end of the book of Exodus, we hear eileh pekudei hamishkan, mishkan ha’edut, asher pukad al pi Moshe: “these are the records/rememberings of the sanctuary, the mishkan of witnessing, that were recorded at Moshe’s command.” The verb pakad repeats twice, as if to remind us that God has now remembered the people. The promise God made to Moshe has been fulfilled.

In what way is the sanctuary a remembrance, a redemption? If Read More >

24 02, 2014

Parashat Pekudei

By ahsilver|2014-02-24T22:58:13-05:00February 24, 2014|

This week’s parashah continues the detailed description of the different components of the tabernacle, its vessels, and the priestly vestaments. An interesting theme within Jewish interpretation is the parallel drawn between the Tabernacle, the Holy Temple, and the universe. The following sources trace this idea over a period of a thousand years. They begin with Philo, who was born in the first century before the common era, and end with a Kabbalistic text from the Middle Ages. They all understand the Tabernacle or the Temple to correspond to something greater than their component parts, whether it is the celestial beings of the heavens or humanity itself.

Philo of Alexandria (20 BCE-50 CE):

The highest, and in the truest sense the holy, temple of God is, as we must believe, the whole universe, having for its sanctuary the most sacred part of all existence, (namely) heaven; for its offerings, the stars; for its priests, the Read More >

All shall unite to do God's will with an open heart.

All shall unite to do God's will with an open heart.

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