Vayakhel-Pekudei: Serve Like You Sin

By Zachary Fish

וַיַּקְהֵל מֹשֶׁה אֶת־כׇּל־עֲדַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם אֵלֶּה הַדְּבָרִים אֲשֶׁר־צִוָּה יְהֹוָה לַעֲשֹׂת אֹתָם׃

Moses then convoked the whole Israelite community and said to them: These are the things that Hashem has commanded you to do

What a weird way to start a פרשה.

Why start with ויקהל משה את־כל־עדת בני ישראל, the logistical precursor to messages of the פרשה? Just get to the point of what was said to the Jewish people, the ויאמר אלהם אלה הדברים אשר־צוה יהוה לעשת אתם. Moshe often had to gather עם ישראל when commanding them, so why point it out specifically here? Furthering the question, it’s the name of the פרשה! Shouldn’t the name of the פרשה reflect the content of the פרשה itself, not just the technical details that set up the פרשה?

Many of מפרשים deal with this question (the אבן עזרא, בכור שור, בעל הטורים and the אור החיים to just name a few).

However, I think the most poignant answer lies in last week's פרשה. When עם ישראל came to אהרן to build the עגל הזהב, how did they do it? The פסוק says:

וַיַּרְא הָעָם כִּי־בֹשֵׁשׁ מֹשֶׁה לָרֶדֶת מִן־הָהָר וַיִּקָּהֵל הָעָם עַל־אַהֲרֹן וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֵלָיו קוּם  עֲשֵׂה־לָנוּ אֱלֹהִים אֲשֶׁר יֵלְכוּ לְפָנֵינוּ כִּי־זֶה  מֹשֶׁה הָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר הֶעֱלָנוּ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם לֹא יָדַעְנוּ מֶה־הָיָה לוֹ׃ (שמות לב:א)

When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, the people gathered against Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us a god who shall go before us, for that fellow Moses—the man who brought us from the land of Egypt—we do not know what has happened to him.

Is it a coincidence that the same exact word is used just a couple פרקים ago by the חטא העגל? If I said it was, then I probably wouldn't be talking about it right now as it wouldn’t be so relevant to this dvar torah, and some of you might even call me a kofer. So, we’re gonna say it’s not a coincidence, and we’re in luck, because the מדרש agrees:

מדרש אגדה (בובר) שמות פרשת ויקהל פרק לה סימן א

לפיכך אמר משה רבינו ע"ה ויקהל, תבוא ועשו לי מקדש (שמות כ"ה ח'), ותכפר על מעשה העגל, שנאמר בו קום עשה לנו אלהים (שם לב א'), ותבוא קהלת משה רבינו, שנאמר ויקהל משה את כל עדת וגו' ותכפר על קהלת אהרן, דכתיב ויקהל העם על אהרן (שם שם)

The מדרש says that the reason the פסוק uses the word of ויקהל now is to highlight the fact that the building of the משכן was a כפרה for the חטא העגל, where the same exact language of ויקהל was used.

When thinking about this מדרש I think there are two extremely relevant messages for all of us.

First, we see that we have to properly channel our drives, not suppress them. When עם ישראל sinned with the חטא העגל, what did they do? They all came together and collected precious materials to create something physical that could help them connect to divinity. Instead, what were we supposed to do when building the משכן? All come together and collect precious materials to create something physical that could help us connect to divinity. Clearly, the כפרה did not involve a suppression or prohibition from the drives or materials that led us towards sinning, rather it came through properly channeling those original desires לשם שמים.

We have to use our natural inclinations, talents, and desires to bring us closer to serve Hashem. Everyone has aspirations and desires, and there are many opportunities for us to bring those forces into reality, but it has to be done properly. And it is crucial to not only make sure what we are doing is לשם שמים, but also make sure that what we are doing is the proper way to serve Hashem.

If we aren’t careful about how we apply ourselves we can be building the עגל instead of the משכן.

Additionally, this מדרש highlights the need for community. I don’t think it’s a coincidence (see above) that it is specifically the word ויקהל that connects the משכן and the עגל . People like people. And even more than that, us Jews like hock. The desire to connect with other people and to be apart of something greater than ourselves is universal.

How are we going to channel this desire? Through social media, fantasy football, or the kiddush club? (Is that controversial? Is it bad that part of me hopes it is) Or are we going to attach ourselves to groups and organizations that are grounded in Torah.

This is a question to think about over the שבת in which we read פרשת ויקהל.

It is also why it is the perfect שבת to kick off this group, Yesodei Hakotel, a group dedicated to connecting friends through Torah. I think this can be a great opportunity for all of us to fill that social need of connecting to others in a way that will not only not take away from our עבודת השם, but also enhance it. אם ירצה השם and אם ירצה us, this will be true for this group. And hopefully, if we embody these messages, we can continue strengthening our connection to groups that are only bringing us closer to Hashem.