With this week’s Torah portion, we come to the end of the Book of Exodus. The Israelites have gone from being an enslaved people, almost completely broken in spirit, to a free people, with a divine purpose received at Sinai.
The final step in our story of liberation is the completion of the Tabernacle, which represents the living connection between the Israelites and God: “For over the Tabernacle a cloud of the LORD rested by day, and fire would appear in it by night, in the view of all the house of Israel throughout their journeys.” (Exodus 40:38)
Freedom, moral direction, and a spiritual connection–these give our lives meaning today, just as they did to our ancestors. It is up to us to cultivate them.
Pikudei — Exodus 38:21-40:38, The Parashat Hashavua for Saturday, March 2, 2019
March 8, 2019 by Dean Kertesz •
With this week’s Torah portion, we come to the end of the Book of Exodus. The Israelites have gone from being an enslaved people, almost completely broken in spirit, to a free people, with a divine purpose received at Sinai.
The final step in our story of liberation is the completion of the Tabernacle, which represents the living connection between the Israelites and God: “For over the Tabernacle a cloud of the LORD rested by day, and fire would appear in it by night, in the view of all the house of Israel throughout their journeys.” (Exodus 40:38)
Freedom, moral direction, and a spiritual connection–these give our lives meaning today, just as they did to our ancestors. It is up to us to cultivate them.