וַיַּ֨רְא מֹשֶׁ֜ה אֶת־כׇּל־הַמְּלָאכָ֗ה וְהִנֵּה֙ עָשׂ֣וּ אֹתָ֔הּ כַּאֲשֶׁ֛ר צִוָּ֥ה יְהֹוָ֖ה כֵּ֣ן עָשׂ֑וּ וַיְבָ֥רֶךְ אֹתָ֖ם מֹשֶֽׁה
When Moses saw that they had performed all the tasks—as the LORD had commanded, so they had done—Moses blessed them. (Ex. 39.43)
One of the fascinating aspects of Torah study is how archaeological discoveries often offer adjustments to what we think we know, as they inform and disrupt our learning. Midrash and speculation are endlessly rich and exciting, but there’s nothing like actual concrete (more likely, rock) evidence of ancient religious practice and spiritual belief.
On this Shabbat Pekudei, named for the Torah reading of the week, we reach the last parashah of the book of Exodus as well as the last of the retellings of the building of the mishkan. By dint of the calendar this is also Shabbat HaHodesh, literally “the Shabbat of The Month.” By this is meant the first month of the Jewish year, the month of Nisan; on this Shabbat we announce that the month of Pesakh is beginning.
Our ancestors celebrated Pesakh by traveling to Jerusalem in what is called in English “pilgrimage.” In Hebrew the festival is referred to as a hag, a word related to the ritual of walking around the altar in procession – this procession was apparently a high point of all three of our harvest festivals, Pesakh, Shavuot and Sukkot. (If you’d like to see the closest relative to that ritual extant today, you have to go to the live cameras trained on the ka’aba in Mecca).
It’s interesting to learn that according to the archaeological evidence, already a long time ago our ancestors were developing a ritual for those who could not make the trip. We can zoom in, or visit a live cam, and their equivalent is possibly that which is pictured in the photo above.
The Magdala Stone is, as near as we can tell from how it is carved and where it was found, meant to provide a sense of being connected to the Jerusalem Temple when one was forced to remain at a distance. The stone itself is carved with all kinds of references to the central Shrine: the top may be meant to show the bread put out each week, and the Temple pillars are carved on the sides.
Look closer, and one sees something depicted inside the Temple, behind and partially obscured by the pillars: possibly, maybe, it could be the wheels of the merkavah, the chariot described by Ezekiel in the opening vision of his book – a chariot upon which HaShem was conveyed.
Pekudei is about so many myriad details that go into constructing the mishkan; Shabbat HaHodesh is likewise a reminder of the many details of preparing for Pesakh and the Seders we will celebrate together, G!d wiling. One might catch oneself in recoil from even more details that add to the overwhelm of our days. The Magdala Stone can serve us as a tangible reminder: all of life is a myriad of details, and the to-do lists will never be done. All those details, done well and carried out with kavvanah, intention, become a construction within which we will find the Presence of holiness. More: we will not find it otherwise.
Once more, then, beloveds, with kavvanah: into the details of the mishkan: the moments and the mitzvot of our lives.
Torah for the 21st Century by Rabbi Ariel Stone 