vayakhel

I got an email this morning from Jewish Lights Publishing about various books that describe how you can find express your spirituality through crafts. There are four (four!) recently published books describing how quilting, painting, scrapbooking and knitting can be used to help strengthen a Jewish connection to the Holy. These are four different books by four different authors, not a part of a series. My inclination towards these books is skeptical at best. Jewish spirituality is found in prayer, in study, in doing Mitzvot. All of this "crafty" stuff seems to be taking the easy way out. Lets do what we enjoy doing and put a Jewish twist on it. This approach drives me crazy. Then I read this week's parasha.

This week's parasha of course is all about finding your spirituality through craft. We are back on God's favorite subject, his house. It is time to get busy actually building Gods dream house. Before the work can begin however Moses reminds the people one more time about Shabbat. If there is one thing God cares about more than getting this Mishkan built it is Shabbat. God is obsessed with every detail of the mishkan. We are getting ready to hear about all of those details again. We read about them when they existed only in the mind of God and we will read again over the next two weeks exactly how each and every one of those details will be executed. The building of the mishkan will turn the people in a "kehilah" a congregation. It is the most important thing that they will do together as a group. But not at the expense of Shabbat, never that. The laws of Shabbat will be derived from the very work that they are about to tackle. Shabbat and the building of the Mishkan will be forever intertwined.

A project can never come at the expense of the essence of self. Yes, the Mishkan is important. Shabbat is more so. Have you had projects like the mishkan? Something so seemingly big it defines your essence? Our projects are important and in many ways define us. But they are not us. The defining bit of ourselves is not in what we make but who we are. We know our work or our projects is holy work when they start to feel like we are them. But then we have Shabbat.

This parasha goes back again to that concept of Terumah. Gifts given to the building of the Mishkan for all whose hearts are moved. Apparently many hearts are moved as the builders and crafters receive more material then they can use. Is everybodys heart moved to contribute or is it just that the people who do contribute bring so much? We are told that everyone whose hearts inspired them and whose spirits motivated them contributed. This is obviously not everyone in the community or we would have been told as much. Still the contributions were more than generous. Within a community there will always be those who give. The workers, the doers the givers. Our synagogue right now is looking for 100% contribution to the Capital Campaign. They won't get it, even Moses couldn't get it. It's the nature of community. Luckily many of our hearts are moved. And we whose hearts are moved have the challenge, the challenge and the burden to inspire others. If we can do it, if the leaders can actually do it then the community is a good one. Just don't loose sight of Shabbat, of who we really are. Do it with integrity.

So who are these talented craft people? The women whose "hearts inspired them with wisdom" who spun the goat hair? We have weavers and carvers and embroiderers and stone cutters and all types of artisans. They are filled with godly spirit, with wisdom,insight and knowledge. They are "wise hearted" and inspired. In fact they are called "chachamim" wise ones. Artistic talent and expression are holy endeavors. The artisans create the sacred space. They are absolutely using their talent to connect with holiness. Using art to express spirituality is what wise people do.

The building of the Mishkan brings the people closer to God because they are becoming God like through their creative acts. God is the ultimate artist. The ability to create is what makes us godlike. The ability to use our talents within a community is what makes us human. We are not all artisans but we are all artists. Our spirits are moved to do something within the creative realm. Many of us will spend our whole lives searching for this means. I know I am. But meanwhile we give to our community. And we rest on Shabbat.

Shabbat Shalom