Shabbat Shekalim and Pikudei

I am pretty sure that this is the first time I read this particular Haftarah in English. I may have read the first two lines, but I remember quite clearly that rabbi Margolis gave me a pre-written speech. Mom was pretty mad about this, she thought I should actually write a speech based on my own understanding of the parasha. Shocking isn't it? I compromised. I read the first three lines of the haftarah and came across the one that said "Yehoash did what was pleasing to the lord." I got up in front of Congregation Beth Shalom in Kansas City and vowed that like King Yehoash I would try to do what was right in front of The Lord all the days of my life.

Exactly 24 years later and I still think this is probably the one nugget in this Haftarah that a 13 year old should cling to. The rest isn't particularly uplifting. It's all about Temple politics. The King has declared that the priests should no longer be in charge of most of the money that comes into the Temple. The priests were supposed to both collect the money and use it in order to maintain the Temple. They themselves were in charge of the upkeep. Imagine if the rabbis at the synagogue were in charge of the upkeep. If they had to change the light bulbs, repair the windows, paint the building, clean the bathrooms, and maintain the grounds? It turns out that the Priests were as woefully unqualified for this job as our rabbbis would be. They let the building deteriorate.

The priests agreed with the king and they set up a system where people could donate to the "buiding fund". This money would be used for the upkeep of the Temple and most importantly it would be used to hire skilled and qualified professionals to get the job done. The priests salary would come from people's guilt and purification offerings. A good solution. Still it's hard to get much from this if you are not involved in synagogue politics. One thing is that everyone has their job and if everyone does it then the world can function properly. It is probably better to let the priests be priests, the stonecutters be stonecutters, and the king be the king. Everyone's role is important. Everyone's is crucial, but they are not the same. A priest should not try to be a stonecutter. And all of us should try to be like King Yehoash and do what is pleasing in the eyes of God. We are all going to be doing different things.

The Torah portion is largely about the same thing. More politics. The Mishkan is finally finished! We now read one more time about each and every detail of what it looks like. This is the third time we read these same details, we read about them in the plans, in the execution, and finally in the completion. This last description however is in the form of a budget report. Moses is given a final report on how all of the gold and silver was spent. It is all accounted for. Wouldn't ever synagogue like this type of balanced budget!

Still we spend so much of our lives focusing on the details. They are repetitive and they threaten to overwhelm. How much time each day do I spend doing laundry, or cleaning the kitchen or preparing meals? Our children labor over tying their shoes or practicing piano or learning algebra. All of these things that we do are intensely tied up with their details. They are what make up our lives. They can be very taxing and boring at the same time. Yet at the completion of the building of the Mishkan the people bring the work to Moses and he blesses them. Finally! It has been done and it has been done well. We get the sense that they are both forgiven for the golden calf incident and have learned something in the process. When our children come to us with their shoes tied, or their song learned, or the test aced we would be wise to bless them. The details have added up to something bigger than themselves. It turns out that the tedious process has been a blessing.

The end of the parasha is tricky. God finally has his house and what does he do? His presence hovers over and fills the tent. The people can see it. No one can enter when the cloud is present, not even Moses. It seems that the people really did build this elaborate house for which God would dwell . If you tell this story to your children they will definitely ask "but isn't God everywhere?" Uhm, apparently not. God may in fact be everywhere but not in this parasha. God's presence is tangible because these people will accept nothing less. They have demonstrated that they can only believe in a God that they can see. God is giving them this as a gift. For whatever reason God doesn't give us that anymore. We are not privy to a physical manifestation of God's presence therefore we tell ourselves that God is everywhere. Maybe it is up to us as parents to help our children find the hidden presence. Yes, God is everywhere but it doesn't mean we have to stop looking. Look with your children. You will be amazed at what you may find.

Shabbbat Shalom