Pikudei 2022

1“These are the accountings of the Tabernacle, the Tabernacle of Testimony.” The Chumash interrupts the narrative of the building of the Mishkan that began last week in Vayakhel with a brief accounting.

21/ gold = 920 Kikar (A Kikar was three thousand shekels [Rashi]) plus 730 shekels of gold were collected. The Torah offers no information as to where the gold went because the use is obvious.

32/ silver = counting silver = 100 Kikar plus 775 shekels. The 100 Kikar of silver were for the bases of the poles in the Kodesh and the gate. The 775 shekels were for the hooks that connected the curtains. (Any more silver would be used as needed.)

43/copper = 70 Kikar plus 2400 shekels. These were used for the copper altar and its meshwork (Michbar) and other vessels. Copper was also used for the bases of the poles in the outer courtyard and for the gate and the tenting stakes (Yisdot Hamishkan Vehachatzer).

5Many materials were needed for the Mishkan. Yet, only gold, silver, and copper were accounted for – and incompletely – raising the question of why this occurred. Ramban points out that we are not concerned with the gold because it was designated for the higher vessels and an accounting would have been unnecessary. It is also noteworthy that the gold came in primarily from rings and bracelets and afterwards a “Tnufat Zahav.”

6In order to understand the aforementioned accounting, I would suggest that we return to the beginning of Parshat Terumah, in which Moshe is commanded to take the three Trumot (collections). There, Rashi explains the three instances of the word “Terumah”: once for the mandatory half-shekel for counting the people, once for the mandatory half-shekel for the Korbanot Tzibur (communal sacrifices), and once for the voluntary gifts.

7The abovementioned silver was mandated at the very beginning of the process. “Bekah Lagulgoles,” namely, a coin for a head. In other words, the coin was life-redemptive. Contribute the half shekel and thereby become redeemed, become a part of the people. No individuality is expected; in fact it is frowned upon. Only through complete submission of the individual to the collective will you achieve the atonement. The accounting is important because one hundred percent participation was required. The rare moment of one hundred percent participation occurred at that time in this mitzvah. It is the only one of the collections where that mattered. As such, it is crucial that we understand where the money went. Clearly, it went into “joinery”: the poles are joined with this silver and the curtains are joined together.

8There is definite room for individuality in the Jewish nation. Consider, for a moment, the master craftsmen Betzalel and Ohaliav (“Ohal”, the master tent-maker). Think about their disagreement with Moshe as to the order of construction. As it turned out, their design was an improvement on that of G-D Himself! The majority of the Mishkan was through personal gifts. Each person gave according to his or her own heart’s desire.

9As we come to the end of the book of the Exodus, we recall Ramban’s words: “The book of Genesis reflects the creation of a physical world; the book of Exodus reflects the creation of a new nation.” We are a nation of individuals and, at the same time, a nation united. This is our strength, our redemption, and our destiny.

10Dedicated to the memory of Joel Shulman A’H