DRASHA
Parashat VaYakhel may not be everyone’s favorite Parshah, as it essentially repeats word by word all of Parshat Terumah– a portion which is hardly exciting the first time around as we read in excruciating detail the Tabernacle blueprints. One personal silver lining, though, is that I can feel confident that if people are sleeping or spacing out, I’m not the only one to blame this morning. But joking aside, the seemingly “boring” nature of our Parshah raises an important question. Why is our Parshah necessary at all? Couldn’t these chapters and chapters of verses have been summarized in one line at the end of Parashat Tetzaveh: “And the Jewish people did as God commanded and made a Tabernacle.” Done. But instead we get a whole rehashing of things, telling us line by line, word by word, “God said do X, and the Jewish people did X. God said do Y, and the Jewish people did Y.” Is the Torah trying to bore us?
Unsurprisingly, over the generations many commentaries have grappled with or apologized for the seemingly unnecessary repetition in our Parshah. One approach taken is to view our Parshah in its hyper-local context. Last week, we read about the Sin of the Golden Calf that necessitated a breaking of the Luchot and a second instance of revelation. Given that, perhaps we can read our Parshah as a byproduct of the Sin of the Golden Calf as well. The Jewish people’s sin was so radical and changed their standing and relationship with God in such a fundamental way, that just like there was a need for a new set of Luchot and a new covenant to reflect this new reality, perhaps there was a need for a “new” Tabernacle and a new meeting point between man and God, as well. Thus, the Torah repeats the Tabernacle blueprints in full to emphasize that while the Tabernacle that is built may look the same as the initial blueprints introduced in Parashat Terumah, the relationship with God it represents and which lies at its bedrock is forever changed.
While certainly a clever and meaningful interpretation, and one that utilizes one of my favorite biblical methodologies– paying close attention to context– ultimately, this answer leaves what to be desired. On a very basic level, it is a famous debate amongst rabbis and commentators whether the Torah is actually presenting these Torah portions in chronological order, or if, perhaps, the very commandment to build the Mishkan in Parshat Terumah only took place after the events of the Golden Calf. Thus, according to Rashi who believes that the command to build the Mishkan only came after the sin of the Golden Calf, obviously this answer would be incoherent. The whole concept of a Mishkan only came into play after the Jewish people sinned and showed the need for a physical sanctuary, so obviously the repetition is not indicating some post-Eigel shift in the Mishkan. ...continued
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