There are a few strategies for confronting a week such as Vayakhel-Pikudei, where the parsha is almost totally comprised of verses that we’ve seen as recently as last week and the material is very technical; it can almost resemble reading a manual.

First: look for language differences or nuanced distinctions and find lessons there.

Second: Thank God Vayakhel and Pikudei are both over this week and it’s not a leap year where they are separated and two distinct Divrei Torah will be needed.

Third: thank Him again that this week is Parshas Hachodesh.

Fourth: Get a scholar in residence.

All kidding aside, every letter and syllable in the Torah is pregnant with meaning and significance. After all, they were written and choreographed by God Himself. The significance of each word and phrase provides volumes of commentary and hours of sermons. There is never a dearth of material when one is talking about the Torah.

Nonetheless, it is fair to ask why all the repetition? Why are two parshiyos in the Torah devoted to all of this recapitulation of what has already been described? Why does the Torah completely repeat the narrative of Avraham’s servant finding Rivka to be worthy of marrying Yitzchak? The event happens and then the Torah re-hashes the story as the servant re-tells it to Rivka’s kinsmen? Finally, instead of detailing once the offering all 12 tribal princes brought to the inauguration ceremony of the Tabernacle, the Torah expends the verses to repeat the exact same offering 12 times.

Our sages answered these questions and provided all kinds of moral lessons for us. The repetition in our Parsha is no different.

Ralbag suggests that repetition was a pedagogical and literary tool with which the Jews during Moshe’s era were familiar. God wrote the Torah so that generation would understand it.

Rav Hirsch writes (English translation from the original German):

If we are not mistaken, all this prolixity is meant to tell us that both at the making, as well as the delivering, and finally at the assembling and erecting, the holy and symbolic meaning and purpose of each and every part which made up the whole edifice was present and vivid in the minds of the workers and Moshe, so that each part and the whole was made, delivered and set up in the spirit of its purpose, and so the symbolic character and meaning of the whole edifice and every part of it was vindicated. (Commentary on the Torah to Shmos 36:8).

Nowhere could be detected an effort, by adding or leaving out, to carry out an idea of improvement, to leave some impression of the artist’s own personality on the work. Each and every workman accepted as his highest aim the careful and precise carrying out, not of his own ideas, but the ideas and thoughts which were embodied in the commands of God This free joyful obedience, the happy consciousness of one’s own powers just by sinking one’s own personality in complete subordination to God’s will is what forms the most essential sign that characterizes a human being as an eved Hashem – the highest moral perfection that can be attained… (Ibid. 39:43).

Nachmanides (Shmos 36:8) identifies 5 different times when the descriptions, details and commands to erect the Mishkan are offered. He believes each conveyance of the narrative is for a different reason. Some represent the communication of general goals and some were details; some were from God to Moshe and then are some communications of the details from Moshe to B’zalel and Oholiav.

Second, Ramban suggests that the repetition was to encourage donations, the same way a fund-raising email will be sent multiple times. Similarly, Moshe’s goal was to obtain buy-in from the leaders, the wise men, so they would volunteer and be convinced that the project was possible and could be accomplished.

Third, Ramban states that there was a unity factor as well. One of the reasons for the recapitulation is to stress that none of the workers brought their work to Moshe until all the work had been done. They saw themselves as a team. They worked piecemeal, but the entire project was presented as one at the end.

Fourth, Ramban concludes that the multiplicity of narratives teaches us the abundance of reward on account of God loving the project as a whole. Ohr Hachayim Hakadosh offers a similar reason as well.

As we have mentioned over the past weeks, the institution of the Mishkan is a means of confronting and approaching our relationship to God. This is the basis of everything we do as Jews. The stated goal was for God to dwell inside of us, for us to feel Him. This relationship is historical; it is actually our first principal of faith - a belief in Divine providence, God’s direct and loving involvement in all of our lives.

I would like to suggest that there are two paths to approaching this relationship. I’d like to illustrate them through a story and analogy of America’s pastime: baseball.

Years ago, before I was married and had my own family, I loved spending time with my nieces and nephews. I obtained permission from my sister to take my two nephews to Cooperstown, NY, for a special event at the Baseball Hall of Fame. A few Jewish former players came and did clinics for the group as well. We got some hitting tips from Ron Blumberg and some pitching instruction from Ken Holtzman. It was a great few days, especially for baseball fans, as were all 3 of us.

Then my nephew Yossi asked me a great question. He was looking for Roger Maris’ plaque in the Hall and couldn’t find it. After all, Maris famously broke Babe Ruth’s home run record and slugged 61 in the summer and fall of ’61. We confirmed that he did not have a plaque in the hall. Upon reflection we learned that he had one amazing, record-breaking season, but the rest of his career was not worthy of the Hall of Fame.

This was a great mussar lesson for all of us.

There is the greatness of Cal Ripken, who played every day, never missing a game and ultimately broke Lou Gehrig’s Iron Man record.

In Judaism too, there is evolutionary spirituality and revolutionary spirituality.

At the end of last week’s Torah portion, Rashi, based on a Gemara in Eiruvin (54b) describes how Moshe taught the Torah to the Children of Israel.

"וירא אהרן וכל בני ישראל את משה והנה קרן עור פניו, וייראו מגשת אליו. ויקרא אלהם משה וישבו אליו אהרן וכל הנשאים בעדה וידבר משה אלהם. ואחרי כן נגשו כל בני ישראל ויצום את כל אשר דבר ה' אתו בהר סיני" (שמות ל"ד:ל-ל"ב)

Aaron and all the Children of Israel saw Moshe, and behold! — the skin of his face had become radiant; and they feared to approach him. Moshe called to them, and they returned to him — Aaron and all the princes of the assembly — and Moshe would speak to them. After that, all the Children of Israel approached; and he would command them, regarding everything tat Hashem had spoken to him on Mount Sinai (Shmos 34:30-32).

Rashi notes.

"אחר שלמד לזקנים חוזר ומלמד הפרשה או ההלכה לישראל. ת"ר כיצד סדר המשנה? משה היה למד מפי הגבורה. נכנס אהרן, שנה לו משה פרקו. נסתלק אהרן וישב לו לשמאל משה. נכנסו בניו, שנה להם משה פרקם. נסתלקו הם. ישב אלעזר לימין משה ואיתמר לשמאל אהרן. נכנסו זקנים. שנה להם משה פרקם. נסתלקו זקנים, ישבו לצדדין. נכנסו כל העם. שנה להם משה פרקם. נמצא ביד כל העם אחד, ביד הזקנים שנים, ביד אהרן שלשה, ביד אהרן ארבעה וכו' כדאיתא בעירובין נד:" (רש"י על פסוק ל"ב)

After Moshe had taught the Elders, he would repeat and teach the section or the law again to the rest of Israel. The rabbis have taught. What was the order of the teaching when Moshe taught Israel? Moshe would learn from the mouth of the Almighty. Aaron would enter; Moshe would teach him his chapter. Aaron would depart from directly in front of Moshe and Moshe and seat himself to the left of Moshe. Aaron’s sons would enter; Moshe would teach them their chapter. They would depart from before Moshe. Elazar would sit to the right of Moshe and Itamar to the left of Aaron. The elders would enter; Moshe would teach them their chapter. The elders would depart from before Moshe. They would sit on the sides. All the rest of the people would enter; Moshe would teach them their chapter. Thus all the people had one lesson in the chapter, the elders had two, the sons of Aaron had three, Aaron had four, etc., as it is stated in Tractate Eiruvin.

The aforementioned Gemara continues the story.

"נסתלק משה ושנה להן אהרן פרקו. נסתלק אהרן, שנו להן בניו פרקן. נסתלקו בניו, שנו להן זקנים פירקן. נמצא ביד הכל ארבעה. מכאן אמר רבי אליעזר, חייב אדם לשנות לתלמידו ארבעה פעמים... רבי עקיבא אומר מניין שחייב אדם לשנות לתלמידו עד שילמדנו? שנאמר 'ולמדה את בני ישראל' (דברים ל"א:י"ט). ומניין עד שתהא סדורה בפיהם? שנאמר, 'שימה בפיהם'..." (עירובין נ"ד:)

“Then Moshe left and Aaron taught his portion to everyone present. Then his sons left and the elders taught their portion to everyone present. Then his sons left, and the Elders taught their portion to everyone present. As a result, each portion was heard by everybody four times. From here Rabbi Eliezer inferred that a person is obligated to repeat each lesson to his students four times… Rabbi Akiva says: from where do we know that a person is obligated to repeat each lesson to his student until he knows it? As it says, ‘And teach it to the Children of Israel’ (Devarim 31:19). And from where do we know that he must repeat each lesson until it is fluent in their mouths? As it says ‘Put it in their mouths’ (Ibid.)” (Eiruvin 54b).

That would be evolutionary spirituality. There is also revolutionary spirituality. A study conducted by the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education of Yeshiva University yielded that most people’s spirituality is based on specific talks or events, not just the day-to-day heightened and noble living as a Jew, as was described above. It could be a kumsitz, a lecture, a video, a story that just blows our minds. In addition to Moshe teaching the Jews daily, HASHEM created quite a light and sound show at Revelation and created a Mishkan to inspire the nation. They would come from their farms – from living the routine of day-to-day life and experience that jolt of spiritual energy in Jerusalem.

I’d like to share such a story with you. Not everyone can learn the way Moshe taught us.

When in college, I was privileged to travel to the then Soviet Union for the purpose of assessing the needs of the Jews there and providing them with some Jewish knowledge and even some Jewish items. It was merely months prior to the Iron Curtain falling, My itinerary took me to Kiev, Leningrad/St. Petersburg, Riga and Moscow. In each city I snuck in a list of contacts and made my own schedule by contacting these holy Jews behind the Iron Curtain. One such man on my list was Sergei in Kiev. He invited me to a Hebrew class he was offering in his home. It was June and the weather was very pleasant. He was wearing jeans and a tank top. We communicated in our vernacular of a few dozen Russian words, lots of hand signals and his stalled English. He had invited a dozen or so Jewish friends to learn Hebrew. He was literally teaching them the first letters of Aleph Bais. I was inspired watching these Soviet Jews, who had been forcibly separated from their heritage, begin the baby steps of return. After about 47 minutes, Sergei had taught them aleph through ches, the first eight letters of the Aleph Bais. We joined the group for some kvass – a Russian type of beer – and we chatted and schmoozed. After everyone had left, I asked Sergei the question that was bothering me since the class had ended: why did he stop at ches and why did the class end after 47 minutes? I shall never forget his answer. It inspires me and drives my work to this day. Sergei looked me in the eye and said: “I returned from Moscow yesterday. I learned the Aleph Bais there. My teacher only taught us through ches. That’s all I know. I can’t teach them any of the letters after that.”

This blew me away. It wasn’t the pedagogical method of Moshe, of the Jews in the desert whose job was to learn and master Torah while in the wilderness. They did not need to cook, farm or shepherd. They were in kollel. These holy Russian Jews were not in first and second grade with a rebbe teaching them day after day, doing worksheets, taking tests and engaging in a planned review of the material. They were in a spiritual prison and had to learn it quickly. And the turn-around had to be immediate.

At the end of Pikudei, the Torah records:

"ויקח ויתן את העדת אל הארן וישם את הבדים על הארן, ויתן את הכפרת על הארן מלמעלה" (שמות מ:כ)

“He took and placed the Testimony into the Aron and placed the staves on the Aron, and he placed the lid on the Aron from above” (Shmos 40:20).

This is the only place where it says Moshe “took and placed.” Rabbi Moshe Binder, the Rebbe of the Slonimer Rebbe, stated that when it comes to the Torah, to the tablets, we take and immediately give. This is exactly what Sergei did. When I was involved with my hometown New England Region (NER) NCSY, we used to have a saying: “Don’t Keep the Faith: Pass it Around!”

We see this dual message of revolutionary spirituality and evolutionary spirituality in our parshiyos. The painstaking detail – the repetition – is the way we learn. That is how we absorb Torah, how we learn it well enough to transmit it.

Yet our souls also seek out the inspiration, experiencing something that we can’t merely learn in a classroom.

We need both.

The inspiration of grinding it out every day a la Ripken, is true baseball greatness. The thrill of an anomaly like Maris is fun to watch, to experience and makes for great memories. Both make the game great.

This week is also Shabbos Hachodesh. We look at the moon. We can look at the monthly waxing and waning and remind ourselves of the destiny of the Jew, the ups and the downs, knowing when things are on the descent that we are certain that we will go up again. This is both evolutionary – it happens month after month after month. Yet when we look up at the moon every night, this message can inspire us. When we will sit down to our family s’darim, we will look up and see a bright full moon, knowing we are at the pinnacle.

My son is in first grade and received his first Chumash a few weeks ago. You can feel the excitement on his face every time he opens it up and reads, “Bereshis” – in the Beginning;  “barah Elokim” – God created; “es Hashamayim v’es Ha’aretz” – the heavens and the earth. It may be tedious: he repeats it over and over. But he’s learning and he’s thrilled. I sit back, from time to time, and marvel at his accomplishments, how he’s grinding through it, word by word over and over again.

If I could just work on his proficiency with ground balls.