Parshat Pekudei-the eternal bond of Torah to the Jewish people.

(based on a shiur given by R’Isaac Bernstein zal in London in 1993)

א  וּמִן-הַתְּכֵלֶת וְהָאַרְגָּמָן וְתוֹלַעַת הַשָּׁנִי, עָשׂוּ בִגְדֵי-שְׂרָד לְשָׁרֵת בַּקֹּדֶשׁ; וַיַּעֲשׂוּ אֶת-בִּגְדֵי הַקֹּדֶשׁ, אֲשֶׁר לְאַהֲרֹן, כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְהוָה, אֶת-מֹשֶׁה.  {פ}

1 And of the blue, and purple, and scarlet, they made plaited garments, for ministering in the holy place, and made the holy garments for Aaron, as the LORD commanded Moses. {P}

חֵשֶׁב אֲפֻדָּתוֹ אֲשֶׁר עָלָיו, מִמֶּנּוּ הוּא כְּמַעֲשֵׂהוּ, זָהָב תְּכֵלֶת וְאַרְגָּמָן וְתוֹלַעַת שָׁנִי, וְשֵׁשׁ מָשְׁזָר--כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְהוָה, אֶת-מֹשֶׁה.  {ס}

5 And the skilfully woven band, that was upon it, wherewith to gird it on, was of the same piece and like the work thereof: of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, as the LORD commanded Moses. {S}

A dominant phrase throughout parshat Pikudei is :כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְהוָה, אֶת-מֹשֶׁה   which is found in the parsha 18 times(becoming a source for the 18 blessings of the Amida said every day.-see Tanchuma here).This phrase is not found in parshat Vayakhel regarding the making of the appurtenances of the Mishkan (shulchan,menorah etc) but only in our parsha regarding the priestly clothing.Why?

The Meshech Chochma(R’Meir Simcha of Dvinsk d.1926) on ch.39.v.1 answers this question in a classic fashion. He says that it is mentioned only with regard to the priestly garments because it is evident that every one of the priestly garments had shaatnez (mixture of wool and linen) in its making, which in normal circumstances would be forbidden to wear.It was only allowed because it was done from a special command by God to Moshe,and was a special case.If any other prophet would have said this was the law to use Shaatnez, since he would be contradicting the law of Moshe as conveyed by God, he would have been put to death.So the Torah had to emphasize that this was a special command to Moshe and it was our obligation to accept it,and it is an exception to the rule,which would not be the case if commanded by another prophet.

He gives a second answer.Normally the items made for the mishkan must be made ‘lishma’-for the sake of the mitzva(kavannah).What would happen if he made the item without this positive intention?The halacha is that every article mentioned in parshat Vayakhel cannot be made as a copy for private use.As a consequence, when such an object was made it is absolutely guaranteed that it is made lishma, otherwise I would be contravening Jewish law in the making thereof,and I am presumed to be making it only lishma as the alternative to this is unthinkable.However,the priestly clothing can be made as a copy for private use.If so, then making them for the mishkan must require a special reminder to make them lishma, to avoid the issue of making something ‘stam’, which would be diqualified.As such the extra phrase  כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְהוָה, אֶת-מֹשֶׁה   is absolutely necessary to ensure the level of true ‘kavanna’ required in the manufacture of these special garments.

A different approach is found in the writings of the Griz(R Velvel Soloveichik zal; d.1958 in Israel).As we know, parshat Pikudei is a repetition in many areas of the parsha of Tetzaveh, where these laws were first mentioned.He points out that just as we are wondering about the repetition of  כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְהוָה, אֶת-מֹשֶׁה  in parshat Pikudei, we can see that the same word(tzivui) is used to begin parshat Tetzaveh.What is the message of the use of the word ‘tzivui’ in both places?

The word ‘tetzaveh’ is referring to everything that follows on in the parsha,i.e. the priestly clothing.The significance of this word is explained (in TB Kiddushin 29a) as referring to a command for all generations.In parshat Terumah,the commands to make the vessels of the Mishkan do not apply for all time.He explains that even though these vessels were made in the first Temple of Shlomo and beyond, but they were not required to be made to exact specification as in the Mishkan. For instance, if in the Mishkan the shulchan was a certain ratio of length and breadth, as long as these proportions were reflected in the Temple, even without being exactly the same length and breadth as in the Mishkan, the vessel was acceptable, even if much larger than that used in the Mishkan.It was the aspect which was crucial, not the exact measurement.

Therefore the measurements in parshat Terumah are not ‘ledorot’ as these measurements could be increased in the ratio of how they appeared in the Mishkan.However,the priestly clothes were different.These measurements were fixed forever and would never change.This is supported by the use of the term ‘tzivui’ which fixes these details for all times.So too the repetition of  כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְהוָה, אֶת-מֹשֶׁה   in parshat Pikudei establishes the same point when the items were actually made.

R’Velvel goes on to say the following(a fantastic nuance):

א  וּמִן-הַתְּכֵלֶת וְהָאַרְגָּמָן וְתוֹלַעַת הַשָּׁנִי, עָשׂוּ בִגְדֵי-שְׂרָד לְשָׁרֵת בַּקֹּדֶשׁ; וַיַּעֲשׂוּ אֶת-בִּגְדֵי הַקֹּדֶשׁ, אֲשֶׁר לְאַהֲרֹן, כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְהוָה, אֶת-מֹשֶׁה.  {פ}

1 And of the blue, and purple, and scarlet, they made plaited garments, for ministering in the holy place, and made the holy garments for Aaron, as the LORD commanded Moses. {P}

In this verse it repeats the word “and they made’ even though this second time the word is superfluous as it already says ’they made..” R’ Velvel answers that in fact 2 different types of items are mentioned here, the ‘bigdei serad’ and the ‘bigdei kodesh’ of Aharon.The bigdei serad were in fact only temporary, to be used to cover the Mishkan on its travels in the desert and not for all generations.Therefore it had to add another ‘veyaasu’ to indicate that the clothing of Aharon was different, as it was fixed ‘ledorot’ and then the verse ends with the phrase  כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְהוָה, אֶת-מֹשֶׁה    to emphasize this distinction.The holy clothing is a permanent and never changing command.

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From these 2 great luminaries of the 20th century we have discovered another layer in a parsha which we may have come to think of as being repetitive and without too much to give that we did not know already.This is clearly not the case and the lesson I take from this is always to pray that we can be given the ability to approach the Torah with ‘new eyes’ every year and continue to be inspired even from areas of the Torah which we may never have seen as vital in previous years.This is the beauty of our sacred tradition and why it is has remained with us ‘ledorot’.

I also believe that R'Velvel is telling us a truth for our generation as we get nearer to the Messianic moment.The breakdown of the Jewish world is becoming very clear in terms of those who perform mitzvot and those who dont.The  Lubavitcher Rebbe zal always encouraged every Jew to get his fellow Jew to perform a mitzvah and with the insight of R'Velvel we now understand that this observance is what will keep us connected to our people and traditions until the Mashiach arrives.The word 'mitzva' is connected to the hebrew word 'tzevet' which means 'team', and this again reinforces the idea that if we want to remain on 'God's team' we do so by performing mitzvot. This is the antidote to assimilation and to the disappearence of Jews which is taking place at an alarming rate in this generation.

Let us pray that we will encourage as many Jews as possible to imbibe this message and will continue to do so until the advent of the Mashiach speedily in our days.

Shabbat Shalom SCW/Cherry Hill NJ March 2019