Parashat Pekudei

Transparency. This has become a byword of the last few years. Every person in every field seems to want transparency. We want transparency in how many people are ill with Covid. How many people have been vaccinated? How much money has been spent on masks? On vaccines? On medication? On hospital necessities? How is our tax money being spent? Transparency, transparency, transparency! No more smoke-filled rooms run by “Tammany Hall wannabes.” Let’s be transparent in policymaking and monies being spent. Sounds like a plan. Do people realize that this desire for transparency was actually begun during the Israelites’ journey through the wilderness? “These are the records of the Tabernacle, the Tabernacle of the Pact, which were drawn up at Moses’ bidding – the work of the Levites under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the Priest” (JPS Hebrew-English Tanakh, 1999). Apparently, as the Israelites constructed the Mishkan, some ancient accountant was recording every shekel that was spent for materials. For example, the gold used in the sanctuary came to 29 talents and 730 shekels. Each talent was approximately 3,000 shekels, so the total would have come to 87,730 shekels, which is clearly a great deal of money.

“The silver of those of the community who were recorded came to 100 talents and 1,775 shekels by the sanctuary weight: a half-shekel a head, half a shekel by the sanctuary weight, for each one who was entered in the records, from the age of twenty years up, 603,550 men.” That is a huge amount of shekels. Of course the silver was needed for casting the sockets of the sanctuary and for the curtain, and other sundry parts. Copper was also used for the sockets to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, plus the altar, the grating, and the utensils of the altar, as well as the enclosure, and other places. This too, was not inexpensive. The vestments for the Kohen Gadol had to have cost a great deal, too. The repetition about the ephod and the breastpiece reveal the emphasis on the finery of the clothing. This parashah reveals every detail necessary for an appropriate Tent of Meeting for the Israelites and for the celebrants of the worship service. 

Why must there be a recording of the costs? It harkens back to the question of leadership. Through God and the Commandments God has given to Moses, Moses must mold these former slaves into a nation. By empowering the Israelites to participate in the fabrication of the Mishkan and in the creation of the robe and ephod for the Kohen Gadol, the Israelites are actually helping to build a nation. However, Moses is still leading the tribes through the wilderness. The Israelites must have trust in their leadership. We know what happened when Moses ascended the mountain and was gone for 40 days and nights: apostasy. A golden calf took the place of God, and the Israelites’ bacchanal revealed how corrupt the people had become in Moses’ absence.

In creating the Mishkan, the Israelites redeem themselves somewhat, though the generation that left Egypt must die off before the rest of the Israelites are allowed to enter the Promised Land. But rather than allow gossip and mistrust, Moses wants transparency; he will have an exact accounting of all the materials that the Israelites have used to create the Mishkan that will be placed in the center of the encampment. It will be a constant reminder of God’s presence. There will never be another golden idol on Moses’ watch, and the people will know exactly how their money has been spent. 

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks z”l relates that “values in public life must encompass the ideals of equity, justice, honesty and integrity. . . . Moses’ personal example, in giving an accounting of the funds that had been collected for the first collective project of the Jewish people, does indeed contain a message for all time.” Perhaps we should send Parashat Pekudei to the governors of every state and to the entire Congress. Mmmmm — it is something to think about. 

Shabbat Shalom