“How to Get People to Stop Complaining,” Rabbi Zecher’s Shabbat Awakenings
February 16, 2024 | 7 Adar I 5784
Welcome again to Shabbat Awakenings, a weekly reflection as we move toward Shabbat. You can listen to it as a podcast here.
It took 15 chapters, 4.5 portions of the Torah reading cycle, one third of the book of Exodus, and 456 verses to describe the building of the mishkan, the travelling sanctuary for the Israelites in the wilderness. That is one major construction project! It was complex with items like dolphin skins and complicated with numerous instructions, yet it was also simple to initiate the possibility that God could dwell among the people.
Let them make Me a sanctuary וְעָ֥שׂוּ לִ֖י מִקְדָּ֑שׁ
that I may dwell among them. וְשָׁכַנְתִּ֖י בְּתוֹכָֽם
(Exodus 25:8)
Many have pondered why build if the goal was for the Divine to be located in the midst of the people. Why expend so much effort, resources, and sweat? Why construct a physical place when God could not possibly be limited to one place? And if God was going to dwell among them, how would they know?
Perhaps, as Rabbi Jonathan Sacks suggested, whose memory is a blessing, the intention had more to do with communal experience.
The Israelites knew what it meant to build as slaves. They had no choice and their backbreaking effort served their oppressors. But the chance to build something special and sacred took on a different significance.
This was the divine gift to the newly freed slaves. They could produce what would become the focus of their productivity. As Rabbi Sacks pointed out, their freedom had allowed them to complain, the true act of liberty to express their frustration. It was a beautiful sign that the shackles had been broken, but it only yielded misery said out loud.
To erect the mishkan, the tabernacle, they would have to work together and offer not just themselves but their physical possessions to be successful as well. There are actually no examples of complaints in all of the descriptions found in the 15 chapters, 4.5 portions of the Torah reading cycle, one third of the book of Exodus, and 456 verses when their attention is on this magnificent group project.
Building this sacred structure brought them together, a synergistic effort representing the willingness to engage with each other to further strengthen the community of fellow Israelites.
And because of this, do you know what resulted because of this communal endeavor?
The Divine dwelled among them and with them as they moved together through the wilderness. Who could complain about that?
Shabbat Shalom!
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THIS WEEKEND AT TEMPLE ISRAEL:
- We come together as a community to celebrate Shabbat at 6:00 p.m., onsite or on Zoom, Facebook Live, or our website.
- Torah Study gathers onsite or online at 9:00 a.m. beginning with a short Shabbat service and Torah reading followed by an engaging study and conversation. All levels and abilities are welcomed!
- Thank Goodness it’s Shabbat gathers at 10:00 a.m. No registration necessary.
- Gather online to say goodbye to Shabbat with a lay-led Havdalah on Zoom at 8:00 p.m.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Elaine Zecher