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Parshas Vayakhel/ Pekudei- Following the Rules

For this year’s Parsha Lesson I will be focusing on a chinuch (parenting/ educational) lesson that can be derived from the Dvar Torah.

Background

The Jewish nation had had a tumultuous first year in the desert. They had left Mitzrayim (Egypt) on the 15th day of Nisan. Seven days later they came to the Red Sea and they were trapped by the Egyptian army with no possibility of escape. Hashem then split the sea for them in a fantastical display of His control of nature and clearly conveying to the Jewish people His tremendous love of them, and how the entire world will bend in the aid of His people.

The Jewish people came away from the Sea, in their own eyes and in the eyes of the nations of the world, as Hashem’s, the G-d of the world’s, chosen people against whom no one would dare raise a finger. The Jewish people were then attacked by the Amalek nation, and trounced them in miraculous fashion without suffering as much of an even slight injury. This all set the stage for this beloved nation of G-d, our nation, to begin the preparation process to receive the Torah six weeks later on Mt. Sinai. 

In the intervening time, the Jewish people steadily grew and developed in their ability to attain wisdom and spiritual greatness which finally culminated with the revelation of Hashem Himself to the Jewish people, and to the world. This revelation came along with the transference of the Torah, Hashem’s blueprint manual for the world, and which contained the wisdom of Hashem, to the Jewish people and to mankind on this world.

A mere 40 days later, after attaining the most significant heights of spirituality humanity had ever reached, the Jewish people sinned with the golden calf and were in danger of being wiped out. Moshe Rabbeinu, the selfless, devoted, shepherd of our people, davened (prayed) to Hashem for the Jewish people to be spared and forgiven. Hashem accepted Moshe’s prayers and the process of atonement for that catastrophic sin commenced, culminating in the day of Yom Kippur which would become the day of atonement for all time.

After Yom Kippur, the building of the Mishkan began. The Mishkan or Tabernacle, would be Hashem’s dwelling place amongst the Jewish people and would be the final part of their atonement for serving the golden calf. The campaign was met with tremendous excitement and fervor on behalf of the Jewish people. They were so motivated and determined to build a house for Hashem, with every detail and nuance that was commanded by Hashem, that they brought too much materials, had more than enough ready craftsmen, and the rest of the nation was standing by to ensure full and complete success of this mission. Under the leadership of Betzalel, the head foreman of this important project, and his assistant Ohaliav, the building and crafting began.

And finally, in the last week of Adar, at the end of the first year of the Jewish people being freed from Mitzrayim, the entire Mishkan and all of its components were completed and submitted to Moshe for inspection. Moshe looked over every detail of the work which was done and found it to be complete, perfect in detail and in accordance with Hashem’s commands. The Torah points out specifically, in praise of the craftsmen, that they had done exactly as Hashem had commanded.

And then, after 8 days of inaugurating the Mishkan, on the 1st day of Nissan of year 2 of the Jewish people in the desert, the presence of Hashem came to rest and settle amongst the Jewish people, amongst mankind. This official, more profound expression of the presence of Hashem amongst the Jewish nation was now permanent for all time.

Question

What was so special and significant about the craftsmen doing the work for the Mishkan ‘exactly as Hashem commanded’? Why would the Torah share this praise? 

When one appreciates the full context of what was happening and the excitement and determination that they had to make sure this project was successful, and considering that the people who were in charge of the work for this project were very righteous and pious, why is it praiseworthy that they, essentially, ‘followed the instructions’?

Answer

Perhaps the explanation is, as Rashi mentions in many other places, that specifically because these people were such great people, there was a challenge and test for them to not innovate and to only do exactly as they were instructed. 

Man has a natural instinct and interest in making his own mark, in innovating and imparting his own original insight into whatever he is engaged in. Such inclinations and interests are good, but they can also lead one astray and lead them to ‘break the rules.’ Especially considering, as the Sifsei Chachamim explains in Devarim 12:23, echoing the Gemara and the Midrash, that the inclination for evil that exists in every person, fundamentally, is to not follow the rules. ‘Don’t tell me what to do’ is the cornerstone and basic level of inclination towards evil that the heart of every man has.

As such, with both their natural inclination towards evil pulling them away from following the rules of Hashem, even if only somewhat, and their more uplifted instinct to innovate and make their own mark on the world, even such great people had some degree of struggle to refuse to be swayed and stay laser focused on only exactly what the commands were from Hashem. The fact that they did not and indeed stayed precisely faithful to what their job was, was worthy of the Torah sharing that praise with us, to be inscribed for all time.

Chinuch Lesson

Authority, adherence to authority and following the rules is the core of someone either being a good person or otherwise. We need to inculcate in our children, and model for them by ourselves, that following the rules and listening to authority is of tremendous importance.

In the famous episode of the infamous ‘ben sorer u’moreh’, or ‘wayward son’, who descends to unbelievable levels of depravity, the root of his descent into hedonistic and uncontrolled narcissism, is his obstinate refusal to follow his parent’s rules. Such a person will not follow societal rules and will become such a terror and ruthless human being as to necessitate his early demise.

Many years ago one of my Rebbeim shared with me that a relatively minor rule of the yeshiva I was in, was something that I should be very careful about. When I asked why, what’s the big deal? My Rebbi responded very gravely- for it will destroy your character. You will become a rule breaker. It is not only ‘not cool’ to break the rules, it is actually easier and evident of one’s weakness in resisting the urges of their inclination towards evil. A strong person, a more capable and uplifted person, will have the ability to follow the rules assiduously.

On the flipside, following the rules is an opportunity to develop one’s character. It is not merely proper, but doing so will strengthen one’s inner fortitude to resist their inclination towards evil and follow the rules of the ultimate authority, the authority of Hashem. This freedom from the domination of one’s inclinations is the root of being a ‘free person’, someone who is capable of behaving as their mind and reason tell them to, and to not have their powers of reason to be subjugated to their inclinations to rationalize and justify their behavior to do as they please.

G-d willing, this concept will be elaborated on as we enter the month of Nissan, the month in which we became free people and the month in which, our Sages tell us, we are destined to once again become free.

Wishing you and your family a wonderful Shabbos!

Rabbi Eli Meir Kramer

What's happening...

Principal's Message

Mrs. Aviva Hoberman

One hundred days!!! That is so many days of learning, growing, and discovering that have happened, and in Shalom we celebrated this milestone in style! Our students did a variety of fun projects, crafts, STEM activities, and more to reflect on how much we have learned this year so far. A big thank you to Mrs. Friedell for coordinating the 100th Day of School celebration in our school once again!

I would love to share some excerpts from a schoolwide writing activity as students responded to the prompt: “You have been in school for 100 days! What have you learned?”

I have been in Shalom for less than 100 days as I just moved and transferred to Shalom, but in those days I learned a lot. I learned that you don’t always have to call out to get a teacher to notice you. I also learned how to solve math equations with more than one step. In Hebrew, I learned the 39 rules in the Shabbos program. The first week I was in Shalom Torah I passed level one of the Kriah contest! Since then, I have been practicing kriah and passing many levels. Another thing I learned is that it’s ok to get help from the nurse if I get hurt. I have been here in Shalom for only 53 days, but in those days I have learned so much!

~ Ari Klugman, 4th grade

I learned to make a personal narrative writing. In math, I learned how to regroup. Also, I learned a lot of sight words. In conclusion, I love school!

~ Dalia Maksumov, 2nd grade

I learned a lot of math, and right now I am learning division. This is my first time in a Jewish school. I don’t know as much Hebrew yet as my classmates do, but I still get to learn chumash in a different class. Also in school I learn a lot of lessons for life… I made a lot of friends in this school. I really like it and I hope I can stay through 8th grade!

~Aaron Baruchov, 4th grade

I have learned Parsha, reading, and math. I love school because I get to do all kinds of fun things.

~ Kira Lipner, 1st grade

Ever since I came to Shalom, I have learned so much math. I learned how to multiply decimals. I take out the decimal point and multiply. Then I add the decimal point back in… In science, we learned about decomposers and how they work. We also learned about consumers. We learned that decomposers decompose by using acids in their stomachs. Consumers have energy by consuming food, and did an owl pellet experiment to see all the different foods that an owl ate. In reading we learned all about Peg Kehret’s life when she had polio. We are also learning how to write a biography…In conclusion, in STA I have leaned so much math, science, reading, and writing so far!

~Ginesa Cherry, 5th grade

These are things I learned in 3rd grade these last 100 days. First, I read “Molly’s Pilgrim”. I had a lot of fun learning that book because we had a play on it and I liked how it went. Next, I learned cursive, though I had a really hard time with it so I just tried my best. And then, I learned multiplication. I LOVE math so it was really easy and fun! Another thing I learned is types of matter. I had a pretty good time with it. Also during our Writing Workshop I wrote biographies on Dr. Seuss, Rosa Parks, and Jacques Cousteau. I learned to write acrostic poems and personal narratives such as, “My Favorite Family Tradition”. These are the things that I learned in the last 100 days.

~Hannah Estupinan, 3rd grade

Wow! So much great learning happened already, and so much more to learn! We are busy each and every day here, maximizing every moment, and the pride of accomplishment and the glow of success on our students’ faces tell the tale best of all.

Wishing you all a wonderful Shabbos,



Mrs. Hoberman

General Studies

5th Grade- Mrs. Shoshana Stern

The fifth graders have been progressing beautifully with their reading skills. We started off with perspectives (reading about Schools First Day of School on the first day of school) and then moved on to summaries. We have since mastered characterization which is proudly hanging on our bulletin board.

In honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday, we took it a step further as we joined up with the Nursery class to read to them and teach them the strategies and skills we have learned. Our 5th graders took such excellent care of their young charges and both the 5th grade and Nursery students were sad when time was up.

Looking for more fantastic progress as we head into the final stretch of the year!

Extra- Curricular

Art- Mrs. Samantha Faber

It has been such a pleasure meeting all of the children over the last several weeks. We have worked on a few projects so far.  We started out with Life Maps and a “stained glass” project. Last week grades 1-3 worked on a one-point perspective project with shapes and grades 4-6 worked on a one-point perspective of landscapes.  We discussed a little bit about Vincent Van Gogh’s use of perspective. Soon the children will be creating self portraits. I’ll be sending all of their beautiful artwork home for Pesach vacation. 

Pre-School

PreK- Morah Rebecca Ertel

We’ve been busy in Pre-K reviewing our letters. One of our favorite activities was a fun letter review game that got us moving around the room. We were mail carriers that delivered “letters” to mailboxes labeled with each of the letters A-M. After all of the mail was delivered, we checked each mailbox to make sure that the correct letters were inside. Playing a lock and key ABC match game was another fun way to review our letters. We identified pictures on locks and then had to locate keys labeled with corresponding letters to open the locks.

We especially enjoyed building with Magnatiles and working together in small groups. It was wonderful to watch the children as they built and collaborated with one another and shared ideas. Whether they constructed castles or towers, their creativity was endless!  

Please join us for this awesome

program every week!