Today is the first day of the first month of the year. Yeah, I know Rosh Hashanah is the new year, but I am just telling you what it said in one of the two parshas that we read this week.

For those who don’t know, the Jewish calender is a lunar calender. In order to keep the month of spring in the springtime, an extra month getss added 7 times every 19 years. Every week, a portion of the Torah is read. The weekly portion is called a parsha. The sages who created the parshas had to create enough parshas to take into account the weeks of the extra month. When that extra month is not there, we have extra parshas, and these parshas get doubled up during the year. This year does not have an extra month, and this week is one that has a double parsha.

Let’s get back to our parshas. There is so much I want to share with you, which might seem strange given that it is almost all a repitition of earlier parshas. That is alright, for I plan on giving my ideas on the reason for the repitition, along with an idea that came from a Torah discussion group I was in many years ago.

And in honor of us about to become free (Pesach/Passover is only 3 weeks away), I have a bonus thought or two to share. So stay tuned…

The first parsha begins by stating we are not to work on the seventh day (shabbat) because haShem (god) rested from making the world on the seventh day. Immediately after, Moshe (Moses) tells the people what to contribute, providing they want to contribute.

Why are these together?

To understand this, we need to look at what the mishcan (tabernacle) is.

The mishcan is a place in this world for haShem to exist. Hashem created a place for us, and now we have a chance to create a place for him.

Remember way back when (in Bresheit/Genesis), that we were created in haShem’s image? Well, here is our chance to be like her. What did he do? She made a space for us by working only 6 days in a row.

This is why shabbat is mentioned first. We are about to build a place for haShem, just like she built a place for us. And so we also, to be in his image, should work 6 days and then rest on the 7th.

Ok, that explains the parsha starting with shabbat, but what about the voluntary contributions?

The answer to that is that haShem didn’t have to make the world. Sh did it because he wanted to.

Likewise, the only way to bring haShem here into our world is if we want her to be here.

How do we show we want him to be here? By giving the materials and effort from our own free will. In this way, we again become like haShem who also gave of herself to make a place for us.

Now that we are warmed up, let’s try to tackle all the repitition.

A few weeks ago, we had haShem telling Moshe how to build the mishcan in great detail. This week we have it repeated. And on top of it, the text keeps repeating “just as haShem commanded it.”

What gives?

To understand this we need to go way back to the beginning… back to the third day of creation where haShem tells the earth to make fruit trees that make fruit according to its type with seeds in it. Does the earth do this?

No.

The earth makes trees that make fruit that have seeds in it according to its type. The earth doesn’t do what haShem is asking. He wants trees that are themselves fruit and instead the earth provides trees that are not fruit, but make fruit.

Now you might be asking yourselves what do trees have to do with the mishcan and the repitition?

And my answer is that because the earth didn’t follow haShem’s orders, we see it is possible not to do things the way haShem says to do them. We need the repitition to show us that we did do things according to spec. And this is also why we keep reading “just like haShem commanded.”

There is one other reason for the repitition. Somewhere in this blog I mentioned how this book, Shmot/Exodus, seems to be very theme based. Now that we are at the end, let me tie the two themes into one and finish the second theme.

The first theme was getting out of Egypt. I described it as instructions on how to get out of a bad habit; how to change your life.

Well it is only the first part of changing one’s life.

The second part of changing one’s life, after getting out of a bad habit, is installing the way you want to live. In the text, this is receiving the Torah. In general you work on project management skills. Now the project might be yourself, or it might be something else like building something.

However, when the project finishes, you should not find yourself stuck without a way to get out of the old project.

But how do we do that? How do we know we are done?

This requires the last two steps of project management: doing the work and seeing if the criteria match the results.

And this week’s two parshas do just that. They describe the work and say if the job was satisfactory.

I would say it was given that the work was just as haShem commanded, and that in the end, the cloud of haShem resided in the final product.

Now that we have a couple of ideas on why the repitition, let me share with you a thought that came up from a Torah discussion group Rabbi Hanan Sills led some years ago. We were discussing the end of the last parsha of Shmot (Exodus) which says that when the cloud of haShem filled the mishcan, the people didn’t travel and when the cloud lifted, then the people travelled. We were going round and not having any clue as to what was going on here.

Suddenly it hit us. It was so obvious.

The Torah is telling us that when we are in a cloud, when we are confused and can’t think or see clearly, we should not move or make decisions. We should wait until the cloud lifts and then the way will be obvious.

God, I like your Torah!

On this first day of the first month of this year, I bless that everybody finds it in their heart to make an effort and provide a place for haShem in this world, and to pay attention to the cloud of haShem, for haShem will surely tell you where to go/what to do, and when.

If you want to read what I wrote about this parsha last year, click here.

About the Author

Shmuel Shalom Cohen spent 10 years studying Torah in Jerusalem. Six years ago, he started Conscious Torah to help Jews connect to their tradition in ways they didn’t think possible. Shmuel also started, and is the executive directory of Jewish Events Willamette-valley, a non-profit whose mission is to build Jewish community, pride, and learning. In his free time, Shmuel likes walks in nature, playing music, writing poetry, and time with good friends.