In this week’s Torah portion, Pekudei, we come to the end of the book of Exodus with an account of the completion of the building of the Mishkan, the portable sanctuary in the desert. The final verses of Exodus recount Moses setting up each piece of the Mishkan, which was crafted by the people, and then, the “God cloud” descending to indicate YHVH’s Presence within the Mishkan.
Rabbi Shefa Gold shares a beautiful teaching about this moment in her book Torah Journeys:
“LEGEND TELLS US that all of the components for the Mishkan were completed to Moses’ satisfaction and he blessed all the Israelites who had created such beauty… yet the people had to wait for three months until it was erected and consecrated. Those three months of waiting might well have been more difficult than all the time spent in creative work. This is the spiritual challenge that confronts us when we learn that we are not, and have never been, in charge of the timing of God’s grace…Divine Spirit moves in ways we cannot control. We can only create the space. We can only invite that Presence in. This waiting time is a period of gestation. It is the darkness and cold of winter. It is the long wait for spring.
“Moses was told to wait for the first of Nisan, the month during which we are liberated from the narrowness of Egypt and the time of the recreation of the world. In Nisan, color and life return to the Earth; flowers begin to show their buds; the grasses sprout their new green; the miracle of re-birth surrounds us. During those cold dark months of winter waiting, it seemed like nothing was happening, but now we realize that beneath the ground, beyond our awareness, miracles were stirring. The waiting time was necessary to this re-birth of possibility.
“Still, this waiting time is a test of our faith and patience, in which we ask: “I have done all the ‘correct things.’ I have been faithful to my practice. I have followed the rules. I have said the right words and acted righteously… So why has Grace not descended? Why hasn’t my life come together in the way it’s supposed to? Why do I not feel loved and appreciated? Why is it still dark and cold? Why is the world still filled with misery?" During this long winter waiting, all the voices of impatience emerge as the spiritual challenge of Pekudei, and Faith rises to that challenge as we learn to wait and intuit the miracle that is stirring beneath the frozen ground.” (you can see the full teaching here).
As the first stirrings of spring begin here in New England, and as we continue to confront a world filled with overwhelming suffering, I appreciate Rabbi Gold’s invitation to look to the earth for inspiration. While we have limited control over so much that happens, we do have some measure of control over our own ability to stay committed to the project of building structures—in our families, our communities, the larger society—in which Godliness can dwell. Whether we are wrestling with personal pain or experiencing anguish at events happening halfway across the globe, we can continue to “create the space,” as Rabbi Gold teaches, to bring something healing and transformative into our lives and into the world.
As we enter into Shabbat, may we stay open to the “re-birth of possibility,” and nourish our own faith in the Power of possibility that moves within and through us.
