P'kudei: Finding Your Own Way to Encounter God

This week, we're finishing up the second Book of the Torah, Exodus. The final parashah, Torah portion, is a peculiar, little reading, that mostly restates a lot of laws that we already heard earlier; about the  
furniture created for the Tabernacle, and the swanky clothing manufactured for Aaron, the Tabernacle's High Priest. But as I was scanning the text - deliberating in my head about what ELSE I could write about this week, since this isn't the most riveting part of Scripture - a question popped into my head: What about Moses? Our Torah portion outlines the most amazing threads, all worn by the High Priest, but what does Moses wear? Aaron, his brother, gets a tunic, a robe, a sash, a breastplate, shoulder-pieces, a headdress, and all of it in blue, gold, purple, and crimson (as outlined in Exodus, 39:2-31)... and Moses is left wearing his beaten-up, old robes, kind of looking a little shlubby. So what's the deal??

I mean, sure, Aaron is THE High Priest, and he's got some pretty important responsibilities, but Moses is still the one talking to God face-to-face; are you telling me that's LESS important than offering sacrifices?!? And while I was pondering this odd discrepancy, I also noticed a strange formulation in the text. In talking about the furniture that they made, the text says, "Thus was completed all the work of the Tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting" (Ex. 39:32). The problem is, 

the Tabernacle and the Tent of Meeting were two SEPARATE holy spaces. They were described differently, and they were located in two different places. And that got me thinking. Maybe the Tabernacle is connected with Aaron, and the Tent of Meeting is connected with Moses. Like Aaron (and his fancy-shmancy attire), the Tabernacle was flashy, ornate, filled with gold, and very impressive. And like Moses, the Tent was simple, and we are not told much about its furnishings. Furthermore, Aaron's Tabernacle was located in the center of camp, where demonstrative sacrificial ceremonies were conducted, and God's Presence filled the space, such that no one could stand inside the Tabernacle along with God. Moses' Tent, on the other hand, was located outside the camp, and God and Moses would have one-on-one, private conversations within.

To me, there's an important lesson in this realization. You and me, all of us, we encounter and engage God in different and unique ways. For some people, dressing up in their finest formal wear, sitting in a large 
Sanctuary on the High Holidays, listening to a Cantor sing intricate melodies, THAT is where they feel God's Presence the strongest. And for others, that scenario leaves them feeling nothing. Instead, for them, visiting someone in a hospital, surrounded by beeping machines, doctors and nurses running everywhere, dressed in sweats, and just holding someone's hand and offering a silent prayer, THAT might be where they find God. Neither option is 'wrong,' and neither holds exclusive access to Divine communication and relationship. Each person has to search within him or herself and determine where, when, and how s/he wants to find God. And nobody gets to tell you which is the 'right' or 'only' way to talk to God.

I imagine this was true for the Ancient Israelites as well. I picture some Israelites relishing the opportunity to stand near the Tabernacle in the middle of the camp, watching Aaron's grandiose, elaborate ceremonies, surrounded by official-looking Levitical priests, offering sacrifices and prayers to God... while yet other Israelites found it much more spiritual to watch Moses wander to the edge of 
the camp, and enter the Tent of Meeting for a private audience with the Divine. And by combining the two terms, 'The Tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting,' I think the text is telling us that the two were not mutually exclusive; God can be found in many, many different ways. It is especially important to remember that whichever speaks to you more, and however you want to communicate; God is always ready. When we feel alienated from a prayer space or a community, it is not God who is distant, it is ourselves. And the opportunity is ALWAYS there, at every moment, to turn back and find God. You just have to decide when you want to do it, and whether you want to walk to the Tent or the Tabernacle. But either way, God is ready to go. 


Photos in this blog post:

1. CC image courtesy of Dauster on Wikimedia Commons

2. CC image courtesy of Dauster on Wikimedia Commons

3. CC image courtesy of DcoetzeeBot on Wikimedia Commons

4. CC image courtesy of Les Chatfield on Wikimedia Commons