Thought of the Week: Vayakhel-Pekudei - 5775

DOING AS COMMANDED  

In Pareshat Pekudei after the Torah describes the making of every single item, we are told “They were made as Hashem commanded Moshe.”

Commentators note that the construction of the Mishkan was an atonement for the sin of the Egel Hazahav, the Golden Calf.  The Egel Hazahav was not fashioned as an independent deity but rather was created to fill in the position of intermediary between the nation and Hashem.  Thus the problem of its making was not the concept itself but rather the fact that they were not commanded to do so.

Therefore, when constructing the Mishkan the Torah notes that atonement was achieved by the fact that at every step of the way everything was made “as Hashem commanded Moshe.”

Shabbat Shalom