Kol Ramah

This week’s parashah is Va-yaqhel [Exodus 35:1-38:20]. It is also Shabbat Parah, the third special Shabbat before Passover. Shabbat Parah always falls the Shabbat before Shabbat Rosh Hodesh Nisan or, as this year, two shabbatot before Rosh Hodesh Nisan. The weekly parashah is often combined with next week’s parashah [Pequdai] to conclude the reading of Exodus with a flourish, the entire construction of the mishkan [Tabernacle]. This year they are read separately. It may seem familiar because the description of the construction closely follows the description of the plans for the mishkan which were featured three and two weeks ago, in parashat T’rumah and parashat T’tzavveh. Our discussion focused on the first verse of the first aliyah [the first verse of the parashah, Exodus 35:1] and the first verse of the second aliyah [Exodus 35:21]. We compared the construction of the mishkan with the making of the Golden Calf and discussed what motivates gift giving. How are we to understand why the Israelites gave