Author: Shlomo Bar-Ayal

The preparation for Passover begins in the first week of Adar, a month an a half before Passover. That is when we begin reading the Four Portions. Each has a meaning for the holiday that we are about to celebrate.

All temples seem to look the same. The Temple in Jerusalem was in many ways not different. But when we look behind the scenes, we find a start difference. The Temple in Jerusalem was built to honor am ethical and moral God. The others were not.

The purpose of the Tabernacle was to bring the concept of God to the people. God is always with us but we need a concrete example of His presence.

The Torah stresses that there was an audit of donations to the Tabernacle. This is to teach us that those in an office of public trust must be open to an audit at all times.

Most of the commandments in the Torah are easy to understand. There are a few that we do not understand the reasoning, But we have to obey them all since God is beyond our comprehension.

Hiram of Tyre was chosen to be in charge of building the Temple. He came from a low status, but he was chosen due to his wisdom and ability. This teaches us that we should earn honor through merit.

One of the purposes of the Tabernacle was to create community among the Jews. Once people see themselves as a community then they will take care of each other.

Bezalel was chosen to build the Tabernacle because of his wisdom and humility. He knew that Oholiab had abilities that he did not and that he had abilities that Oholiab did not. But together they could do a great job.

In this week’s Torah portion donations were given to the Tabernacle. The donations were so great that Moses had more than enough. This is a trait of a Torah based society that they are willing to give more than is necessary. This is why the Torah places limits on how much one can give.

The Torah emphasizes the importance of keeping the Shabbat. When we read what is prohibited to do on Shabbat realize that there is something much deeper than just not working.