By Hannah Klein

This weeks dvar torah is double the fun and double the trouble with two parashot : Vayakhel-Pekudei. These texts follow the incident of the Golden Calf, addressed by Nina and Rena in last week's parshat hashavua.

Vayakhel and Pekudei contain details of the building of the Tabernacle according to previously given instructions as well as accounts all the donations given. The Israelites, perhaps feeling the need to overcompensate for last week, were so generous in their donations of gold, silver, copper and such that Moses had to actually tell them to stop. The Tabernacle can finally be completed, Moses anoints it, and initiates Aaron and his sons as holy priests.

More information on each text can be found here and here.

Something that jumped out to me as I read the texts was the appearance and repetition of the word construction. Construction of the temple, construction of the clothing, construction, one could argue, of the Jewish people while in the desert. As I’m sure many can relate to, constructionism is a topic I find myself engaging with very often.There are very few days when I don’t hear someone say (or have said it myself, which is most likely the case) how everything is a social construct. Gender is a social construct! Time is a social construct! Love is a social construct! I could go on.....

But all angst and frustration aside, we are all in some way part of the society we live in and are therefore a part of its construction. The Israelites play a very literal role in the construction of the Tabernacle which maybe is harder to relate to but all the same these texts lead me to ask - what is it we are constructing? I think this question ties back to the listserv

email Chaver Pele wrote about anti-semitism at the Oscars which prompted a great discussion on humor and jokes. While it is a step forward to become aware of social constructs that exist and the messed up ways they affect people, we have to be aware of how we become a part of their construction. Our actions, our words, and our voices have the ability to perpetually recreate those social issues we see. How do we find ourselves as a movement, as kvutzot, as individuals working within or fighting against constructional limitations for ourselves and for others?

At the end of Pekudei it says that when Moses finished constructing and arranging the Tabernacle, a “Cloud of Glory” arrived and filled the space. This Cloud of Glory guides the Jewish people throughout the desert, falling and lifting to lead them.

I feel that Habonim has lead me to develop a desire to construct something different than what I currently participate in, to work towards constructions of partnership and creativity. I don’t quite know what to make of this Cloud of Glory, but I think that working towards constructing positive spaces and relationships could produce our own little guiding cloud, whatever that might be.