*Vayakhel, וַיַּקְהֵל  "And He Assembled" Exodus 35:1-38:20  |   Pekudei, פְקוּדֵי "Accountings" Exodus 38:21-40:38

Twelve Princes

Poetic notes on Parashat Vayakhel and Pekudei *

Oh Tabernacle, Tabernacle!

Pillar between earth today 

and the eternal heaven tomorrow!

You are the very heart of beauty!

Your Ark is the Beauty of Beauties

And you are the beating heart 

between wisdom and understanding

You are the divine kiss 

between triumphant glory

and the honour of absolute service!

The Divine Holy One is faithful

There is no one but Jerusalem

whom He has ever kissed

And you, you are kissed,

as long as The Divine Presence, 

the mouth of the Holy One, 

dwells with you!

“What should we do?

How can we have one mind?”

the Twelve Princes asked,

“We Twelve fall far short

of the glory of the Divine Beauty

How shall we assure 

that the children of Israel 

do not fall short 

of giving all they can,

to build the Tabernacle 

of the Divine Beauty?

Wonderful master crafts men and women,

whose skills touch the heavens!

Givers of blue, purple, or crimson wool

Givers of linen, goat hair,

or ram skins dyed red

Givers of tachash skins

Givers of silver and copper

from fore times and end times,

with all their acacia wood

Givers with hearts purer than gold

Wonderful wise-hearted women

whose hands spun blue, purple

and crimson wool and linen

With hearts uplifted,

they spun the goat hair

Just as G-d had spun the light of the stars

Twelve Princes stood proud of their people

and desired for them even more,

Godliness even greater

In order that the nations should fear G-d

and know that Israel was a forgiven people,

a people whose heart was purer than an ark of gold,

and whose mitzvot were the pillars of the world

In order that the nations 

not circle above them like vultures circle

over the body of the dying, the nearly dead

For Jews were dead in Germany

and dying in Babylon

Why didn’t we stand as we stand now

on that day before on Mt. Sinai?

The children of Israel have brought enough

for a Tabernacle of Testimony,

enough for time and for eternity

You can only give what you have to give

Bring no more from hearts that overflow!

What is left for us poor princes to do?

Out of the desert rocks you will grow

as a garden of divine onions

Your Torah will turn the ground inside out

so that you will sprout up with mitzvot!

Your Parshiyot will turn the skies upside down,

so that your arms will fill with blessings

You will come

bearing sholam stones and filling stones

for the breastplate of the Kohen Gadol

And you will bring ingredients for the spice

and for the lighting oil,

and for the anointing oil,

and for the incense

And you will stand humbly

in the honour of absolute service

In that day of the triumphant glory

When the Divine Beauty 

dwells in the Tabernacle of Beauty,

when there appears the cloud of fire and love,

the Testimony of His love for His people,

when first is last and last is first

Then Twelve Princes’ offerings

shall be repeated generation to generation,

from time to eternity

On Hanukkah will they be remembered with joy

for atonement

The chieftains gave their souls

The people gave beyond themselves

When was there enough?

Have we learned from our mistake?

Shall we be last or shall we be first?

After Moshe we all are like lazy lion’s cubs

We are like a thorny path

Our hinges have rusted

How long will we hesitate?

Get the fire going! Burn the ruins of Babylon!

Speak deeply to the heart of Jerusalem,

for she is pregnant with salvation,

for her iniquity has been appeased

All the ingredients have been brought,

All is done in joy

G-d's Tabernacle is finished!

There is no joy so deep, so rich

as the joy of HaShem’s service!

"Now! All who thirst

go to its water

and whoever has no money

go, buy and eat

and go, buy without money

and without a price, wine and milk."