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Twelve Princes
Twelve Princes
Poetic notes on Parashat Vayakhel and Pekudei *
Poetic notes on Parashat Vayakhel and Pekudei *
Oh Tabernacle, Tabernacle!
The very heart of beauty!
The very pillar between the present earth
and the eternal heaven
between wisdom and understanding
between divine triumphant glory
and the honour of absolute service
as long as The Divine Presence dwells in you!
What should we do?
asked the twelve princes
How should we assure
that the children of Israel give
all that they can give
to build the Tabernacle of beauty?
Wonderful master craftsmen
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
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
In order that the nations should fear G-d
and know that Israel was a forgiven people
That the nations not circle above them like vultures
over the body of the dying, the nearly dead
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 in time and eternity
Bring no more from hearts that overflow!
What is left for us princes to do?
Out of the rocks you will grow
as a garden of divine onions
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 G-d dwells in His Tabernacle
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
The chieftain 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
Was there enough?
Have we learned from our mistake?
Shall we be last or shall we be first?
After Moshe we all are lazy
We are like a thorny path
our hinges have rusted
How long will we hesitate?
Get the fire going!
Speak deeply to the heart of Jerusalem
for she is pregnant with salvation
for her iniquity has been appeased
All has been brought
G-d's Tabernacle is finished!
"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."
*Being a meditation on a Torah class on Parashat Vayakhel and Pekudei delivered by Rabbi Baitelman of ChaBaD Richmond, B.C., based on the series, Torah Studies, by Rohr Jewish Learning Institute. Neither Rabbi Baitelman nor the JLI have reviewed or approved of the content of this post.
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