Pekudei- Shared Reading

Torah Portions 2.11: Shemoth (Exodus) Chapters 38:20-40:38

Hebrew Word/Phrase of the Week: Pekudei

Meaning: ‘Accounts’

This week’s Torah Portion is called Pekudei (פקודי), which means “Accounts.” This  continues where we left off with the building of all the items needed for the Mishkan (The Dwelling Place of YHWH).

Chapter 38: And so Betsal’el son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Yahudah, made all that YHWH commanded Moshe. And Oholiab, the son of Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan, was an engraver and designer. He embroidered the blue and purple and scarlet material, and the fine linen.

Fun Fact: Remember the half-shekel contribution we read about previously (in Ki Tisa- Torah Portion 2.9)? This was collected from every man twenty years old and above. That was from 603,550 men.

Chapter 39: And they made the set-apart outfit for Aharon, as YHWH had commanded Moshe. The shoulder garment was made of gold, blue, purple and scarlet material, and also of fine woven linen.

Fun Fact: They beat out sheets of gold and cut it into threads, to work it in with the blue and purple and scarlet material!

Then they engraved the shoham stones, using the names of the sons of Yashra’el and put them on the shoulder garment. Next was the breastplate. And like the shoulder garment, they used gold, blue, purple and scarlet material, as well as the fine woven linen. It was square and filled with four rows of stones. And they made braided chains and bound it to the shoulder garment with a blue cord, so that it not come loose from the shoulder garment. And Aharon’s robe was made of all blue woven work.

Fun Fact: The opening of the robe was in the middle, like the opening in a scaled armor, with binding all around the opening so that it would not tear.

Aharon’s hem of his robe was also decorated with pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet material. And with it were bells of clean gold between the pomegranates. Next they made the long shirt, the turban and its ornaments, the shorts and the girdle of fine linen for Aharon and his sons. But for Aharon they engraved a signet: SET-APART TO YHWH, and attached it on the turban. And after all this hard work was done, the work for the Dwelling Place was completed, and Moshe baruk (blessed) them.

Chapter 40: And YHWH speaks to Moshe, and tells him to raise up the Dwelling Place, put all the items inside and set-up the court yard. It was Moshe’s duty to anoint all the items and set them apart. He also needed to bring Aharon and his sons to the door of the Tent of Meeting, wash them with water, clothe them with the special garments, and anoint them to serve as kohanim (priests) to YHWH. And their anointing was to be for an everlasting kahuna (priesthood) throughout their generations.

Then it came to be in the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month, that the Dwelling Place was raised up. Moshe assembled all the items and put them in their proper places, according to the directions YHWH gave him, and completed the work. Then the cloud that covered the Tent of Meeting, filled the Dwelling Place. And whenever the cloud was taken up from above the Dwelling Place, the children of Yashra’el went onward in all their journeys. But if the cloud stayed, then they did not set out until the day that it was taken up. And so the cloud of YHWH was on the Dwelling Place by day, and fire was on it by night, before all the house of Yashra’el, in all their journeys.

This wraps it up for Shemoth! That’s means we’ve gone through the first two books of the Torah already! Great job!

Don’t forget to join us next time as we go to the 3rd book, Wayyiqra (Leviticus)!