Dear Friends,
Pikudei, this week’s Torah portion, is the last portion in the Book of Exodus. In addition to bringing the second book of the Torah to a close, it concludes the weeks-long process of collecting materials and fabricating them into the Tabernacle, the portable Temple our ancestors carried with them during their desert wanderings.
It begins,
These are the records of the Tabernacle, the Tabernacle of the Pact, which were drawn up at Moses’ bidding—the work of the Levites under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest. Now Bezalel, son of Uri son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, had made all that Adonai had commanded Moses; at his side was Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, carver and designer, and embroiderer in blue, purple, and crimson yarns and in fine linen.
Then in exacting detail, it lists all of the precious metals used in the project. And it is quite specific.
We are told,
“All the gold that was used for the work, in all the work of the sanctuary—the elevation offering of gold—came to 29 talents and 730 shekels by the sanctuary weight. The silver of those of the community who were recorded came to 100 talents and 1,775 shekels by the sanctuary weight a half-shekel a head…”
(According to the medieval scholar Ibn Ezra, a “talent” was the equivalent of 3,000 shekels.)
It continues,
“The 100 talents of silver were for casting the sockets of the sanctuary and the sockets for the curtain, 100 sockets to the 100 talents, a talent a socket. And of the 1,775 shekels he made hooks for the posts, overlay for their tops, and bands around them.”
It is far from the most exciting portion in the Torah and yet, as the Tabernacle is finally completed, the details of its construction are used to make an important point about community leadership.
As Midrash Tanchuma, an ancient collection of early rabbinic teachings, points out, despite Moses being God’s chosen messenger, having led our people out of slavery and consistently demonstrated his trustworthiness, he still provided a comprehensive and detailed accounting to the people. He could have assumed that, thanks to all he had done for the people, he would be beyond reproach, and yet he still elected to provide an exact detail of what was collected and how the collected funds were used.
By doing so, Moses exemplified a certain kind of leadership and set a standard of accountability and transparency for all future leaders to follow.
In fact, the Shulchan Aruch, the Code of Jewish Law written by Joseph Karo in 1563, goes into even greater detail on the importance of transparency and accountability when collecting tzedakah, and the great teacher the Vilna Gaon cites Moses’ behavior in this portion as the foundation for such detailed record-keeping.
Sadly, such accountability seems to be in increasingly short supply. While Moses never lost sight of the fact that he was a servant leader accountable to the people, both here in America and in Israel we see a move away from Moses’ example. We see late-night votes that blur the separation between the judiciary and the government. Both here and in Israel we see budgetary changes that directly impact the lives of countless people in negative ways.
This week saw hundreds of thousands of Israelis take to the streets prior to the final vote on “judicial reform.” Instead of taking their voices into account, however, the current government sent police with water cannons against them. Similarly here in America, we see Executive Orders aimed at punishing law firms that are perceived as having antagonized President Trump, attempts to destroy public education and rapid, often secretive, steps being taken to limit individual rights and freedoms.
This is not how democracies are supposed to function.
As we learn from this week’s portion, our leaders must be beyond reproach. Transparency and accountability, and the trust that emerges from them, are cornerstones of what it means to be a true leader. As the great sage Uncle Ben says to his nephew Peter Parker in the Biblical book of Spiderman, “with great power comes great responsibility.”
At the same time, we need to remember that we too have great power and great responsibility. We need to make our voices heard and demand the transparency, accountability, and equity that has been a guiding principle of leadership since the time of the Bible and upon which this nation was born. Stay informed. Speak out. Let our elected officials know what you are thinking. The changes we want and need to see in America and Israel won’t happen overnight. But only by staying the course and demanding governments for and by the people will we plant the seeds future generations can reap.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Daniel Cohen