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Exodus: Vayakhel
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Dear Rereaders,
All readings are rereadings, Vladimir Nabokov thought. Maybe so but some more than others. Jews, of course, cycle through a Torah scroll each year, then rewind and repeat. Readers of Vayakhel, the tenth parsha of Exodus, may feel especially strongly that they are watching a rerun, because this parsha duplicates material nearly verbatim from Terumah, four parshas earlier, about the construction of the Tabernacle. Carina’s description of that material as the stuff of “an upscale IKEA pamphlet” applies to Vayakhel as neatly as a peg from one Malm bed fits another. Things have developed, to be sure, in the interim: Where Terumah introduces God’s minute instructions for building the traveling sanctuary, Vayakhel narrates the actual process of construction: the people’s contribution of raw materials, the designation of chief artisans. But the later parsha continually rehashes the details o
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Parashat Tetzaveh describes the bigde kahuna, the sacred garments of the Kohanim and in particular, of Aharon, the High Priest. The significance of clothing is noteworthy. Clothing is so overdetermined with meanings. Often those meanings evoke strong emotions. When a medical practitioner approaches us wearing a white coat, many people become passive. The uniform of a police officer evokes a range of powerful reactions, often depending upon context and ethnicity. Rabbinic or hasidic garb easily identifies a person and often evokes many assumptions, true or unfounded. Similar experiences can be associated with military personnel, and with clergy and practitioners of many world religions. Clothes indicate socio-economic status, profession, and insider-outsider status in a peer-group.