Moses assembled the entire Israelite community and
said to them: "These are the things that God commanded you to do. Do all your creative work in six days, but
the seventh day shall be kept holy as a Sabbath, a day of complete rest for
God." (Exodus 35:1, 2)
As we celebrated the birth of our grandson Avraham Matityahu, Miriam pointed out that Vayakhel will be his bar mitzvah portion in 13 years.
Reading Vayakhel to an assembled Jewish community
from a hand-written Torah scroll will be his rite of passage into manhood.
Unlike reading in Western culture, a private silent act of
the eyes, reading in Jewish life is a public act of chanting with full voice.
We photographed our new grandson the day he was born, his
sister Elianne welcoming him home on the 3rd day, and the brit on the
8th day.
After holding the baby, Elianne took candlesticks, put a
doily on her head, covered her eyes and sang the blessing over Sabbath candles.
If it wasn't weekday play but the real thing, lighting the
candles would usher in a Non-Art Day in which we cease from all creative work.
While actively building the Tabernacle as a dwelling place
for God, Moses said to the assembled community: "Stop on day 7!"He taught that creating holy architecture in time takes precedence over building holy architecture in space.
The indestructible time architecture of Shabbat has kept the
Jewish people alive throughout millennia of wandering in troubled exile.
On day 7, we honor the divine artist by leaving the natural
world the way we got it.
The brit on day 8 symbolizes the human act of
intervening in nature. On day 8, we
partner with God in continuing the process of creation.
