Pekudei

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Pekudei, Pekude, Pekudey, P’kude, or P’qude (פקודי – Hebrew for "amounts of,” the second word, and the first distinctive word, in the parshah) is the 23nd weekly parshah or portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the 11th and last in the book of Exodus. It constitutes Exodus 38.21–40.38. Jews in the Diaspora read it the 22nd or 23rd Sabbath after Simchat Torah, generally in March.

The lunisolar Hebrew calendar contains up to 54 weeks, the exact number varying between leap years and regular years. In years with 54 weeks (for example, 2008), parshah Vayakhel is read separately. In years with fewer than 54 weeks (for example, 2006, 2007, and 2009), parshah Pekudei is combined with the previous parshah, Vayakhel, to help achieve the needed number of weekly readings.

Contents 1 Summary 2 Commandments 3 Haftarah 4 Further reading 5 External links

[edit] Summary

At Moses’ direction, Aaron’s son Ithamar oversaw the accounts of the Tabernacle, and the text sets forth the amounts of gold, silver, and copper that Bezalel, Oholiab, and their coworkers used. (Ex. 38:21–31.) The silver came from the half-shekel a head for each man 20 years old and older who was counted in the census. (Ex. 38:25–26.) Bezalel, Oholiab, and their coworkers made the priests’ vestments, the ephod, the breastpiece, the robe, the tunics of fine linen, and the frontlet inscribed “Holy to the Lord” — just as God had commanded Moses. (Ex. 39:1–32.) Then they brought the Tabernacle and all its furnishings to Moses, and he blessed them. (Ex. 39:33–43.)

God told Moses to set up the Tabernacle, and Moses did just as God had commanded him, on the first day of the second year of the Exodus. (Ex. 40:1–33.)

When Moses finished the work, the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and God’s Presence filled the Tabernacle. (Ex. 40:33–34.) When the cloud lifted from the Tabernacle, the Israelites would set out, and when the cloud did not lift, they would not set out. (Ex. 40:35–37.) And God’s cloud rested over the Tabernacle by day, and fire would appear in it by night, throughout the Israelites’ journeys. (Ex. 40:38.)

[edit] Commandments

According to Maimonides and Sefer ha-Chinuch, there are no commandments in the parshah.

[edit] Haftarah

The haftarah for the parshah is:

• for Ashkenazi Jews: 1 Kings 7:51–8:21
• for Sephardi Jews: 1 Kings 7:40–50

When the parshah coincides with Shabbat HaChodesh (as it does in 2006, 2007, and 2009), the haftarah is Ezekiel 45:16–46:18.

When the parshah coincides with Shabbat Rosh Chodesh (as it does in 2008), the haftarah is Isaiah 66:1–24

[edit] Further reading

The parshah has parallels or is discussed in these classical sources:

• Exodus Rabbah 51:1–52:5.
• Zohar 2:220a–269a.

[edit] External links

• Masoretic text and 1917 JPS translation
• Hear the parshah chanted
• Commentaries from the Jewish Theological Seminary
• Commentaries from the University of Judaism
• Torah Insights from the Orthodox Union
• Commentaries from the Union for Reform Judaism
• Commentaries from Reconstructionist Judaism
• Commentaries from Chabad-Lubavitch
• Commentaries from Torah.org
• Text studies and commentaries from MyJewishLearning.com