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, 2011, and 2014), parshah Pekudei is read separately. In years with fewer than 54 weeks (for example, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, and 2015), parshah Pekudei is combined with the previous parshah, Vayakhel, to help achieve the needed number of weekly readings.

The Tabernacle

1 Summary
2 In classical rabbinic interpretation
- 2.1 Exodus chapter 38
- 2.2 Exodus chapter 39
3 Commandments
4 Haftarah
5 Further reading
6 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] In classical rabbinic interpretation

[edit] Exodus chapter 38

Rabbi Tanchuma said in the name of Rav Huna that when Exodus 38:22 reported that “Bezalel . . . made all that the Lord commanded Moses,” the verse did not say “that Moses commanded Bezalel,” and thus the verse taught that Bezalel was able to conceive on his own exactly what God told Moses at Sinai, even though Bezalel did not hear it from Moses. (Jerusalem Talmud Peah 5a.)

Rabbi Judah ben Simon taught that God required each of the Israelites to give a half-shekel (as reported in Exodus 38:26) because (as reported in Genesis 37:28) their ancestors had sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for 20 shekels. (Genesis Rabbah 84:18.)

[edit] Exodus chapter 39

Rabbi Judah ben Pazi noted that a similar word appears in both Genesis 1:6 — where rakya is translated as “firmament” — and Exodus 39:3 — where vayraku is translated as “and they flattened.” He thus deduced from the usage in Exodus 39:3 that Genesis 1:6 taught that on the second day of creation, God spread the heavens flat like a cloth. (Jerusalem Talmud Berakhot 6a.) Or Rabbi Judah ben Simon deduced from Exodus 39:3 that Genesis 1:6 meant “let a lining be made for the firmament.” (Genesis Rabbah 4:2.)

[edit] Commandments

According to Maimonides and Sefer ha-Chinuch, there are no commandments in the parshah. (See, e.g., Maimonides. The Commandments: Sefer Ha-Mitzvoth of Maimonides. Translated by Charles B. Chavel, 2 vols. London: Soncino Press, 1967. ISBN 0-900689-71-4. Sefer HaHinnuch: The Book of [Mitzvah] Education. Translated by Charles Wengrov, 1:433. Jerusalem: Feldheim Pub., 1991. ISBN 0-87306-179-9.)

Romans take the menorah from the Temple in Jerusalem (sculpture from the Arch of Titus)

[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

[edit] On Shabbat Rosh Chodesh

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

[edit] On Shabbat Shekalim

When the parshah coincides with the special Sabbath Shabbat Shekalim (as it does in 2011 and 2014), the haftarah is 2 Kings 12:1–17.

[edit] Parshah Vayakhel–Pekudei

When parshah Vayakhel is combined with parshah Pekudei, the haftarah is:

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

Ezekiel (painting by Michelangelo)

[edit] On Shabbat HaChodesh

When the parshah coincides with Shabbat HaChodesh ("Sabbath [of] the month," the special Sabbath preceding the Hebrew month of Nissan — as it does in 2007, 2009, 2010, and 2013), the haftarah is:

for Ashkenazi Jews: Ezekiel 45:16–46:18.
for Sephardi Jews: Ezekiel 45:18–46:15.

On Shabbat HaChodesh, Jews read Exodus 12:1–20, in which God commands that “This month [Nissan] shall be the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year” (Ex. 12:2), and in which God issued the commandments of Passover. (Ex. 12:3–20.) Similarly, the haftarah in Ezekiel 45:21–25 discusses Passover. In both the parshah and the haftarah, God instructs the Israelites to apply blood to doorposts. (Ex. 12:7; Ez. 45:19.)

[edit] On Shabbat Parah

When the parshah coincides with Shabbat Parah (the special Sabbath prior to Passover — as it does in 2012 and 2015), the haftarah is:

for Ashkenazi Jews: Ezekiel 36:16–38.
for Sephardi Jews: Ezekiel 36:16–36.

On Shabbat Parah, the Sabbath of the red heifer, Jews read Numbers 19:1–22, which describes the rites of purification using the red heifer (parah adumah). Similarly, the haftarah in Ezekiel 36 also describes purification. In both the special reading and the haftarah in Ezekiel 36, sprinkled water cleansed the Israelites. (Num. 19:18; Ezek. 36:25.)

[edit] Further reading

The parshah has parallels or is discussed in these sources:

Psalms 78:5 (testimony); 93:5 (God's holy place); 133:2 (anointing Aaron).
Philo. Who Is the Heir of Divine Things? 26:131. Alexandria, Egypt, early 1st Century C.E.. Reprinted in, e.g., The Works of Philo: Complete and Unabridged, New Updated Edition. Translated by Charles Duke Yonge, 287. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Pub., 1993. ISBN 0-943575-93-1.
Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 3:6:1–10:1. Circa 93–94. Reprinted in, e.g., The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged, New Updated Edition. Translated by William Whiston, 85–95. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Pub., 1987. ISBN 0-913573-86-8.
Tosefta: Zevachim 1:8; Menachot 7:7–8. Land of Israel, circa 300 C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., The Tosefta: Translated from the Hebrew, with a New Introduction. Translated by Jacob Neusner, 2:1310, 1434–35. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Pub., 2002. ISBN 1-56563-642-2.
Genesis Rabbah 3:9; 4:2; 84:18. Land of Israel, 5th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Midrash Rabbah: Genesis. Translated by H. Freedman and Maurice Simon, 1:25, 27; 2:783. London: Soncino Press, 1939. ISBN 0-900689-38-2.
Jerusalem Talmud: Berakhot 6a; Peah 5a. Land of Israel, circa 400 C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., Talmud Yerushalmi. Edited by Chaim Malinowitz, Yisroel Simcha Schorr, and Mordechai Marcus, vols. 1, 3. Brooklyn: Mesorah Pubs., 2006.
Exodus Rabbah 51:1–52:5. 10th Century. 10th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Midrash Rabbah: Exodus. Translated by S. M. Lehrman, 3:562–81. London: Soncino Press, 1939. ISBN 0-900689-38-2.
Rashi. Commentary. Exodus 38–40. Troyes, France, late 11th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Rashi. The Torah: With Rashi’s Commentary Translated, Annotated, and Elucidated. Translated and annotated by Yisrael Isser Zvi Herczeg, 2:507–24. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 1994. ISBN 0-89906-027-7.
Judah Halevi. Kuzari. 3:23. Toledo, Spain, 1130–1140. Reprinted in, e.g., Jehuda Halevi. Kuzari: An Argument for the Faith of Israel. Intro. by Henry Slonimsky, 162. New York: Schocken, 1964. ISBN 0-8052-0075-4.
Zohar 2:220a–269a. Spain, late 13th Century.
Thomas Hobbes. Leviathan, 4:44. England, 1651. Reprint edited by C. B. Macpherson, 643. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Classics, 1982. ISBN 0140431950.