Vayakhel-Pekudei

Parashas Pekudei begins with the phrase אֵלֶּה פְקוּדֵי הַמִּשְׁכָּן מִשְׁכַּן הָעֵדֻת..., these are the accountings of the Mishkan, the Mishkan of Testimony….

Rashi explained that the Mishkan, as the “dwelling” for the Shechinah, bears testimony to the world that Hashem overlooked the Jewish Nation’s sin of making the Eigel, the Golden Calf.

The truth of the matter is that the Mishkan’s construction was outlined in the previous parashah. Its final assembly is first outlined at the end of this parashah. Why does the Torah choose this point in the naarative to mention that Hashem rested his spirit among the Jewish Nation?

Perhaps the lesson is this: The beginning of Parashas Pekudei consists of a detailed accounting of the materials donated for the Mishkan’s construction, highlighting the absolute integrity of Moshe and those who together with him collected the contributions and constructed the Mishkan.

To bring the Shechinah to rest in the Mishkan, it wasn’t enough that, as detailed in Parashas Vayakhel, everything was built perfectly to specification. The Mishkan also had to be built with total integrity.

Only as the Torah describes the meticulous honesty of all involved does it become apparent that the Divine Presence would make its home in Mishkan, and that it would bear witness to all that Hashem had overlooked the sin of the Eigel.

May we all merit to live our lives with integrity, and to bring a greater measure of Hashem’s Presence into this world.

Gut Shabbos.