The tenth portion of Exodus, Vayakhel/And He assembled, is read from the Torah scroll on Shabbat, March 5, 2016.
See how
my wife Miriam and I link this Torah portion to our life together through
photographs and tweets that reach out to the world through the blogosphere and
twitterverse: http://bibleblogyourlife.blogspot.co.il/2014/01/exodus-8-growing-gold.html
VAYAKHEL/AND
HE ASSEMBLED (Exodus 35:1-38:20)
“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.
The baby
was named for Mel's father and uncle at the brit, the ancient ritual of initiation
into the Jewish people.
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.
TUNE OUT,
TURN OFF, UNPLUG
Epilogue
from my book Photograph God: Creating a Spiritual Blog of Your Life http://photographgod.com
Once a
week tune out, turn off, and unplug. Put your cameras, computers, tablets, and
smartphones to sleep. Just tune into God's creations, enjoy family and friends,
walk in the forest and fields, watch the sunrise and sunset, play with your
children, and make love to your spouse.
Adopt the
formula instituted millennia ago to free the Israelites from their enslavement
in Egypt to free you from the being enslaved by the ubiquitous digital
technologies that too often rule all our waking hours. The fourth of the Ten
Commandments enjoins us to remember what it was to be a slave who never had a
break from the repetitive sameness of everyday life (Deuteronomy 5:12-15).
Make
every seventh day Shabbat, different from the other six days of the week. Make
it an Ecology Day by leaving the world the way we got it. Make it a Non-art Day
when we honor God's creations rather than ours.
As the
sun sets on Friday, my wife Miriam lights Shabbat candles, closes her eyes to
her busy week, and blesses God as Is-Was-Will Be, sovereign of the universe,
who bestows upon us a good and long life. On opening her eyes, she sees calming
candle light ushering in a day qualitatively different from all the other
digital days of the week. Until stars dot the sky Saturday night, she closes
her eyes to digital dependence and keeps them opened to the simple miracles of
being.
One day
each week, stop doing, stop making, just enjoy being alive. Delight in all that
happens around you. Don't seek out things to frame and shoot. Let them be.
Shabbat
is a divine gift to all humanity for all time. You are invited to enjoy Shabbat
as a powerful way to free you from being enslaved by technological wizardry.
On the
eighth day, you can return with renewed energies to being God’s partner in
continuing process of creation. Enjoy being immersed in the amazing
technological wonders of our era knowing that you are free on the next Shabbat
to tune out, turn off, and unplug.
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