Once again, I find myself with far more to say about our Torah portion of the week than most of you would be willing to read, so, I have attempted to re-write my notes into more of a concise summary.
Our Torah portion this week, Vayakhel, to summarize in a phrase, is about creating holy spaces.
The portion opens with the reminder to first and foremost remember Shabbat. While entire books have been written about Shabbat and its importance, I will boil it down to its essence: taking 25 hours out of every 168 to make space for the holy in our lives.
And I'm not talking about 25 hours of prayer and acting holy! In the current craze of Marie Kondo style of organizing, she asks us to reflect on the question, "Does this spark joy?" The question at the heart of this method is not to get rid of as much as we can, but to look for those things which are serving us well and sparking joy. We can apply this to Shabbat.
When we Kondo-ize Shabbat, we drop the view of Shabbat as a day of exclusions and not doing, which turns Shabbat into a day of burden. Even the "rules" of Shabbat tell us that on Shabbat, we must not focus on the separation of the good from the bad. This means, then, that we cannot focus on the no's of Shabbat. Instead, we must look at the yeses of Shabbat. And what are the yeses of Shabbat? Shabbat is about creating one day a week that is focused on finding joy in the world around us. We focus not on what we are called to give up, but what we are called to embrace.
In Marie Kondo terms, instead of bemoaning what we are prohibited from doing, for one day a week, we embrace immersing ourselves in experiences that spark joy. So, what sparks for joy for you? A workout? (I cannot imagine, but hey, it works for some people!) Finishing a sudoku puzzle? Catching up on personal or family emails? Reading? Writing in your journal? Putting together a puzzle? Creating art? Knitting? Being with family or friends? Playing Euro games? Sharing a meal you have lovingly crafted with others?
To create a holy space around Shabbat, and to make Shabbat itself a holy space, think about what you can do to make Shabbat a delight... What would fill 25 hours with joyful moments for you? Lean in to joy, and leave the rest to the other 143 hours in the week.
As long as you remember that you are leaning in to joy because it is how you mindfully create Shabbat, that is how we make Shabbat holy, and allow Shabbat to make us holy, that is how we make Shabbat holy, and allow Shabbat to make us holy.
But that is only the first paragraph of our portion. Our portion moves on and revisits the details of the task of building the Mishkan: a call for offerings given freely from the heart, for those who are skilled to do the work, and very detailed directions are given.
When more offerings than can be used are brought, Moses has to tell them, "No more donations! We have more than enough!" That's certainly a new concept in the history of fund-raising and non-profit donation drives! A holy space was made in their offerings and generosity. They opened their hearts, and wallets, to be generous beyond the bare essentials. They took advantage of the opportunity to become holy through their generous offerings and work to make a holy space. Their generous hearts made it holy before it was even built.
Construction began on the Mishkan itself. It was to be a very holy space dedicated to the Holy as a dwelling place. It was a literal, tangible, 3-dimensional way to make space for the Holy to dwell among them. The details of the construction instructions include making the tent coverings, the interior curtains and hangings and lamp stands and tables and altar and washbasins–– all things that were to be used in the service of the temple.
All of these details are about carving out space in the wilderness to make room for the Holy. From the empty space of the wilderness, they enclosed a certain area to make the Mishkan. They transformed a wild, empty space into a holy space filled with meaning.
This begs the question, When is emptiness holy?
I've been thinking a lot this week about emptiness. Our western minds equate emptiness as being negative, whereas the Eastern mind looks at emptiness as a positive quality. The Buddha had a lot to say about emptiness.
In the west, we constantly distract ourselves from boredom. We clutter our days with constant activities, social encounters, things to do, and constant and never ending movement and busy busy busy. Many people even leave a TV on in the background just to have more noise. It's hard to find a restaurant that doesn't confront us with 85 TVs in view of every seat. Goodness forbid we miss a second of news or, gasp!, an hour of a sports game!
We are bombarded at every turn with clutter clutter clutter--auditory, visual, and/or the need to have and buy more and more. Not only is Shabbat a way to transform the clutter, and focus on what brings us joy, so, too, is emptiness.
There is a Chinese saying, "The usefulness of a cup is in that neutral, inner empty space." In this body and this life, we are cups in search of something(s) to fill us up and thereby give us a sense of purpose and usefulness. Yet, the true function of a cup is not what fills it, but to hold an inner empty space. An empty cup is still a cup. Whether empty or full, its function is the same: simply to mark off and hold empty space. This, too, was the function of the Mishkan. The Mishkan was not the Holy Itself, but the empty space wherein the Holy could dwell.
This kind of emptiness is not empty as the Western mindset perceives it, but it is an expansive, engaging emptiness sitting on the precipice of pregnant possibility and potential, not needing resolution, but an engaging awareness and radical acceptance of IS-ness. The Mishkan's function was simply to hold open that empty space to accept the IS-ness of G!d Whose very name and essence was IS-ness, Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh.
Our portion this weeks begs us to look at creating holy space, being holy space, and holding holy space, so that we might make space for the Holy. Making space for the holy might include prayer for some of us, yes, but it is much richer and deeper than that as well.
What makes you feel connected to the Holy? What might you do to elevate holiness in your world and the larger world? What does holiness even mean to you? And how will you create, be, and hold holy space in your weekly life? What of any of this sparks joy for you?
Then do that.
Rather than filling our lives with verbal and auditory and visual and mind clutter, let's begin to make a space for emptiness and holiness.
Dedicated to Yahala Chasnah bat Sarah v'nechdah Ruby Carrie Porch, z'l
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