03/27/2025 Torah Commentary

This week we bring our yearly reading of the Book of Exodus to its conclusion with the book’s final parashah: Parashat  “Pkudei”.  You will find it in the Book of Exodus: 35:21-40:38. 

This is not an easy section to read and even its name has provoked scholarly discussions. The verbal root from which we derive the name “pkudei” is not easy to translate.  Translators often render the root <p.k.d> as meaning “to make an accounting of” but in reality this verbal root has a number of other meanings or nuances. For example, in this week’s parashah it carries the meaning of “making a precise listing of the contents of the Mishcan” (the Tabernacle). The Mishcan was the structure that symbolized the unity of holy space and time. 

Hebrew readers will immediately connect the usage of this same verb to the tale of the Golden Calf (Exodus 32:34). In that tale the root means “to visit upon; remember; be punished for”.  This verbal root unites the idea of remembering the positive while at the same time being held responsible for our errors. How come?  One possibility is that this final parashah acts as a summary not only of the Tabernacle’s construction, but also of the construction of Israel as a people due to the Exodus experience.  It also reminds us that we all tend to remember the good and to forget our role in the bad.  The parashah teaches us that we dare not focus only on the positive or negative in our lives, but must make a full and honest accounting of the past and from it derive our plans for the future. 

Does the text use this multiple usage of the same verbal root to teach us that human beings are a composite of their good and bad?  Is that not a major theme found throughout the Book of Exodus?   As both individuals and as a nation are we not a mixture of good and evil, of moments of great creativity and moments about which we might prefer to forget? 

The construction of the Mishcan is not only a representation of both Israel’s moral development. Its construction also serves to symbolize each individual’s moral development.  This verbal root’s many meanings serves to remind us that G-d remembers, revisits and makes an accounting of our actions. This singular verbal root <p.k.d.> unites these concepts and reminds us that in each of our lives we are a combination of sacred and impure actions, of holy and sinful moments.

Exodus’ final parashah teaches us that our leaving Egypt was neither all good nor bad.  The Exodus was a confrontation with life’s challenges and taught us to celebrate the good and to face our mistakes.  In the case of the golden calf, we failed both G-d and ourselves.  In the case of the Tabernacle, we achieved our spiritual and national goals. The tale of the golden calf represents a moral weakness; the Tabernacle’s construction reminds us of human beings’ abilities to join the holiness of space and time.  

Is the text hinting at this unification by its use of the verbal root <p.k.d>?  Does this one simple word teach us that nothing is perfect in life?  Is the parashah’s name a lesson in understanding that we must view the future in light of the past? These contradictions have been part of humanity ever since the first encounters between Cain and Abel.  How are these contradictions part of your life?  Do you move past the bad to create the “better”?