Pekudei: Strengthening Our Leaders - #Day537 #Broadcast1269 #Pekudei #BringThemHomeNow #UntilTheLastHostage #AmYisraelChai💙

Pekudei: Testimony, All of It. - #Day536 #Broadcast1268 #BringThemHomeNow

The Sacred Balance: Building Without Excluding (Pekudei)

The Sacred Balance: Building Without Excluding (Pekudei)
Rabbi Menachem Creditor 

Parashat Pekudei, the final portion of the Book of Exodus, holds both the unsettledness of wandering and the fulfillment of creating sacred space. 

Just this past Shabbat, I had the privilege of participating in a gathering of the Jewish Funders Network, a group of deeply thoughtful leaders dedicated to strengthening the Jewish world. Their work is not only about funding but about strategic collaboration, ensuring that our collective efforts bring maximal benefit. We should all learn from this model—figuring out how to work together, to build efficiently and joyfully, to make room for one another. 

That, in many ways, is the heart of this week's Torah portion. After weeks of detailed instructions, the Mishkan—the portable Tabernacle—is finally completed. 

"Moses finished the work. The cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the presence of God filled the Tabernacle. Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud had settled upon it, and the presence of God filled the Tabernacle" (Ex. 40:33-35). 

Think about this: Moshe, who has led the people, who has carried the weight of their liberation, who has facilitated the construction of this sacred space—finds himself unable to enter it. God’s presence so completely fills the Mishkan that there is no room for Moshe. 

The mystics teach that God engaged in "Tzimtzum," a process of contraction, to make space for the universe to exist. If God had not withdrawn, there would be no room for anything else. And yet, here at the conclusion of Exodus, we see a moment where that space is not granted. God’s presence is so overwhelming that even Moshe is left outside. It is painful to read this narrative, to imagine how Moshe feels. 

What does that teach us? That shared holiness cannot found while taking up all the space, but in making space. In healthy relationships, in healthy communities, in a just society, we cannot overpower the other and expect harmony. We must be intentional in making room for one another, in ensuring that all voices are heard, that all people have a place. 

I think about this in the context of Israel today, about the deep fractures in Israeli society, about the ongoing agony of hostages still held in captivity, about the struggle for justice and accountability. I remember standing with my beloved teacher, Yossi Klein Halevi, during the protests against the judicial overhaul months before October 7th. I remember the intensity of the moment, the fight for justice, the fear that there somehow wouldn’t remain room for all of us. That intensity has not faded—it has only become more complex, more urgent. And yet, we must find a way to make space for each other, even in our pain, even in our struggle. 

As we prepare to close the Book of Exodus and enter Leviticus, we stand in this tension. Moshe is left outside, but the story is not over. There will be a next step, a next possibility. For now, though, we sit with the lesson of this moment: If we truly seek holiness, if we truly seek justice, we must build in a way that makes room for others. We must recognize that in pursuit of sacred vision, we are not the only ones who seek – and deserve – a place in this world. 

And if we can do that—make space for one another—then together, we can build something truly worthy, something holy. A world where there is room for us all.

Pekudei: Making Space for Others -- #Day535 #Broadcast1267 #Pekudei #BringThemHomeNow

Rabbi Creditor's Passover Books!

Slavery, Freedom, and Everything Between: The Why, How and What of Passover
(co-edited with Rabbi Aaron Alexander) - https://a.co/d/gHcnmWQ

A Seder Rhyme - https://a.co/d/gKEmgzt

Seder Interrupted: A Post-October 7 Hagaddah Supplement
(co-edited with Dr. Ora Horn Prouser) - https://a.co/d/eDeObP6

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