Vayakhel: Creating Community

Rabbi Joel Fleekop

Friday, March 16, 2007

Shodenfreud. Shodenfreud is a German word that loosely translates as finding pleasure or delight in another’s misfortune. Since there is no real English equivalent, mainstream and not-so-mainstream media have resorted to using this alien word. It has made its way into newspapers, magazines, and TV scripts. There is even a song in the musical Avenue Q about this funny sounding word.

Shodenfreud’s rapid ascent in usage is remarkable and perhaps says something about the times in which we live in. But it is far from the only foreign word being uttered by English speakers. Words like the Spanish machismo and the French je ne sais quoi have also made their way into the mouths of mono-lingual Americans. Some have even been welcomed into the English dictionary.

This week’s Torah portion begins with a word that also does not have an English equivalent, but sadly a word that has not found wide usage amongst us and our English speaking friends. The word is the Hebrew, Va’yakhel.

Va’yakhel’s root, Koof, Hey, Lamed is shared with words like kehilla, community, and kahal, congregation. But it is a verb. Most Bible translations render va’yakhel as “convoke” or “assemble” but these choices offer no hint that community is at the literal root of the word. A truer, though perhaps more awkward translation, might be, “create community.”

Va’yakhel Moshe et kol edat bnai yisrael, And Moses created community of the whole assembly of Israel.

Of course this translation prompts us to ponder the difference between the pre-existing assembly of Israel and the community Moses created?

We find a hint in the commentary of the great French rabbi, Rashbam. Rashbam tells us Moses created the community in order to gather a half-shekel per person and to share with them the instructions for building the tabernacle. This, taken with the way the verb koof, hey, lamed, is used elsewhere in the Tanakh, for example during the consecration of Aaron’s sons as priests in Leviticus and during preparations for war in Second Chronicles, suggest that the verb vayakhel is more than just the creation of community. Vayakhel is the creation of a community for a specific purpose.

In this week’s Torah portion, that purpose was the construction of the Tabernacle. Under the guidance of the artist Bezalel the entire assembly of men, women, and children, came together to work on the sacred structure. Exodus tells us how they gave up their bracelets, brooches, earrings, and pendants to provide the gold, silver, and bronze needed. Others donated yarn and wood required by the construction. People also gave of their time, going to work in areas most suited to their skills and passions. The group of Israelites recognized the construction of the tabernacle as a shared responsibility and coming together to complete that responsibility, they became a community.

What are the shared responsibilities that cause us to makhelim, to create community?

Like our ancient ancestors who joined together to construct the tabernacle, the construction and upkeep of this synagogue is one reason. The medieval commentator Joseph Bekhor Shor explains that all the Israelites were assembled together to hear the request for help in constructing the tabernacle so that no one could say they didn’t have a chance to contribute. Similarly, through building maintenance funds and capital campaign contributions, everyone has had a chance to contribute to the infrastructure of this community, an act that has not only built a facility we are proud of but continues to bring us together behind shared visions for the future.

Speaking of the future, educating the next generation of Jews is another reason why we makhelim, why we create community.

Throughout Midrash the tale is told of how one day the wealthy Rabbi Tarfon asked Rabbi Akiva to invest some money for him. Rabbi Akiva took the funds and used them to support the local school. Several days later, Rabbi Tarfon asked to see his investment. Rabbi Akiva took him to the school and showed him students as they recited lessons from the Bible. Akiva pointed to the students and said, “This is the investment I made for you!” Instead of being upset, Rabbi Tarfon thanked Akiva for the wise investment.

Like Rabbi Tarfon, Congregation Shir Hadash recognizes that no other investment offers a return as great as education. Our membership, including both parents of religious school and youth group kids, as well as those who don’t have children or whose children are grown, see the importance of providing today’s youth a quality and positive Jewish educational experience. And so we create community in order to achieve this lofty goal.

Education and acculturation of youth, as well as the maintenance and upkeep of the facility are often the goals or shared responsibilities that cause a synagogue to come together, that cause a synagogue to create community. But there are other reasons for us to makhelim, to create community.

We create community in order to have meaningful worship, as we have done tonight. We create community to perform acts of Tikkun Olam, as we will do in mass at the Health Fair on April 29th. We create community to celebrate holidays, as we will at our Chocolate Seder on April 7th. We create community for so many reasons, most of which will go unmentioned. But more than anything, we create community in order to meet the shared responsibility we have for one another.

The English language provides us with words like assemble and congregate. It even allows us to say join together. But none of these verbs really captures the action that makes Jewish life possible. It is makhelim, creating community to fulfill our shared responsibilities, that sustains Jewish life.

May this word become a part of our vocabularies, and may this action become a part of our lives.