HaMizrachi Weekly (UK Edition) | Parashat Pekudei 5784 by mizrachiuk

PEKUDEI 5784

The Eternal Link

Rabbi Andrew Shaw Chief Executive, Mizrachi UK

As we approach Purim, we begin to receive various things on WhatsApp that are amusing, clever and t into the category of Purim Torah.

At rst glance, that is what I thought I had received today.

I received this :

As I said, at rst I though it was a joke. Suggesting to give Matanot l Evyonim to UNWRA??? Wear a symbol of mourning during the megillah reading??!!!

However it is deadly serious, it is from the extreme anti-Zionist group – Rabbis for a Ceasere.

My main emotion whilst reading it, once I realised it was genuine, was sadness. How have our people abandoned their nation and sided with our enemies, especially at this time?

Similarly, this week we saw Jonathan Glazer’s speech at the Oscars, where he said whilst receiving his reward:

“Right now, we stand here as men who refute their Jewishness in a Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation which has led to conict for so many innocent people.”

Yes, in both these cases, there can be fury, anger and disbelief. However, for me the overwhelming emotion is sadness.

Yet, when Neturei Karta parade their hatred for Israel and many of their fellow Jews at rallies in London most weeks, siding with our enemies – my emotion is anger.

Why the difference?

The answer can be found not just in the parsha but in the entirety of Sefer Shemot.

We end Shemot this Shabbat with the nal parsha – Pekudei.

What does Pekudei mean?

In this case it is referring to the counting of weights and donations to the Mishkan. However, the idea of Pekudei, or Pekidah has been found several times in Shemot dealing with three specic areas.

First we nd it at the start of Shemot As Moshe attempts to convince the Jewish people that redemption is at hand:

Go and assemble the elders of Israel, and say to them, “The Lord God of your forefathers has appeared to me, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘I have surely remembered you and what is being done to you in Egypt.’” (Shemot 3:16)

The Hebrew words for ‘surely remembered you’ are יתּדקפּדקפּ◌:

Similarly, the nation saw the signs and believed in Hashem and Moshe.

And the people believed, and they heard that the Lord had remembered the children of Israel and that He saw their afiction, and they kneeled and prostrated themselves. (Shemot 4:31).

As I have written about previously, this Pekida is about the covenant Hashem has with us, the promise that Geulah is coming, but it will take time.

Pakod keeps the memory alive during the dark and dormant years, it is the genetic code for Geula.

The Rambam explains that it is like being lost in a storm. Suddenly there is a ash of lightning, and you can see clearly where you are heading and what direction you need to take. Then the lightning goes, and it is dark again and the work begins to make your way

home, but unlike before, you now have the vision Yet, still the journey home will be challenging.

The next time we meet Pekida, we have left Egypt, received the Torah and it is now time for us to be counted. Hashem commands the counting in the following way.

And the Lord spoke to Moshe, saying: When you take (ki tisa) the sum of Bnei Yisrael by their number (lifkudeihem), then every man shall give a ransom for his soul to the Lord, when you number them (bifkod otam),that there be no plague among them when you number them. (Shemot 30:11-12)

On this the Ramban comments:

“‘You shall number them’ (tifkedu otam) – this matter of ‘pekida’ (numbering) means remembering and taking care of something, as in,‘ And God remembered (pakad) Sara, as He had said’ (Bereishit 21:1), and this is the meaning of this term wherever it appears: not one of them will escape My attention. It is also related to the idea of ‘pikadon’ (a pledge), because His guardianship and providence is spread over them When God commands that Israel be counted, he says, ‘tifkedu otam,’ hinting that they should not be physically numbered, but rather that they should give a half-shekel as a ransom for their souls, and through that God will watch over them and their number will beknown.”

There is once again care, attention, and the idea that we are part of something bigger than ourselves. We are collected and counted together under God.

And then we come to this week’s Parsha – once again we meet Pekida, right at the start of the Parsha.

These are the numbers of the Mishkan, the Mishkan of theTestimony, which were counted at Moses' command. (Shemot 38:21)

Why Pekida here? This is not about people or promises, this is simply about weights and donations - inanimate objects.

What are we collecting for? It is not for anything mundane. This is to build the home for Hashem in our midst. The goal of the Mishkan is not the building of an expensive building overowing with gold, silver and precious stones. What is precious to Hashem is the Avodat shebalev, the service of the heart and the connection to the Divine Otherwise it is just a hollow building with no soul

So, Hashem exhorts us with Pekida – a link to his beloved counting of us and a link all the way back to His promise of our eventual Geula.

Fast forward 3500 years and we nd ourselves in a situation where there is much darkness but with our unfailing belief in Geulah, fuelled by Pekida, we believe.

That is why I am lled with sadness for all those Jews who don’t understand Jewish history, who don’t understand who we are and what Hashem expects of us in terms of loyalty to Am Yisrael, Eretz Yisrael and Torat Yisrael.

I believe these people genuinely mean well, who is not appalled by the loss of life. Yet we understand the truth of the evil amassed against us – and we will prevail. And we must try and bring these people with us on the journey

However, for Neturei Karta we cannot have the same strategy.

As the Satmar Rav said in November 2023:

“We see how far they have strayed from the path. They are walking around the world together… in broad daylight with the Shtreimel and the Hasidic clothes and shout together with the haters of Israel and murderers of souls. This is a terrible desecration of the name of heaven, to strengthen murderers in the name of the Holy Torah and in the name of heaven.”

They have purposefully broken away from the Mesorah to align with our enemies. There is no room for the same expression of pity as the groups and individuals that have lost their way through ignorance and an adherence to a warped progressive world view.

However anytime our nation is divided or confused, we must realise that this is not a new phenomenon. Throughout our history we have battled inner and outer demons to strive to maintain our belief in Pekida and Geula, which has fuelled us for thousands of years.

As Rav Matis Weinberg reminds us:

“There is only one choice – and eventually it must be conrmed. Still sustained by pacode yifcode, the covenant will not die and history will not leave us alone There can be nothing counterfeit in geula and that is why it takes so long. The last myths must run their course, do their damage and expose their sham. The process has begun – gestation proceeds beneath the surface.”

Ani Maamin

Shabbat Shalom

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