Parshat P’kudei

This week’s parashah, P’kudei, completes the story of the building of the mishkan, the sacred structure in which God dwelled among the children of Israel. The parashah ends “The cloud of YHWH was upon the mishkan by day, and there was fire in it by night, in the eyes of all Israel throughout their journeys.”

Perhaps the key phrase is “in the eyes of all Israel.” God’s presence is everywhere, but most of the time we do not see it, and so we experience the world as spiritually empty. The purpose of sacred structures –both physical structures like the mishkan and behavioral structures like the patterns of Jewish practice — is to challenge us to open our eyes and see that “the whole world is full of God’s glory.” Sacred structures do not change an ever-present God, but they do make God more present “in the eyes of all Israel.”

May our shul, and the life of mitzvah that we build there, help to open our eyes and hearts as well.

• The New Shul’s Shabbat services are on Friday evenings from 6 to 7 pm, and on Saturday mornings from 9 am to 12 noon. The kiddush-lunch this Shabbat, March 9, will be sponsored by Jeannette Kanter in honor of all those who make the daily minyanim.
• Childcare is available on Shabbat mornings from 10 am to noon.
• Minyanim during the week are on Sunday mornings at 9:30 am, and on Monday through Thursday evenings at 7 pm.
• Join us for dinner at The New Shul on Friday night March 15, after the 6 pm service. The cost is $18 per adult and $9 per child under 18 (no charge for children under 5). Please make your reservations by Monday March 10. If you would like to pay on-line, you can do so here.
• Purim begins on Wednesday night March 20. Join us at The New Shul for our megillah reading and sh’piel, beginning at 7 pm.