Portion of the Week; Vayakhel 12-1, Rabbi Feldman Portion

it's b the la she is on all know millennium days casale in the days on the it's the wrong all i saw saw only the bible as that in a synagogue with rabbinic commentary this evening the arab rabbi david alan feldman spiritual leader the conservative congregation she arrives in israel brooklyn new york i am very grateful for this opportunity to speak to the radio audience on may bible is right in the center not on several mornings and two interpreted as it could be and are going or as it has been interpreted the portion of this week is particularly appropriate for this purpose because it is the source text of the very idea of interpretation itself is a source text for the

synagogue and for the very sabbath which affords that three current opportunity for interpretation in a synagogue i am reading this is texas chapter thirty five quote and mose is assemble all the congregation of the children of israel and seven to them these are the words which the lord commanded that he should do them six days it shall work to be done but on the seven they initially to you a holy day the sabbath of solemn rest to the lord he shall condone no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day and was a spoken to all the congregation of the children saying this is a thing which lord commanded saying take you from the monument offering into the lorry whosoever is of a willing heart let him bring it the lord's offering gold silver breasts et cetera and here we have the children of israel are gathered together after they had started sinai and after they had defected and worship golden calf mr

moses has assembled them to talk of the sanctuary but instead of talking of the sanctuary he begins with an introduction again reminding them about the observance of the sabbath so we say that just as in a previous portion as soon as rose has been speaking about the sanctuary sort of interrupt himself to remind them that taking priority primacy over even the construction of the sanctuary is what is more importantly observance of the sabbath in other words that no matter how important the construction of the sanctuary it may seem no matter that this may seem to be the most important work in which men can engage what is really important is that he sanctify the sabbath this must have been quite surprising and i imagine to the children of israel who were quite willing to assume the construction of a sanctuary regarding has a quiet sacred inquiry important task and they felt that if indeed the sabbath is an ios

signed between god and the children of israel well certainly isn't sanctuary a century is a visible sign and a visible sign should certainly be more acceptable or more important and actively then the invisible sign of the sabbath but moses' assures them this is not so more important is the scientific asian not the sanctuary not of a place not overt of the building but the sanctification of the day the sanctum occasion of time rather than space and this by the way is as expressed by professor abraham heschel in his book called the sabbath its meaning for modern man is exactly the point of that is demonstrated here in this hierarchy of values in this preference of the sabbath above the sanctuary according to dr heschel judaism as concerned with the howling over time rather than the

hollowing of space that more important than saying to find places or things is the sanctification of time of moments that sank the kaisha the space of things is a lower rung on the ladder in fact the very first case in which the bible uses the word holy is in connection with time in connection with the sabbath you remember the order of creation is given in the first chapter of genesis and after all the things after all the items the objects in the world are created the very first use of cod ocean holy is not with regard to any of these things but with regard to the sabbath day to time the bible is not concerned at this point with saying defying things but with the seventh day that they read some of the words are professor heschel in his book called the sabbath technical civilization he says is man's conquest of space is a

triumph frequently achieved by sacrificing an essential ingredient of existence mainly time to enhance our power in the world of space is our main objective yet to have more does not mean to be more the primitive mine finds it hard to realize an idea without the aid of imagination and it is a realm of space where imagination wields its way of the gods must have a visible image where there is no image there is no we're all infatuated it seems with the splendor of space with the grand euro things of space thing is a category that lies heavy on our minds to annise in all our thoughts our imagination tends to more concepts in its image but the higher goal of spiritual living is not to amass a wealth of information but to face a great moments and a religious experience was retained in the soul is the moment of insight

rather than the place where the akp came to pass judaism director heschel continues as a religion of time aiming at the sanctification of time judaism teaches us to be attached to a holiness in time to be attached to sacred events throughout of dedicate sanctuaries that emerge from the magnificence dreamily year the sabbath is our great cathedrals and our only hallways is a shrine that neither the romans nor the germans were able to burn he wants to enter the holiness of the day he says must first lay down the profanity of clattering commerce of being open to toil the meaning of the savages to celebrate time and space six days a week we lived under the tyranny of things of space on the sabbath we try to become attuned to holiness and time it's a day on which we are called upon to sharing what is eternal in time to turn from the results of creation

to the mystery of creation from the world of creation to the creation of the world labor is a craft he continues but perfect recipe is art it is the result of an accord of body mind and imagination to attain a degree of excellence one must accept the discipline of our women's the jurist lawfulness the seventh day is a palace in time which we build it is made of soul of joy of reticence indeed this binder the days expressed in terms of abstentions just as the mystery of god as more adequately conveyed the indignity owners and the categories of negative theology which claims that we could never say what it is we can only say what is not how us express glory in the presence of eternity if not by the silence of abstaining from noisy hack these restrictions other songs to those who know on tuesday at a palace with the

queen more specifically dr atul continues one of the most distinguished words in the bible is the word condos holy war in which more than any other is representative of the mystery and majesty of the divine now what was the first holy object in the history of the world was in a mountain was in an altar it is indeed a unique occasion which distinguished word condo she's used for the first time in the book of genesis at the end of the story of creation how significant is the fact that it is applied to time and god bless the seventh day and made it a holy there is no reference in the record of creation to any object in space that would be endowed with the quality of loneliness this is a radical departure from accustomed religious thinking the mythical mind would expect that after having enough of an established god would create a holy place only mild an early spring whereupon a sanctuary is to be established

yet it seems as if to the bible in his holiness and time the sabbath which comes first when history began there was only one holiness in the world whole innocent time when it signed i the word of god was about to be voiced a call for a holiness and man was proclaimed thou shall be unto me only people it was only after the people have succumbed to the temptation of worshiping of thing a golden calf that the reaction of the tabernacle of loneliness in space was commanded the sanctity of the time came first the sanctity of man came second and the sanctity of space last time was hallowed by god space the tabernacle was consecrated by moses so that initial explains the priority of the senators opposed to the sanctuary

oh it seems to indicate that india the sanctuary was a compromise to the people's need for something to symbolize god's presence among them the sabbath takes priority is a kind of a palace in time a sanctuary which our lives all those made of wood and stone you have been listening to portion of the week the bible as read in the synagogue with a minute commentary this evening you heard rabbi david m felt on spiritual leader of the conservative congregation shiraz israel of brooklyn new york they can't therefore portion of the week is eliza combine all the congregation the cell on a brooklyn new york i shot it in the days on the it's the wrong lies on saturday obama along murtaugh jazz album as a

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