וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֶל מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר מַרְבִּים הָעָם לְהָבִיא מִדֵּי הָעֲבֹדָה לַמְּלָאכָה
Perhpas late… but not too late….
I think it was when I had my third child that I learned one of the most valuable lessons in the education of the little ones: how to “read” their drawings. All children draw. Without exception, our children need us to appreciate and admire their art. Mainly when the artwork is dedicated to us: parents! Nobody taught me how to read and admire a drawing… and before I learned this valuable lesson, all I did, intuitively, was look at the drawing for a few seconds and say: “What a beautiful drawing!” or “What a work of art!” and that’s it. A short phrase with enthusiasm – sometimes deliberately overenthusiastic – was my way of showing admiration for my children’s drawings.
Then, I learned that this was not enough. The art that our children dedicate to us must be “read and appreciated” carefully, looking at the details as we comment on them aloud, following with our index all the minor details we find. “How many windows this house has? And the curtains…they are so beautiful! What are they made of? Velvet? This door is very similar to our door! And you also draw the Mezuza!!! What a lovely tree! And those beautiful red fruits, what are they? They look like yummy apples … What a beautiful chimney. How many bricks does it have? Let’s cunt them … one, two, three, four, … and the smoke: it reaches the clouds. “
By commenting on the details we identify in the drawing, we recreate the drawing process of the young artists for our little ones. And the more details we can identify, the less indifferent we will be to our children’s work of art, and the more love we will transmit to them. Because, as someone very intelligently said: “The opposite of love is not hatred but indifference“. The less indifference, the more the love. Understood?
If we learn this great lesson in “parenting,” we will better understand this week’s Parasha.
The text of the Tora that we will be reading tomorrow can become frustrating if we do not have this idea in mind. Because the Tora repeats too many details about the Mishkan (the Tabernacle), and as some commentators indicated, it would have been sufficient for the Tora to describe the whole process with two lines: “And the children of Israel built the Mishkan, just as God had ordered it.” Why was it necessary to abound in so much detail? Unless we understand that the Mishkan was to our Creator what our children’s drawing is to us …
What was the Mishkan? The Mishkan (literally: “residence” or “house”) was the Sanctuary that we Jews dedicated to HaShem. A meeting point between us and Him. A residence that permanently reminded us of the presence of God among us. Similar to what a Synagogue represents today. The Mishkan was built by “volunteers,” not by slaves. And there were no forced taxes imposed on the people. The materials came from voluntary donations by ordinary Israelites in the desert. It was an act of love from the people of Israel to the Creator, who rescued them from slavery. And these innumerable demonstrations of our affection did not go unnoticed by the Creator.
The Tora expresses God’s appreciation for the love we Jews showed in building the Mishkan by mentioning every object, artifact, and material used to build this “House,” like a parent who looks carefully and lovingly at his child’s drawing and enthusiastically mentions each one of its little details.
