Exodus

Exodus Chapters 35-37:16

Anna Rubin

 

As I write this blog, I am, like everyone else, reeling from the turmoil caused by the coronavirus.  Thankfully, neither I nor my loved ones, friends and acquaintances are suffering from it but of course it is both humbling and terrifying to witness the toll the disease is taking on human life and the conduct of everyday affairs.  Maintaining a own sense of balance has been challenging.

How refreshing it is to dip into this week’s parshah and read about the the making of the ark.  The ark was to hold the Ten Commandments and be built from the prized acacia wood.  There were an additional two boxes, both made from gold, that encased the wooden box.

What a to do!  Everyone – women and men —  are commanded to bring the products of their artistic creations – as freewill gifts to the ark.  Gold and silver jewelry, gemstones, fine weaving of linen and goats’ hair, aromatic oils and perfumes are all mentioned. Bezalel and Oholiab are singled out as master craftsmen to head a cadre of artisans. They “have been endowed with the skill to do any work—of the carver, the designer, the embroiderer in blue, purple, crimson yarns, and in fine linen, and of the weaver—as workers in all crafts and as makers of designs. “  Ex Ch 35:36.

This call to the people is such a success that Moses has to then order the people to stop their generosity.  There follows an intricate description of what materials are to be used;  for example, the tent housing the ark was to be made of “tanned ram skins” above and “dolphin skins below”.  The lengths of the numerous planks of wood for the box are detailed along with other metallic and cloth objects.  This parshah concludes with how Bezalel made several golden items for the ark’s interior and inlaid the interior of the ark with gold as well.

In contrast to various other world religions, Judaism has not encouraged visual art. And yet here is this celebration of art in the service of religion in Exodus.  Commentators brought to my attention that a simpler ark of wood is described in Deuteronomy 10:1-2.  So we can see a certain tension inherent in the tradition – an ambivalence towards visual arts.  The last 120 years has seen a flowering of Jewish participation in all the arts but Jewish religious art, Chagall notwithstanding,  remains an area far less developed than specifically Jewish music, literature, and theatre. 

As I write this blog, I am, like everyone else, reeling from the turmoil caused by the coronavirus.  Thankfully, neither I nor my loved ones, friends and acquaintances are suffering from it but of course it is both humbling and terrifying to witness the toll the disease is taking on human life and the conduct of everyday affairs.  Maintaining a own sense of balance has been challenging.

How refreshing it is to dip into this week’s parshah and read about the the making of the ark.  The ark was to hold the Ten Commandments and be built from the prized acacia wood.  There were an additional two boxes, both made from gold, that encased the wooden box.

What a to do!  Everyone – women and men —  are commanded to bring the products of their artistic creations – as freewill gifts to the ark.  Gold and silver jewelry, gemstones, fine weaving of linen and goats’ hair, aromatic oils and perfumes are all mentioned. Bezalel and Oholiab are singled out as master craftsmen to head a cadre of artisans. They “have been endowed with the skill to do any work—of the carver, the designer, the embroiderer in blue, purple, crimson yarns, and in fine linen, and of the weaver—as workers in all crafts and as makers of designs. “  Ex Ch 35:36.

This call to the people is such a success that Moses has to then order the people to stop their generosity.  There follows an intricate description of what materials are to be used;  for example, the tent housing the ark was to be made of “tanned ram skins” above and “dolphin skins below”.  The lengths of the numerous planks of wood for the box are detailed along with other metallic and cloth objects.  This parshah concludes with how Bezalel made several golden items for the ark’s interior and inlaid the interior of the ark with gold as well.

In contrast to various other world religions, Judaism has not encouraged visual art. And yet here is this celebration of art in the service of religion in Exodus.  Commentators brought to my attention that a simpler ark of wood is described in Deuteronomy 10:1-2.  So we can see a certain tension inherent in the tradition – an ambivalence towards visual arts.  The last 120 years has seen a flowering of Jewish participation in all the arts but Jewish religious art, Chagall notwithstanding,  remains an area far less developed than specifically Jewish music, literature, and theatre.