Month: February 2022

Parashat Vayakhel (ויקהל – And he assembled himself) Exodus 35:1 – 38:20

In the Parasha Vayakhel, Moshe recalls the command to observe the Shabbat, then asks the people to bring the materials to make the tabernacle and the sacred utensils.

Parshat Shekalim (שקלים – Shekels) Exodus 30:11 – 30:16

The Shabbat which precedes the month of Adar (Adar II in embolismic years, like this year 5782 / 2022) is called Shekalim where it is remembered that every male adult, over the age of 20, had to give half a shekel for the needs of public sacrifices. A tiny stone weight from the First Temple period has been discovered during excavations near the Western Wall. This extremely rare and tiny weight bears the inscription bekah (half shekel) in ancient Hebrew script. It weighs 5.67 grams. During the day, the silver beka is equivalent to €3.80, ₪14.10, $4.30 or £3.20.

It is customary to make a donation to works, during the month of Adar, in remembrance of the half-shekel (זכר למחצית השקל – zekher le-machatzit ha-shekel). The most appropriate time to make this gift is the one before the Mincha service, before the Purim fast, in order to associate the Tzedaqah with the fast, contributing to the atonement (Mishna Berura 694, 4, Kaf Ha chaim 25). Some believe it is right for every member of the family, even the fetus in its mother’s womb, to give tzedakah in remembrance of the half-shekel (Kaf Hachaim 694, 27).

זכזכ לאבלאבםם ליצחק וליששאל עבדיך, אשאש נשבעת ללם בך, ותדבתדב אלאלם, אאבב את – זזעכם ככוכבי שמשמים; וכל-הארץ הזאת אשר אמרתי, אתן לזרעכם, ונחלו, לעֹלם
Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by yourself, saying to them, I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven; and all this country that I have designated, I will give it to your posterity, who will possess it forever!

Moshe pleads for forgiveness of the fault of the golden calf. He is heard and God reiterates his promise made to the patriarchs.
The first mention of the existence of Jews in Ulm is recorded in the imperial tax book of 1241. In all European communities, Jews experience moments of tranquility followed by periods of violence. In 1499, the Jews were expelled from the city and it was not until 1856 that a real Jewish community was reformed. In 1873, a synagogue was built. In 1938, it was slightly damaged during Reich pogrom night, then razed by order of the mayor, a member of the Nazi Party (NSDAP).
In 2012, a new synagogue was built. The architects Johannes Kister, Reinhard Scheithauer and Susanne Gross multiplied the perforations in the facade to create windows with patterns in the shape of a Star of David that illuminate the arch and radiate the synagogue outwards. The limestone used resembles that of many buildings constructed in Eretz Israel. The prayer hall, centered on the diagonal of the building, points exactly in the direction of Jerusalem. The central dodecagon-shaped light symbolizes the twelve tribes.

:ואתה תצַוה את – בני ישראל, ויקחו אליך שמן זית זך כתית – למאור: להעלת נר, תמיד
And you, you will order the children of Israel that they take for you pure oil of crushed olives for the light, in order to make perpetual light rise.

The Talmud teaches that the light of the Menorah spreads not only inside the sanctuary, but also outwards to illuminate the whole world.
In the Torah, service is presented as elevation and not just kindling (להעלת from עלה = to rise, to climb, to migrate [to Israel]). Our Sages specify that the light of the Menorah is none other than that of the Torah and that it must rise through progressive and incessant work. Lighting is mentioned three times in the Torah (Tetsaveh, Emor, Behaalotekha), which shows the importance of this prescription.

The synagogue of Capernaum, which can be visited today, was built in the 4th or 5th century, probably on the foundations of a 1st century synagogue. On the site, a bas-relief representing a candlestick with 7 branches and an olive oil press were found. Located in the north of Jerusalem, the synagogue, oriented north-south, consists of an atrium (main hall), a prayer hall, a patio, a balustrade and a small room.

The synagogues are certainly not the Temple whose reconstruction is long awaited, but they are the testimonies of the existence of a past or present Jewish life. Built in different regions and at different times, these buildings nourished by memory prove to be the will of men to sanctify the Eternal.
My modest contribution is to feed this memory week after week, party after party.
The Great Synagogue of Budapest or Dohány Synagogue is considered the largest in Europe. Above the monumental entrance door is inscribed the verse (Exodus 25:8):

ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם

And they will build me a sanctuary and I will dwell in the midst of them.

The synagogue was built between 1854 and 1859 by the Viennese architect Ludwig Förster in a Moorish style inspired by the Alhambra in Granada. The interior decoration is partly due to Frigyes Feszl. During the inauguration, Franz Liszt played the organ there. During World War II the building suffered severe damage. Its restoration started in 1991, financed by the State and by private donations, in particular those of Estée Lauder and Tony Curtis, was completed in 1998.
In front of the synagogue, a small square bears the name of Theodor Herzl, born in a neighboring house in 1860. The Memory Park adjoining the synagogue houses the memorial of the 600,000 Hungarian Jewish Martyrs and that of the Righteous Among the Nations (Raoul Wallenberg, Carl Lutz, Gertrud Lutz-Fankhauser, Giorgio Perlasca, Ángel Sanz Briz, Angelo Rotta, Friedrich Born, who saved tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews).