Parsha Inspired Menus - Vayakhel-Pikudei

This week I got some great inspiration for the #parshainspirdmenus plans from family members - my husband and our youngest son. Our son read though Vayakhel and noticed that the Israelites were uber-generous in their giving of materials to help build the mishkan. He thought it might be reflective of the Israelites seeing it as an opportunity to make up for the sin of the Golden Calf. If jewelry was given to make the Golden Calf, how much more so should they give lots of material items to the building of the Mishkan. For me, it raised an interesting thought of the nature of giving. There are many worthy organizations out there. There are a few organizations that are close to our hearts and we often tend to focus on our giving on those, but is the reason behind the giving - whether it's out of love, guilt, obligation, necessity - important? Are the Israelites giving to the Mishkan because they have a deep desire to help build the Tabernacle and create a focal point for God in their midst? Or are the Israelites giving as an apologize or to butter up God? Can it be both? And if the end result is the mishkan, does it matter? Good question fodder for the Shabbat table!

Whatever the reason, the Israelites gave so much that they had enough of what they need and extra! (some translations simply say they had enough, but the hebrew is more descriptive)

וְהַמְּלָאכָ֗ה הָיְתָ֥ה דַיָּ֛ם לְכׇל־הַמְּלָאכָ֖ה לַעֲשׂ֣וֹת אֹתָ֑הּ וְהוֹתֵֽר׃ {ס}        

the work-material was enough for them, for all the work, to make it, and more.

Sforno says "How could there be "too much" and "sufficient" at the same time? Perhaps the Torah

wished to tell us that G'd's fondness for the Jewish people increased as a result of the oversubscription of the materials needed for G'd's Sanctuary. As an act of recognition, G'd miraculously absorbed all these donations and they were used in the Tabernacle, i.e. דים, they were sufficient, none was rejected, i.e. remained unused."

So, with this abundance of materials in mind, I wanted to make something that was full, stuffed, and/or overflowing. I think these Stuffed Mushroom Caps fit the bill!

At the study session yesterday between Mincha and Maariv, my husband taught about the use of words that share the Hebrew root p-q-d(פקד). We find this word in the Torah many times, including the opening verse of Pikudei

אֵ֣לֶּה פְקוּדֵ֤י הַמִּשְׁכָּן֙ מִשְׁכַּ֣ן הָעֵדֻ֔ת אֲשֶׁ֥ר פֻּקַּ֖ד עַל־פִּ֣י מֹשֶׁ֑ה עֲבֹדַת֙ הַלְוִיִּ֔ם בְּיַד֙ אִֽיתָמָ֔ר בֶּֽן־אַהֲרֹ֖ן הַכֹּהֵֽן׃

These are the records of the Tabernacle, the Tabernacle of the Pact, that were drawn up at Moses’ bidding—the work of the Levites under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.

In the Torah this root is used in words that seem to be about listing or accounting (as they are here), remembering or visiting (as in God's visit to Sarah -

וַֽיהֹוָ֛ה פָּקַ֥ד אֶת־שָׂרָ֖ה כַּאֲשֶׁ֣ר אָמָ֑ר וַיַּ֧עַשׂ יְהֹוָ֛ה לְשָׂרָ֖ה כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר דִּבֵּֽר׃

GOD took note of Sarah just as promised, and GOD did for Sarah what had been announced) and more.

So, we took a look at the instance in Pikudei to see what would happen if we used some of the other "meanings" instead of recording. What if it was convenental? What if the items were actually remembered? If their location, placement, use, was remembered with the importance of God remembering Sarah? Midrash Tanchuma (Naso 11, Pekudei 11) states that during the seven-day inauguration of the Tabernacle, Moses constructed and disassembled it daily and from that

The Netivot Shalom of the Slonimer Rebbe writes this lovely take on effort, failure, and resilience:

The mandatory multiple cycles of building and tearing down...powerfully hint at a crucial realization. Any human being will fail. He may fail many times. Each he fails, without exception, he cannot lose faith or motivation. He must pick himself up and immediatly try again. He may build his sanctuary, and then see it not only threathened or breached, but toppled completely. When that happens, he should not fall into depression or melancholy, but once again begin the process of building the next Tabernacle. Moses did this twice a day, morning and evening....The serial assemblings and dismantlings of the Tabernacle point as well to another important part of our spiritual work. We must be prepared to inspect the quality of what we have built, constantly reevaluatin all details of its construction, looking for small flaws we may have been unaware of in the original construction. There is no end to the upgrading work we can do to make our personal Sanctuary even more effective."

When we learned this teaching, the whole group drew in breath. It's beautiful, meaningful, and USEFUL. I knew I wanted to share it here, so I needed something for P-Q-D, which I'd pronounce as pakad...which leads us to...Chicken Picatta! (sub plant butter for real butter in this recipe)

Shabbat Shalom & B'Tayavon!

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