March 14, 2026: Torah Portions Parashot Vayakhel - "And He Assembled" & Pekudei - "Accounting Of"
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In this study, we will explore the Double Torah Portions Vayakhel - "And He Assembled" and Pekudei - "Accounting Of"
Double Torah Portions: Exodus 35:1-38:20 & Exodus 38:21-40:38
Haftarah: New Moon Feast: Rosh Chodesh Shabbat: Anticipating Pesach (Passover) Ezekiel 45:16-46:18
Brit Chadashah (New Testament): 2Corinthians 9:6-11; 1Corinthians 3:11-18
This week's Parashah covers two Torah Portions: Vayakhel - "And He Assembled" and Pekudei - "Accounting Of"
📖Vayakhel - "And He Assembled" – Exodus 35:1-38:20:
Moshe had a great challenge…how do you re-motivate a demoralized people? How do you put the pieces of a broken nation back together again? The key word is “vayakhel” which means Moshe assembled! The word Kehillah means community. The Kehillah or Kahol is a group assembled for a given purpose. It can be positive or negative and can be constructive or destructive. This word that appears at the beginning of this Torah portion is the beginning of the solution. It appeared in last week’s portion as the start of the problem (Exodus 32:1).
The difference between the two kinds is that one results in order and the other in chaos! Exodus 32:25-26 says…” had let them get out of control and become a laughingstock to their enemies.” The verb “perah” with the letter “ayin” means loose, unbridled, or unrestrained. There is an assembly that has disciplines, is task-oriented, and purposeful and there is an assembly that is a mob, having a will of its own! People in crowds lose their sense of self-restraint. They get carried along in a wave of emotion and lose their thought process which has been bypassed by their primitive feelings.
What is Moshe’s response to the golden calf? Vayakhel…Assemble! They will assemble and then bind together acting in accordance with Elohim’s commands, not their own spontaneous feelings! However, before beginning to instruct Israel in the work of the Tabernacle – Moses first commands them and gives the commandment to rest from work on the Sabbath (Exodus 35:1-3).
The word assemble means “qahal.” In its noun form it passes into the Greek version as “ekklesia”, which in turn is mistranslated in English as “church.” Similarly, the word translated as congregation is the Hebrew word “Adat” and from the root “Adah”, which has to do with something appointed! For example, another word derived from the same root is mo’ed, found in Leviticus 23:1, to designate biblical festivals or appointed times! In Greek “Adat” is frequently translated as “ekklesia”, “assembly”, “synagogue.” What is sad in this individualistic world, is that even believers forget the importance of the community. This is especially true, for some reason, for these who desire to follow Torah. The Torah was given to Adat Israel, to the appointed community of Israel.
The Torah precepts were carefully crafted by the Holy One to be lived out as a team, as a community, as a holy partnership where everyone works together as a group to live out Elohim’s calling. Therefore – no matter how so-called Torah observant you may call yourself – you will only be able to fulfill a biblical Torah-observance when it is done within a community.
Elohim gave His Torah to the holy community, not to any one individual! Elohim, in the Torah portion, purposely involved the WHOLE COMMUNITY in fulfilling the Torah about the Tabernacle. The calling of Torah cannot be fulfilled only by single individuals. It was designed by YHVH to be fulfilled by each person living out that calling both individually and also together as a Holy Community!
Exodus 35:21 says, “And they came, everyone whose heart stirred him and everyone whose spirit made him willing, and brought Adonai’s offering for the work on the tent of meeting, for the service in it and for the holy garments.” The assembly of Messiah is metaphorically spoken of as “The Temple.” In I Cor. 6:29 it says, “Or don’t you know that your body is a temple for the Ruach HaKodesh who lives inside you, whom you received from Elohim? The fact is, you don’t belong to yourselves.” II Cor. 6:16 tells us we are the temple of YHVH but remember Moshe did not build the Tabernacle but brought down the instructions, the people did the building!
This teaches us that the assembly of Messiah is created by the individuals within it…just as Israelites labored to make various parts of Tabernacle, we labor together to create the assembly of Messiah on earth. The responsibility falls on us!
All the Israelites brought different gifts as they were able. They labored in different departments and gave their various talents to complete the Tabernacle. This is the same for us in the our Kehillahs. We all have different roles and functions within the assembly according to I Cor. 12:14-31. The Scripture reveals we are made up of different parts and that we are only healthy when all parts are functioning in their Yah-given roles with Yeshua being the Head (Col. 1:18-19).
Who are we? We are an assembly, ekklesia or qahol of people, who meet in a place for Sabbath assembly as was the apostles’ custom in the book of Acts. The building of the Tabernacle required each person to contribute his/her own work. Exodus 36:4 tells us each person had something to offer from his own unique vocational skills. Torah life is not just a life of religious rituals and Scripture study, but it is a life of contributing to the common good of the community.
In Avot 2:2 (Rabbinic quote) it says, “The study of Torah is excellent when it is combined with a worldly occupation because the effort required by both keeps sin out of a person’s mind. But where there is no worldly occupation the study of Torah amounts to nothing and leads to sin. Let everyone who works in the community work for the sake of the name of Heaven.” To concentrate only on religious matters is out of balance and will eventually lead to ruin. We are supposed to regard our job as a religious duty performed for the sake of the Kingdom.
So, what did Moshe do, or should I say Adonai? In Exodus 35:4, He asks the Israelites to make voluntary contributions to the construction of the Tabernacle, the Sanctuary, the Mikdash. He was bringing them together by getting them to build something together…something that can’t be done alone!
Do you want to save your children? Do you want your children not to run away from Adonai but to stay in the assembly? Then read Isaiah 54:13, “All your children shall be learned of Adonai and great will be the peace of your children.” Change your children to your builders! We must be builders…Moshe turned strong individualistic people into builders!
Each one of you is important! Each one of you is valuable! Each one of you can make a unique contribution. This House/ Assembly of Elohim must become YOUR house/assembly---- something you have helped build! We must build a team, but to do that we must create a team that builds!
The building of the Tabernacle was YHVH’s command, not Moshe’s idea. The fact that it was a Divine command before the story of the golden calf reveals another spiritual truth and illustrates a powerful principle that “YHVH creates the cure before the disease!”
HalleluYah!! We praise You YESHUA for this!!
📖Pekudei - "Accounting Of" – Exodus 38:21-40:38:
Psalms 1:1-3 tells us, “Happy is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of the scornful.” This is a picture of the bad life lived in pursuit of the wrong values! Take note how the bad man begins by walking, then stands, and finally sits. A bad life immobilizes! That is the point of Psalm 115:48…If you live for lifeless things…you become lifeless!
As followers of Elohim, we do not sit because a Hebrew life began with two momentous journeys: Abraham from Mesopotamia and Moshe and Israelites from Egypt. Genesis 17:1 says, “When Abram was ninety-nine years old, Adonai appeared to him and said, “I am Yah Almighty; walk before Me faithfully and be blameless.” At age ninety-nine, having just been circumcised, he saw three strangers passing by and “ran to meet them” (Gen. 17:24; 18:1-3).
Genesis 37:1 says, “Ya’akov dwelled (Vayeshev; the verb that also means “to sit”) in the land where his father had stayed. Ya’akov sought to live in tranquility, but immediately there broke in on him the troubles of Joseph. The righteous do not sit still! They do not have a quiet life.
This is the point made at the end of this Parashah and the Book of Exodus as a whole. The Tabernacle had been made and assembled. The closing verses tell us about the relationship between it and the “cloud of glory” that filled the Tent of Meeting. The Tabernacle was made to be portable. It could be dismantled and its parts carried as the Israelites traveled onto the next stage of their journey (II Cor. 4:16-5:1-10). When the time came for them to move on, the cloud moved from the Tent of Meeting to a position outside the camp, signaling the direction the Israelites were to take.
Look at how the Torah describes it in Exodus 40:36-38, “In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out- until the day it lifted. So, the cloud of Adonai was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the Israelites during all their travels.”
There is a significant difference between the two occurrences of the phrase “in all their journeys.” In the first the words are meant literally; that when the cloud lifted, they knew they were about to begin a new stage of their journey. However, the 2nd cannot be meant literally, “The cloud was not “over the Tabernacle” in all their journeys – to the contrary, it was there only when they stopped journeying and instead pitched camp. During the journeys, the cloud went on ahead! The point is linguistic, the message remarkable: To be a Hebrew is to travel! Biblical Judaism is a journey, not a destination! Even at a place of rest, an encampment, it is still a journey.
The Patriarchs lived not in houses but in tents…interesting is that Lot and Laben lived in houses…Humm! In fact, the first time we are told that a Patriarch lived in a house proves the point; Genesis 33:17 says, “Ya’akov went to Sukkoth, where he built a place for himself and made shelters for his livestock. That is why the place is called Sukkoth.”
The first member of the covenantal family to build a house, yet he does not call the place “House” but he calls it “cattle-sheds” (Sukkoth). It is like Ya’akov knew consciously or unconsciously that to live the life of the covenant means to be ready to move on, to travel, to journey, to GROW! Well rabbi, this only applied to the time before the Promised Land not when we possess it! Really…Lev. 25:23 says, “The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you reside in My land as foreigners and strangers.”
In this world of time, change, growth, and decay only Adonai and His Word are permanent! Psalm 119:9 is a powerful verse that says, “How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your Word.” To be a follower, disciple, or Hebrew is to stay light on your feet, ready to begin the next stage of the journey literally or metaphorically. People used to say a man’s home is his castle but our home is a tent, tabernacle, or sukkah! II Cor. 5:1 says, “For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from Elohim, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.”
The Tabernacle fulfills Elohim’s purpose in bringing Israel forth from Egypt and the Israelites will journey continually with a sense of fulfillment. This is echoed in Matthew 28:20 where the Messiah says, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
The story is not about me but about Elohim and His Glory! Like our bodies, our souls were not made for sitting still!
Hebrews 12:1-2 says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Yeshua, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the Throne of Yah.”
We were made for moving, walking, traveling, learning, searching, striving, growing, and knowing that it is not for us to complete the work but neither may we stand aside from it! In Biblical Judaism, as the Book of Exodus reminds us in it closing words, EVEN AN ENCAMPMENT IS CALLED A JOURNEY!
We must not sit but must keep moving so we can enjoy the journey of our lives! May this Shabbat cause you to rise and begin to walk out the destiny Elohim has for each of us. Run to the House and magnify Adonai…He is worthy! Look up and follow the Glory Cloud as you begin another journey with Him.
Amen! In YESHUA'S MIGHTY NAME!!
📖Rosh Chodesh
Let us gather together as a Terumah unto YHWH to:
🌿 Set apart in this new month of Nisan unto YHWH
🎶 Rest in the Shalom of Shabbat
📖 Align our hearts through the Torah
🍞 Break bread in remembrance of YESHUA, our Redeemer
Let this be the month we return to the FATHER—and allow HIM to rebuild us in HIS image.
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