Jewish Women’s Connection of Atlanta had the opportunity to participate in a Momentum retreat this past week. It was a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with dear friends and study together with the one and only team of Adrienne Gold and Lori Palatnik. 

One of the activities that took place during the retreat was an eye opener. 

It was called Stand For Your Sister. 

Each person was given a questionnaire to answer anonymously. Some of the questions were superficial and even silly while others were deep and introspective. Once the form was complete it was handed in and the entire stack of papers was dealt out indiscriminately. Then the questions were read aloud. If your paper had a yes to the question read, you would stand. There was no embarrassment  as the answers we were responsible for were actually not our own. 

(At one point Adrienne even commented that she had to remind herself that we were not actually standing for ourselves. Looking right at me she said, the question i just read is have you ever hid your Jewish identity and I am looking at Julie standing in a positive response which couldn’t be!

I then had to reveal that I had indeed answered the question with a yes. I related the story of a business trip I had taken many years ago. I was going to a meeting in NYC and I was dressed to the nines, even sporting my Mom’s mink coat,faux of course, and feeling very sophisticated. As I waited at the luggage carousel, a Chassidic gentleman came over to me and in Yiddish, asked me if I could give him a ride to Brooklyn. I was so disappointed! How could he tell?!?  But I digress)

There was only one question to which every one of us stood up, as one. And that question was...did you ever feel alone?

Every single woman stood. Every woman not only stood with her sister,

She stood for herself. 

This week’s Torah portion is called Pekudei, which means reckonings. 

The Parsha begins with a detailed list of the amounts of precious metals and jewels that were contributed to the building of the Tabernacle. 

This was done as all the donations had been made via Moses and he had to make a reckoning of each item so there would be no question about the assets that had passed through his hands. 

Transparency!

Moses, our greatest leader is not exempt from the need to show financial transparency, and this is his report. 

So it seems that Gd commanded Moses to make this accounting so the Nation wouldn’t suspect him of taking any of the valuables for himself. 

The Tosher Rebbe, leader of a Chassidic community in Montreal differs. 

In the Prophets, which chronicles a time in Jewish history when the actual Temple stood, (the Tabernacle was its temporary, portable version). At that time, it was not necessary to verify the accounting regarding the funds allotted to maintenance  of the Temple because the workmen were completed trustworthy. 

This begs the question, how could it be that transparency was not required with the funds for Temple upkeep?

Is it possible that the maintenance workers of the Temple were more trustworthy than Moses?

Answers the Tosher Rebbe, the accounting had nothing to with Moses being suspected in any way at all. 

Rather it was the concern of the people, the donors!!

They were concerned about inclusion. 

Perhaps their donations were not worthy of being used. Maybe they personally were not on an elevated enough level for their contributions to be included?

The donors were concerned they would not be worthy of being seen. The people felt quite alone. 

Therefore Gd insisted on an accounting. Moses was to show each and every person that they mattered, they were accounted for, and  their contributions were indeed incorporated into the edifice which would serve as a resting place for Gd’s presence. 

This Shabbat of Pekudei is known as Shabbat Chazak.

It’s the concluding Parsha of Exodus and we end it by saying Chazak Chazak vNischazek - be strong, be strong, be strengthened. 

This review of the vessels and the garments of the priests seems like an anticlimactic finale to the cataclysmic events of the Book of Exodus. 

We see the Tabernacle standing in its glory and to this we say, be strong, be strong. It’s all worth the effort you had expended. 

Who are we saying that to?

Perhaps it is the denouement of a story that started with one little girl. A girl who saw the desperation of life in Egypt, but could conceive with her faith of the Redemption that was promised. 

One little girl who convinced her father to remarry her mother, which resulted in the birth of her brother Moses. 

One woman who inspired all the other Jewish  women to leave Egypt with tambourines in hand, knowing without a doubt that there will be a reason to sing, there is hope ahead.

That woman was Miriam. 

How must have Miriam felt when the Tabernacle was finally standing, as depicted in the end of this portion. 

Until then, how often Miriam must have felt so alone. 

Alone in her faith. 

Now she can take in the panorama of her efforts as the Tabernacle finally stands. 

She may have stood alone, but she stood for her sisters. 

And the result was indeed breathtaking and inclusive as the House for Gd which invites us all in, is now complete. 

At the retreat a little mailbox system was set up. Each attendee had a slot and all were encouraged to leave a note to another woman, reporting on some special or meaningful action that she did. 

People left beautiful little notes expressing appreciation for one another. 

It was the antidote to feeling alone. 

Everyone was appreciated and seen. 

That is what will give us strength. 

Chazak Chazak, VNischazek!

When you feel alone, see someone else. 

Together you will give each other the strength to see your efforts to completion, and you will see how it only came to be as a sister stood for her sister. 

Shabbat Shalom and so much love!!