Holy Time, Holy Space

The wandering Israelites found themselves at a pivotal moment. They had witnessed wonders beyond imagination—the plagues of Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, and the thunderous revelation at Mount Sinai. Yet, mere weeks after hearing God’s voice pronounce the Ten Commandments, they fashioned a golden calf in desperate fear when Moses delayed his return from the mountain. This shocking betrayal threatened to sever their newly formed covenant with the Divine.

What happens next in the Torah is striking. After the crisis of the golden calf, when one might expect harsh punishment, we instead find instructions for building the Mishkan (Tabernacle) and a renewed emphasis on Shabbat (Sabbath). This sequence in Exodus, particularly in the portion of Vayakhel, reveals something crucial about how we connect with God and teach future generations to avoid destructive patterns.

Why does the Torah juxtapose the building of the Mishkan with the observance of Shabbat immediately after Israel’s greatest spiritual failure? What lesson can we draw from this textual proximity that speaks to raising children with values that reject hatred and embrace wisdom?

The Torah text begins the portion of Vayakhel with striking emphasis: “Moses assembled the whole Israelite community and said to them: These are the things that the LORD has commanded you to do: For six days, work may be done, but the seventh day shall be holy to you, a day of complete rest to the LORD; whoever does work on it shall be put to death.”

Only after establishing the primacy of Shabbat does Moses proceed to describe the intricate details of building the Mishkan. This ordering is deliberate and meaningful. The Mishkan represented sacred space—a physical dwelling for God’s presence. Shabbat established sacred time—regular moments set apart for connection with the Divine.

The golden calf incident exposed a critical flaw in human nature: impulsivity and the desperate need for tangible security when facing uncertainty. When Moses disappeared on the mountain for forty days, the people panicked. “Make us gods that will go before us, because this man Moses who brought us up from the land of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!”

Their reaction was swift, destructive, and rooted in fear. They couldn’t tolerate the void created by Moses’ absence. Their impatience led to idolatry—creating what they could touch and see rather than maintaining faith in the invisible.

The divine response teaches us how to counter this destructive tendency. First, through Shabbat—a weekly practice of pausing, reflecting, and restraining our impulsive drives. Second, through the Mishkan—a structured, intentional way to connect with the Divine through beauty, order, and collective purpose.

This pattern mirrors creation itself. God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh, establishing a cosmic rhythm. Humans, made in God’s image, are called to follow this pattern—creating and then stepping back to appreciate. The Mishkan represents our creative impulse channeled toward holiness; Shabbat represents our ability to cease activity and simply be present.

For parents seeking to raise children who reject hatred and embrace wisdom, this biblical sequence offers vital guidance. Children need both structure (Mishkan) and pause (Shabbat). They need clear boundaries and sacred spaces, but also regular times to reflect and reset.

Hatred often springs from unrestrained impulses—fear, insecurity, and the inability to tolerate discomfort or uncertainty. When we teach children to pause before reacting, to create beauty rather than destruction, and to find security in rhythms rather than in golden idols, we inoculate them against hatred’s appeal.

The great rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch taught that the proximity of these commandments in the text wasn’t coincidental. One involves creative action; the other involves creative restraint. Both represent our relationship with the Divine through different expressions—building holiness in space and honoring holiness in time.

This balanced approach teaches us that holiness exists in both action and restraint, in both building and resting. We must model for them how to engage passionately with the world and how to step back in contemplation.

As the text states, “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God.”

The golden calf represents our worst impulses—our panic in uncertainty, our need for immediate gratification, our tendency to create false securities. The Mishkan and Shabbat, paired together, represent the antidote—the disciplined channeling of our creative energies and the regular practice of sacred pause.

In today’s frantic world, these ancient teachings have never been more relevant. When we build sacred structures in our lives while honoring the rhythm of rest, we create the conditions for true connection—with God, with ourselves, and with others. And in doing so, we teach our children not merely to avoid hatred, but to construct a life of purpose, beauty, and peace.

The Hebrew Bible is a very big book – actually, 24 books, to be exact. Studying it can feel very overwhelming. Where do you start?

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