Ideal Vision vs. Real Life - ויקהל

Ideal Vision vs. Real Life

The world we live in is inherently imperfect and often falls short of the ideal visions we create in our minds.

Often, the fantasy of a vacation, an experience, or a relationship is far more pristine than the realities of real life, where we struggle through tension and distraction in order to achieve moments of joy and connection. Often, the perfect picture we imagined distracts us from appreciating the blessings we have.   

After two portions dedicated to G-d conveying to Moses the commandment to build the Tabernacle and its furnishing, in this week’s portion, the Torah repeats every detail and tells us how Moses conveyed the commandment to the Jewish people who fulfilled the commandment and actually constructed the temple.

Why the repetition? The Torah could have avoided tens of verses by stating that Moses repeated the commandment to the Jewish people, who then fulfilled all that they were commanded to do. 

The repetition points to the tension between the ideal and the actual. 

The Torah is highlighting the critical importance, not the perfect temple Moses heard about on Mount Sinai, but rather the actual temple built by people in the real world. Our efforts to perform good deeds are imperfect, flawed, and complicated, yet that is precisely where G-d chooses to dwell. For G-d wants a home not in the perfect, ideal, heaven, but rather in the flawed and imperfect earth.