From Darkness to Light
The final portion in the book of Exodus, the portion of Pekudey, begins with an accounting of the materials collected to build the tabernacle, and concludes with the construction of the tabernacle. The final verses of the portion, and of the entire book of Exodus, describe the powerful imagery of the cloud that rested upon the tabernacle, the “tent of meeting”:
"And the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the Mishkan… For the cloud of the Lord was upon the Mishkan by day, and there was fire within it at night, before the eyes of the entire house of Israel in all their journeys".[1]
The conclusion of the book of Exodus, is an appropriate time to think about the theme of the entire book. What is its central point? What message is it trying to convey through the stories and episodes that unfold in its pages?
There are, generally speaking, three major stories in the book of Exodus: (1) the exodus from Egypt (2) receiving the Torah (3) building the tabernacle.[2] Do these three stories share a unifying theme? Are they three loosely related events or are they essentially part of one big idea?
The second book of the Torah is often called the book of Exodus, from the ancient Greek word for “going out”.[3] The Midrash,[4] however, defines the theme of the second book, not as the book of Exodus, but rather, as the book in which “the Israelites went from darkness to light”.
Indeed, “darkness to light” is the unifying theme of the book. “darkness to light” captures the essence of its three major stories.
We begin with the exodus from the darkness of slavery. The first story, describes in great detail how G-d interceded to liberate the children of Israel with a “mighty hand and an outstretched arm”, from the bitter darkness of slavery to the light of freedom.
Yet the book does not end there, because the quest for light should not end with mere physical liberation.
The material world, left to its own devices, is a place of spiritual darkness. It is a place of darkness because it obscures the truth of its existence, it conceals the divine energy that never ceases to recreate it. When we are immersed in materialism, we are like a person in a dark room, unable to see and appreciate the true nature of the world around us.
To be liberated from the darkness of raw materialism we need the second part of the book, G-d descends on Mount Sinai to give us the Torah. G-d teaches us about the Mitzvot, islands of spirituality and holiness in what would otherwise be a dark world. G-d tells us about specific actions we can take to place ourselves in the brightness of his holiness.
This, however, is also not a complete exodus from darkness to light.
For, although, the Torah gives us certain specific Mitzvot by which we may connect to the Divine, this alone does not address all other aspects of our life. The Torah teaches us how to be holy in moments of prayer, while celebrating Passover and Yom Kippur, while donning Tefilin or shaking the Lulav, but what about the rest of our life? What about the majority of the time, when we are not engaged in a Mitzvah? What about when we are in the office or riding in the car on just a regular day on the calendar?
The Jewish people had just been freed from slavery and blessed with an abundance of wealth. They were overwhelmed by their newfound access to materialism, which led them to one of the darkest moments in their spiritual life - they used their gold to create the golden calf. They experienced a holy moment at the revelation at Sinai, but their day to day life was not enlightened by the light of spirituality,
To reach the ultimate liberation from spiritual darkness, the book of Exodus introduces its final story. After the liberation from the darkness of Egypt, after the Torah teaches how we can achieve moments of spiritual light by fulfilling the Divine commandments, the Torah teaches the story of the tabernacle.
Moses taught the people to take their everyday, mundane possessions and use them to create a home for G-d. By using these objects for a higher purpose, Moses taught that any object, any possession, any experience, can be a building block for a home to G-d. Eating, working, sleeping, vacationing, anything we do can be a vehicle for spirituality. Any experience can be elevated if it brings us closer to a higher purpose.
And so, the story of the liberation from Egypt teaches us how to escape the darkness of slavery. The story of the giving of the Torah teaches us how to find refuge in a holy experience. The final story of the book, teaches us how to find light in each and every experience. It teaches us that the Divine, represented by the cloud, can rest “in all their journeys”, in whatever we do. As the final verse of the book states:
"For the cloud of the Lord was upon the Mishkan by day, and there was fire within it at night, before the eyes of the entire house of Israel in all their journeys."[5][6]
[1] Exodus 40, 34 and 38.
[2] The first major story of the book, spanning four portions, describes the the Exodus from Egypt, beginning with the slavery, continuing with the story of Moses, the ten plagues, the Exodus, culminating with the splitting of the sea of reeds. The second major story, spanning three portions, is the story of the giving of the Torah. This includes the giving of the ten commandments at Sinai, many of the Torah’s civil law, and the giving of the the second tablets after the first set were broken by Moses due to the sin of the golden calf. The third major story, is the story of the Jewish people donating materials and building the tabernacle, a home for the Divine.
[3] The traditional Hebrew name of the second book is “Shmot”, which means “names”, it is named for a word that appears in the beginning of the book.
[4] Rabbah, Bireyshit, 3rd Parsha.
[5] Exodus 40, 34 and 38.
[6] Based on the teachings of the Rebbe, Lekutey Sichos vol. 6 page 239.