This weekly women&#39;s class was&nbsp;presented on Tuesday, Parshas Vayakhel/Pekudei, 25 Adar, 5781, March 9, 2021, live from Rabbi YY Jacobson&#39;s home in Monsey, NY.

The Earring, Nose Ring, Finger Ring & Armband 

Women's Class Vayakhel

Four Pillars of Education

This class was a &quot;chavrusa&quot; between Rabbi YY Jacobson, in NY, and Rabbi Yitzi Horowitz, in LA. It was a text-based class on Likkutei Sichos Vol. 16, Parshas Vayakhel, presented on Thursday, 23 Adar, 5780, March 19, 2020

The Shiur dissects the famous Rashi in Vayakhel and Naso on why the leaders of the tribes of Israel were the first to dedicate offerings for the dedication of the Sanctuary, yet were the last to contribute to the construction of the Mishkan.

A Brilliant Analysis of a Difficult Rashi in Vayakhel & Naso

Likkutei Sichos Vayakhel/Naso

Just Because You Inspire Me, You Don't Own Me

This women&#39;s class was presented on&nbsp;Tuesday&nbsp;Parshas Pekudei, 28&nbsp;Adar I, 5779, March&nbsp;4, 2019 at the Ohr Chaim Shul, Monsey, NY&nbsp;

The Home Where G-d Dwells Is Constructed From Physicality

Women's Pekudei Class

When Your Dreams Are Shattered

This class was presented at Ohr Chaim, Monsey, NY, on Sunday Parshas Vayakhel Pekudei, 21 Adar, 5777, March 19, 2017.

It is a strange story. Moses seemingly distorted what G-d told him, telling the craftsman of the Sanctuary to first build the furniture and only afterward the outer structure. It was Betzalel who reminded him of the simple truth that you first build a house before you furnish it. Upon deeper reflection, this incident captures the story of our lives.

Many great thinkers, writers, and artist, produced extraordinary works. Their content was great, their message potent, and their talent exceptional. What they lacked was the exterior structure for their souls lavish output. Sadly, in our world &ldquo;art&rdquo; needs a proper &ldquo;frame.&rdquo; Lacking the frame, the art may remain in its corner and melt into oblivion.

The great argument between Moses and Betzalel was which came first&mdash;the energy or the container, the vision or the structure? Moses was a visionary; Betzalel was a man of action. In conclusion, we discover, they were both right: In the world of thought and strategy, art precedes the frame; in the world of action and implementation, the frame precedes the art. In the world of light, vision takes precedence. In the world of shadows, your dreams must follow your actions, not the other way around.

The class continues to explore another perspective by Reb Tzadok of Lublin. Judaism consists of two components&mdash;what G-d gives us and what we give G-d. The Written Torah and the Oral Torah. One is Divine; the other is filtered through human creativity. But are they really different? Depends from whose perspective.

What Comes First, the Frame or the Art? The Debate between Moshe and Betzalel

How Do I Know When to Trust a Rabbi?

The Midrash relates that Moses found it hard to understand the mitzvah of a half-shekel, so G-d showed him a fiery coin. But what&#39;s so hard to understand about a half-shekel? It&#39;s a simple coin. And if G-d had to show it to him, why did He show him a fiery coin and not a regular one? 

The issue that divided Israel most was the reparations received from Germany after the Holocaust. Did it mean that the Jews forgave the Germans for they did? Ben Gurion and Begin quarreled on this issue like on no other. Israel decided to take German money. 
 
Reb Chaim of Volozhin explained to a donor, that among Jews too, there is &ldquo;dirty money&rdquo; and &ldquo;clean money.&rdquo; And the two types of money make their way to two different destinations. When G-d showed Moses a &quot;coin of fire,&quot; He was demonstrating to him that money was not only money.&nbsp;

Dirty Money & the Secret of “The Coin of Fire”

Essay Ki Sisa

Disinfect Your Hands

This text based class, on Likkutei Sichos vol. 11 Parshas Vayakhel, was presented by Rabbi YY Jacobson on Parshas Vayakhel 5772 (2012). It explains why Rashi does not answer a few difficult items in the opening of Vayakhel, where Moshe speaks to the Jewish people about Shabbos and the construction of the Mishkan. It goes on to show how all of these difficulties are self-understood from a thorough reading of the text. &nbsp;

Why Shabbos Is Introduced Before the Building of the Mishkan

You Can't Welcome G-d by Breaking His Rules: Likkutei Sichos Vayakhel

​This text-based class on&nbsp;Likkutei Sichot, vol. 21, Parshas Terumah, explains in a&nbsp;novel way the reason for the Rambam giving us a history lesson about the Holy Ark in his halachik work: &quot;W​hen ​K​ing Solomon built the Holy Temple, knowing that it was destined to be destroyed, he built a place in which to hide the Ark, [at the end of] hidden, deep, winding passageways.&rdquo; It was there that King Josiah placed the Ark twenty-two years before the Temple&rsquo;s destruction.

The Holy Temple in Jerusalem was built by King Solomon in the year 2928 from creation (833 BCE), and was destroyed&nbsp;410 years later, on the ninth day of the month of Av, by the armies of the Babylonian emperor Nebuchadnezzar. Seventy years later it was rebuilt; the second Temple stood for 420 years, until its destruction by the Romans, also on the ninth of&nbsp;Av, in 3829 (69 CE).&nbsp;

From the Rambam&#39;s words about the Ark we discover that the core of the Beis Hamikdash (the Holy Temple) was never destroyed. What is more,&nbsp;it means that the first, second and third Temples are not three different structures, but the continuum of a single edifice.

The class also tackles the question of why we allow ourselves to make such destructive mistakes. It turns out, we are the ones who do this to ourselves, for a very healing reason.

The Core of G-d's Home Was Never Destroyed 

Likkutei Sichos Terumah/The Three Weeks

The Secret Beis Hamikdash

The Talmud relates a profoundly strange incident that occurred moments before the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple: &ldquo;When the pagans entered the Holy Temple, they saw the cherubs (the two golden winged figures, one male and one female located in the "Holy of Holies") cleaving to each other. They took them out to the streets and said: &lsquo;These Jews ... is this what they occupy themselves with?&rsquo; With this, they debased [the Jewish people], as it is written: &lsquo;All who had honored her have despised her, for they have seen her nakedness.&rsquo;&rdquo; 
This seems strange. The Talmud also teaches that when the relationship between G-d and Israel was sour the two faces of the cherubs turned away from each other, as when spouses are angry with each other. When the relationship was healthy, the two faces of the cherubs would face each other. Yet when the enemies of Israel invaded the Temple to destroy it, and the relationship between G-d and His people was at its lowest possible point, precisely at that moment that the cherubs were intertwined, symbolizing the profoundest relationship between G-d and Israel. How are we to understand this?
This class explores six different perspectives.

As Jews Faced the End, Their Lover Impregnated Them with the Seed of Moshiach

Class The Three Weeks/9 Av

Love in the Flames

There is something very intriguing about Vaykhel-Pekudei. Anybody even slightly familiar with the Torah is aware of its unique conciseness. Complete sagas, rich, complex and profound, are often depicted in a few short biblical verses. Each word in the Bible literally contains layers upon layers of interpretation. For the sages and rabbis over the past 3,000 years, it was clear that there is nary a superfluous word or letter in the Bible, and large sections of the Talmud are based on this premise. If a verse is lyrically repetitive, if two words are used where one would suffice or a longer word is used when a shorter word would suffice, there is a message here, a new concept, another law.

It is thus astonishing to observe that two entire sections in the Torah are seemingly superfluous! These are the final two sections of the book of Exodus&mdash;Vayakhel and Pekudei&mdash;telling the story of how the Jewish people constructed the portable Tabernacle (Mishkan) that would accompany them during their 40-year journey in the desert. In the previous sections of this book, Terumah and Tetzaveh, the Torah gives a detailed account of G-d&#39;s instructions to Moses regarding the construction of the Sanctuary. With meticulous description, G-d lays out to Moses every detail of the Tabernacle&mdash;every piece of furniture, item, article and vessel that should become part of the Sanctuary. Nothing is left out, from the Holy Ark, the Candelabra and the Altar to the pillars, wall panels, curtains, ropes, bars, hooks and pegs, all specified with their exact shapes and dimensions. In these portions, G-d also presents Moses with the exact instructions of how to weave the priestly garments&mdash;down to the last tassel&mdash;worn by those who would perform the service in the Sanctuary.

Then, a few chapters later in Vayakhel and Pekudei, in the story of how the Jewish people carried out these instructions, the previous two portions are repeated almost verbatim. The Torah records, once again, every nook and cranny of the Sanctuary and tells of the actual building, carving and weaving of every pillar, wall-panel, peg, hook, bar, tapestry, piece of furniture and vessel that comprised the Sanctuary. For a second time, we are informed of every decorative form and artistic design sculpted in each article of the Tabernacle and every single shape, design and dimension of each and every article.

Now, a single sentence, something like &quot;The Jewish people made the Sanctuary exactly as G-d had commanded Moses,&quot; would have spared the Torah more than a thousand words! Why the need for hundreds of sentences that are purely repetitive of facts that have been stated earlier?

The class explores the views of the Beis HaLevi, Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, his grandson Reb Velvele Brisker, Rabbi Yitzchak Zeev Soloveitchik, and the Lubavitcher Rebbe on the subject. We explore what it means to build a relationship with G-d, what is the significance of a mitzvah, how to deal with the contrast between the live we wished for and the life we ended up with, and the essence of prayer.

G-d Dwells in the Home We Construct from our Real Lives; The Secret Behind the Golden Calf

My Dream vs. My Reality 

When the building of the Mishkan was fully funded, one group of people --the leaders -- felt that they were left out. But didn&rsquo;t they inspire all the donations? Wasn&rsquo;t it all in their merit to begin with? Why did they feel they still needed to give? This class, presented to women, explores a fascinating Rashi in Vayakhel and Naso, in the writings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe.

When Leaders Lose Perspective

Women's Class Vayakhel/Naso

You Changed My Life, But You Don't Own Me

Why Do We Love Looking in the Mirror? Because It Teaches Us the Secret of Life- Moses Rejected the Women&#39;s Mirrors; G-d Explained to Him that they Represented the Majestic Narrative of Mankind

Why Do We Love Looking in the Mirror? Because It Teaches Us the Secret of Life

Class Vayakhel

Moses Rejected the Mirrors; G-d Embraced Them. Why?

In the Beginning

As a result of a near mutiny, the overbearing and arrogant captain was forced to see a psychiatrist by order of the Commodore.

As soon as the captain settled down on the couch, the psychiatrist began the session by asking: 

“Why don’t you start at the beginning?”

The captain said, “Okay. In the beginning I created heaven and the earth…"

Two Creations

At the beginning of Genesis, the Hebrew Bible devotes 31 verses to describe how G-d created the entire world. “In the beginning, G-d created the heavens and the earth.” In striking contrast, the Torah portions of these weeks (Terumah through Pekudei) devote 371 verses to describe how the Jews created the Tabernacle, or Mishkan, in the desert. 

This seems profoundly strange.

The universe spans some 176 Trillion Billion miles&nbsp;and is an awesomely complex structure. After millennia of research, we have not yet scratched the surface of its untold depth and unbound mysteries. We have not even mastered the secrets embedded in a single cell. The Tabernacle, on the other hand, was around 150 feet long and 75 feet wide, and was a highly impressive structure, but essentially a small tent; a mini mobile "shtibel."

Why would the Torah be so expansive about the creation of a humble albeit splendorous tent in the desert and yet so terse about the creation of the cosmos with all of its infinite depth, majesty, and grandeur? 31 verses for creation of the world, and almost half the book of Exodus for the creation of a mobile sanctuary!

Mortality into Eternity

This strange contrast conveys something profoundly important about the Torah’s perspective on life. For an infinite G-d to create a home for finite man is not a big deal. But for a finite man to create a home for an infinite G-d—that is a revolutionary notion. It constitutes the essential revolution of Judaism that from the fragmented pieces of our hearts we can construct a home for the Divine; that the ordinary stuff of human life can be carved into a dwelling place for the Almighty; that G-d craves to dwell in the space we designate for Him in the barren desert of human consciousness.

The creation of the universe is G-d's miracle—the miracle of converting (spiritual) energy into matter. The creation of a structure to house the Divine in a desert is man's miracle—the miracle of converting matter into energy; the wonder of a human being surpassing himself, transcending his finite egocentricity and turning his life into a home for the Divine—that story is deserving of close to 400 verses!

This is the essence of the Tabernacle story, which occupies almost half the book of Exodus and on the surface seems so remote from our present lifestyle: that a human being, with his or her limited tools, through his or her minute and limited deeds, words, and thoughts, can create a home for G-d in his or her daily life; that a frail and vulnerable human being is capable of creating a space in his or her heart for the living presence of G-d. This is the miracle of Torah.

The Talmud says it succinctly (Kesuvos 5a):&nbsp;"The deeds the good people are greater than the creation of heaven and earth."

G-d transformed Divine energy into physical matter; we transform physical matter into Divine energy.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Half-Ness

This explains two enigmatic details about the Tabernacle story: 1) The obsession with details and nuances that seem irrelevant. G-d seems overly concerned with pegs, nails, beams, hooks, sockets, drapes,&nbsp;curtains, and bows.&nbsp;2) Most of the measurements are half sizes, not whole ones. Why not wholesome measurements?

Yet this captures the essence of the narrative. Our lives are defined by details, and most of them seem mundane. And we always do things in “half,” never complete, as we are fragmented creatures and there is always something left to do in order to complete the work. "No man dies with half of his ambitions fulfilled," states the Midrash. This, then, is the message of the story: our disjointed and fragmented lives, the many diverse details of our mundane life, can all become a home for the absolute and undefined reality of G-d. Infinite Oneness can pervade our consciousness--and the consciousness of the universe.&nbsp;

Standing Up to Evil

As we are all reeling from the shocking news of the Purin war on Ukraine -- it is time to remember and embrace our mission statement: To stand with all our might against tyranny, bloodshed, and abuse of human lives. To take a world so often divisive and fragmented, and reveal that we are all one.

75 years after the Holocaust, will world leaders again allow a KGB gangster to terrorize millions and get away with it? Will we Jews repeat the same mistake and worry about our own problems rather than ensuring each one of our brothers and sisters is protected?&nbsp;

(To help the fund I am overseeing,&nbsp;going directly to 17 Chabad Shluchim in Ukraine, for their communities and refugees, <a href="https://jewsofukraine.com/theyeshivanet">please click here</a>.)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

(This essay is based on the discourse Gedolim Maasei Tzadikkim 5685 (1925), by the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson&nbsp;(1880-1950)).

The Human Miracle - G-d Is a Great Builder; But It&rsquo;s Man&rsquo;s Handiwork that steals the show

G-d Is a Great Builder; But It’s Man’s Handiwork that Takes the Cake

Essay Pekudei

The Human Miracle

This women&#39;s class was given on Parshas Vayakhel-Pekudei, 5769, March 17, 2009, and it is partially based on the last public address by&nbsp;the Lubavitcher Rebbe, presented on Shabbos Parshas Vayakhel, 25 Adar I, 5752, February 29, 1992, and on Likkutei Sichos vol. 21 Vayakhel-Pekudei. 
 
Vayakhel means to gather -- the gathering of distinct parts to create a community; whereas Pikudei means to count. Counting serves as a&nbsp; function of distinction, and separation, with an emphasis on the individual being counted.

These two portions then capture two dimensions of life. On the one hand, we crave intimacy, seek community, and inherently belong to a larger family.&nbsp;On the other hand, we are pulled toward individualism, independence, and self-actualization.&nbsp;

Where is the balance?&nbsp;How do we reconcile the two?

The Individual Vs. the Community

I'm I Part of the Community or Is the Community Part of Me?

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