By Cantor David L. Lipp
Cantor David Lipp of Congregation Adath Jeshurun
The future has already arrived. It’s just not evenly distributed.
William Gibson is a writer of
Speculative Fiction (the more accurate term for what we colloquially call ‘Science Fiction’) of the Cyberpunk subgenre. His statement about time is one the Rabbinic sages foreshadowed by about 1,500 years, אין מוקדם ומאוחר בתורה — There is no such thing as early or late in the Torah.
It’s generally used in commentary on a Torah passage where the rabbis want to assert that just because Chapter Two follows Chapter One does not necessarily imply they are chronological.
During the entire month of March, the Torah portions emphasize the instructions for building the sanctuary, the sin of the golden calf and the implementation of those instructions. It encompasses a third of the book of Exodus. Clearly the mobile mishkan/sanctuary in the desert was considered an important capstone to our narrative of escape from slavery and revelation at Mount Sinai which take up so much of the first two- thirds of the second book of Moses.
But is it meant to be read chronologically? Did we really commit the sin of the golden calf right after getting the instructions of the mikdash/holy place for God? I wonder.
Here’s why: Right after the moment of Revelation on Mount Sinai when we receive the Ten Pronouncements (better translation than “Ten Commandments” – don’t get me started!) God says that if we want to make an altar we can do so with earth or stones — very simple instructions — avoiding idolatrous structures. If so, then why the ornate gold/silver/bronze/fabric/tent-peg/hook Tabernacle that has to be put up and taken down every time we move from one place in the desert to another after all the laws that follow?
Some suggest that the instructions for the Tabernacle took place AFTER the incident of the golden calf, and that the sinful story was inserted between the plans and implementation to ameliorate the pain that resulted from that horrifying incident. When we view it that way, the elegant instruction manual with gold and silver and bronze makes more sense. God is telling the Israelites, so you need a more physically alluring monument with which to bring me sacrifices, this is how it should look, here are the measurements and I’ll even appoint a couple of master craftsmen to lead the project, B’Tzal’el (in the shadow of God) and Oholiav (Tent-master).
We all want to pray in places that inspire us and make us feel that we are safe, and that God can hear us. We all want to pray in spaces where others might want to pray and celebrate and mourn and remember and eat, yes, eat, with us. Having a beautiful sanctuary is necessary for most of institutional Judaism to meet the needs of those who want to gather for such purposes.
But we should never mistake the structure for its intent: creating meaningful relationships between one another and the Infinite Force of Being that connects us all to the universe.
The idea of there being no “early” or “late” in the Torah is not merely that things in the five books of Moses are sometimes not in chronological order. It also implies that everything written could have occurred prior to the time they were written and can remain relevant throughout all time. The themes and words and ideas therein are rendered timeless.
The rest is commentary. Now go learn.
But first, one more quote from William Gibson: Time moves in one direction, memory in another.
David L. Lipp is Hazzan at Congregation Adath Jeshurun.