Our Community of Unity
This week’s Torah portion, Parashat P’kudei, brings the Book of Exodus to a close. The Israelites — who by this point in the story are freed from Egyptian slavery, stood at Mt. Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments and the Torah. In this week’s parashah, they completed the construction of the Tabernacle — and are finally ready for their long years of wandering that will take up the rest of the Torah’s narrative.
The building of the Tabernacle — the portable sanctuary that will serve as Gd’s dwelling-place among the Israelite camp during their wanderings – seems insignificant. Yet the Tabernacle described in Exodus is a symbol of unity, comprised of many parts. The construction of the Tabernacle required teamwork, volunteerism, and engagement of people from all parts of the community. After all the work that they did together– it wasn’t built by one person. It wasn’t built by a small team. It was built by the people together. And the result is kavod Adonai. They have a collective experience of holiness, of the divine.
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Generations later, the Federation continues to focus on community and people accomplishing a task together. Last week, the Federation’s Allocations Committee convened to review local agency requests and hear their personal narratives.
The Committee, comprised of people from multiple generations and across the community, is involved in funding our local and global Jewish communities. The narratives included how the Jewish community is engaged from newborns to seniors. We support an extensive network of human service agencies and programs that are critical and underscore our commitment for all those who need our help. We remain deeply connected to Israel and to Jews all over the world – partnering, visiting and providing funds to meet the needs of overseas communities through the Jewish Agency for Israel and the JDC, which operates in 70 countries.
From generation to generation, the work of our community continues.
Shabbat Shalom
Randall Czarlinsky
Interim CEO, Jewish Federation of San Antonio