"To be a teacher in the right sense is to be a learner.  I am not a teacher, only a fellow student."  (Soren Kierkegaard)

• Home
• Professional Staff
• Board of Directors
• Calendar
• Ritual Events
• Education
  • Religious School
  • Adult Education
• Auxiliary Organizations
  • Youth Groups
  • Old Enough To Know Better
  • 50 is the New 30
  • Sisterhood
  • Men's Club
• Tikkun Olam
• Cemetery
• Volunteer Opportunities
• Donations & Payments
• Beth Sholom News
• Contact Us

A FEW PRE-SHABBAT WORDS FROM RABBI AARON

Sacred Art
As the book of Exodus draws to a close, let's reflect upon the mishkan, the portable sanctuary whose details occupy several parshiot. What did it all mean? An important hint can be gleaned from the verses describing the completion of the project: vayechal Moshe et hamelacha - Moshe finished the work. Vayechal is an echo of Genesis: vayechulu hashamayim v'haaretz v'chol tzeva'am - ’...the work of Heaven and Earth and all within them were completed..."  "Melacha - labor" describes God's creation as well as the creative enterprise of the Mishkan, the place where God's Presence dwelt.

Take-home #1 is that sacred space somehow works as a miniature model of the cosmos. That should certainly set a powerful spiritual tone for the way we pray and meditate.

Take-home #2: In last week's parasha Moshe galvanized the Israelites as a community by instructing them about Shabbat - the art of living in sacred time. Taken together, Shabbat and shul make for a resilient equation that has sustained our people: there is a way in both time and space that we express sacredness.

What is Art About?
That has never been a simple question. All our perceptions about art are shaped by the culture in which we live. Not surprising then, that art means so many different things, art plays so many different roles through the ages and across the globe. Our contemporary notions surrounding Modern Art are very different from the roles and meanings assigned to sacred art in ancient cultures. We stroll through museums, taking in an exhibit here and there. Art might fill a recreational/entertaiment niche for us. As tourists, we might squeeze in time for the Louvre or the Uffizi or the Guggenheim or Musee D'orsay.

Ancient art seems to have been an entirely different matter. A person wearing certain clothing (like a ceremonial mask or priestly vestments) was profoundly transformed the moment they put on the clothing. The sacred embroidery or gemstones or gold inlay - all the articles mentioned in the last few parshiot of Exodus - were probably very beautiful, and they must have delighted the senses of those people who entered the Mishkan. In that way, the sacred art was not so different from the art and architecture which continues to shock or inspire us even today. But there was another function that describes ancient sacred art - it was about putting the participant (not the same as a passive viewer) in a special zone, in proximity with the divine.

It is a challenge for us - children of modernity - to get back in touch with sacred art, to pull ourselves toward the divine. A challenge, but not impossible - shul and Shabbat are about inspirition and about feeding our minds and our hearts. Moshe's artful project hints at the human yearning to build the cosmos - just like Michelangelo's bold and stirring figure of Man's finger extended to touch the finger of God.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Aaron

Click any of the images below to view the complete pdf file