Poem Parashat Vayakhel: Vertical Imprecation

What if the Mishkan could feel like a more personal experience – one of infinite discovery? The Zohar on this week’s parasha discusses meditation on our unity with Gd. The parasha itself primarily focuses on building the Mishkan and following the instructions for how certain parts are built. Of course it represents a lot more than technical construction details. In rabbinic texts, the Mishkan is commonly regarded as a microcosm of the universe, our body, and our celestial connection.

The Zohar also uses the word nogah (216a), which means “radiance” or “brightness” (it can also refer to the planet Venus). The Zohar uses this term to refer to a middle layer of a three-layer fire of connection that is made through prayer, which may also be a reference to the Shekhinah. From this page of the Zohar, I take a verse that describes unity with the Divine and weave it through the poem about sacred physical space.

Our hands: fervent, precise purpose,  

Drawing breath from reverence, 

Summoning our life from a full heart.

“after reverence, comes love”

Shaping mirrors reflecting back

Their divine stories.

Nogah: inner radiance,

Casting light on what?

“After they are included one within the other…”

In the shimmer of the morning light,  

Faith becomes form,  

Desire becomes dwelling.  

“Thus joining every part of the body…”

Many promised shapes as sacred embrace.

Every thread matters.

Every thread was woven together.

Intertwined 

So firm.

We always saw One tapestry.

From gold, purple, crimson and blue.

The color of our shared sky,

Means more than the color of the sea

When it meets earth.

Or a wave gently aiming for heavens. 

Crimson, 

Layered roses and hearts in poppies

More than blood, our beating heart, 

Where it all starts.

Blue and crimson give birth to purple,

More than mysteries beneath the shadow

Of our living purple-feathered birds’ wings.

A white, a purity, some may never see 

Breath gets warmer, the closer it gets.

“Joining two Mishkanim as one…”  

One rises from the earth,

From beneath, but above every star.

Our dwelling from imagination, 

Layers of vision. 

With us, and within us, incense breathing continuously.

Covered by beams and curtains, a body of grace,

Joined by precious metals – current pathways.

Breath and wave are One.

“…in all parts of the body, with the heart wishing to rise in clinging to the Ein-Sof, so all of it clings there to be joined as one, the above and the below.” (Zohar 216a-b)