Former Chief Rabbi of Uruguay
Temple Fast-Pass (Vayakhel-Pekudai)
“People don’t go there anymore. It’s too crowded.” – Yogi Berra
The Magic Kingdom in the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando is one of the most visited theme parks in the world, welcoming nearly eighteen million visitors a year. Disney’s Orlando complex includes four theme parks, two water parks, more than two dozen themed resorts, multiple golf courses, and tens of thousands of employees operating what is essentially a city devoted to entertainment.
Because of the incredible masses of people going through its gates, Disney has become expert at crowd control. There is entertainment while one waits in line. There are premium Lightning Lane passes for the discerning visitor. There are strategies for navigating the rides and queues in optimal time. There are books on beating the lines. There are websites that outdo the books with still newer strategies and analysis to maximize the precious hours one has in the dreamland of Disney.
However, looking more closely at the numbers puts things into perspective. Eighteen million annual visitors translates into a daily average of roughly forty eight thousand guests inside the Magic Kingdom.
Now consider the desert Tabernacle.
The Tabernacle in the wilderness had six hundred thousand men, not including women and children, descending upon it. There certainly was not enough space for all of them to gather there at once.
Ibn Ezra, on Exodus 35:20, explains this very simply. The people came in smaller groups and each group took its turn. Even in the wilderness, it seems, there was a kind of ancient crowd management system.
Perhaps the Israelites did not have Fast Passes or Lightning Lanes.
But they clearly understood the same principle.
May we merit to join crowds and wait in lines only for truly meaningful things, or at the very least for extremely fun rides.
Shabbat Shalom,
Ben-Tzion
Dedication
To the discovery of a 2,000 year old Half-Shekel coin used in Biblical Census.
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