The word Mazel literally means “a drip from above”. In Jewish mysticism mazel describes the root of our soul. The idea is a ray of our soul inhabits our body; the main part of the soul (our mazel) remains above shining down on us from a distance. So the idea is when we experience mazal; a drip of our Godly soul inhabits our bodies.

Interesting! Here is an article for more on this if you are interested: https://www.chabad.org/…/Adar-The-Month-of-Mazal.htm

Ok. So let’s dig into todays Torah portion:

So far in this Parsha we’ve learned about the ark, the table, the candelabrum. Then we learned about the coverings (all those layers!).

I’m starting to reflect more on how our bodies are built in the same way. We focus on the internal- the ark in our hearts, the table of our minds, the candelabrum of our soul. Then we move to the external coverings- the physical skin.

Today’s portion will focus on the walls and contents of the tabernacle. Before digging in, I’m reflecting on how these may be the physical innards of our bodies. Just a thought.

We start out learning about the beams made of acacia wood again, and crossbars of acacia wood. They should all be coated with gold.

Here’s something interesting though; the sockets for the beams to go into? Made from silver.

Kabbalah talks about this;

“One would have expected the main structure of the Tabernacle to make use of precious metal, and the foundational supports to be something more functional and practical. Yet we find it was the other way around:

The foundations were made of silver and the main structure from wood. Why?

Sometimes, the connection is more important than the structure. Your body structure is mainly bones and muscle, but it is those little tendons that join muscle to bone which make movement possible.

God already made the physical and the spiritual. It is our precious task to connect them. So in the Tabernacle, which was

the model of God’s plans for creation, the connecting pieces were made of precious metal”

I find that very interesting!

And that is where todays portion leaves us. We have the ark, the table, the candelabrum; then we have the covering, then the foundation and structure. It is really interesting how this is all being put together!