#construction of the Tabernacle

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Sabbath Regulations

1 Moses assembled all the congregation of the people of Israel, and said to them, “These are the things which the Lord has commanded you to do. 2 Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a holy sabbath of solemn rest to the Lord; whoever does any work on it shall be put to death; 3 you shall kindle no fire in all your habitations on the sabbath day.”

Preparations for Making the Tabernacle

4 Moses said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “This is the thing which the Lord has commanded. 5 Take from among you an offering to the Lord; whoever is of a generous heart, let him bring the Lord’s offering: gold, silver, and bronze; 6 blue and purple and scarlet stuff and fine twined linen; goats’ hair, 7 tanned rams’ skins, and goatskins; acacia wood, 8 oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, 9 and onyx stones and stones for setting, for the ephod and for the breastpiece.

10 “And let every able man among you come and make all that the Lord has commanded: the tabernacle, 11 its tent and its covering, its hooks and its frames, its bars, its pillars, and its bases; 12 the ark with its poles, the mercy seat, and the veil of the screen; 13 the table with its poles and all its utensils, and the bread of the Presence; 14 the lampstand also for the light, with its utensils and its lamps, and the oil for the light; 15 and the altar of incense, with its poles, and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense, and the screen for the door, at the door of the tabernacle; 16 the altar of burnt offering, with its grating of bronze, its poles, and all its utensils, the laver and its base; 17 the hangings of the court, its pillars and its bases, and the screen for the gate of the court; 18 the pegs of the tabernacle and the pegs of the court, and their cords; 19 the finely wrought garments for ministering in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, for their service as priests.”

Offerings for the Tabernacle

20 Then all the congregation of the people of Israel departed from the presence of Moses. 21 And they came, every one whose heart stirred him, and every one whose spirit moved him, and brought the Lord’s offering to be used for the tent of meeting, and for all its service, and for the holy garments. 22 So they came, both men and women; all who were of a willing heart brought brooches and earrings and signet rings and armlets, all sorts of gold objects, every man dedicating an offering of gold to the Lord. 23 And every man with whom was found blue or purple or scarlet stuff or fine linen or goats’ hair or tanned rams’ skins or goatskins, brought them. 24 Every one who could make an offering of silver or bronze brought it as the Lord’s offering; and every man with whom was found acacia wood of any use in the work, brought it. 25 And all women who had ability spun with their hands, and brought what they had spun in blue and purple and scarlet stuff and fine twined linen; 26 all the women whose hearts were moved with ability spun the goats’ hair. 27 And the leaders brought onyx stones and stones to be set, for the ephod and for the breastpiece, 28 and spices and oil for the light, and for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense. 29 All the men and women, the people of Israel, whose heart moved them to bring anything for the work which the Lord had commanded by Moses to be done, brought it as their freewill offering to the Lord.

Bezalel and Oholiab

30 And Moses said to the people of Israel, “See, the Lord has called by name Bez′alel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; 31 and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship, 32 to devise artistic designs, to work in gold and silver and bronze, 33 in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, for work in every skilled craft. 34 And he has inspired him to teach, both him and Oho′liab the son of Ahis′amach of the tribe of Dan. 35 He has filled them with ability to do every sort of work done by a craftsman or by a designer or by an embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet stuff and fine twined linen, or by a weaver—by any sort of workman or skilled designer. — Exodus 35 | Revised Standard Version (RSV) Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. All rights reserved. Cross References: Exodus 12:16; Exodus 16:23; Exodus 25:1-2; Exodus 25:4-5; Exodus 25:7; Exodus 25:10; Exodus 26:1; Exodus 27:1; Exodus 27:9; Exodus 27:20; Exodus 28:3; Exodus 30:1; Exodus 30:23; Exodus 31:1-2; Exodus 31:3; Exodus 31:6; Exodus 31:10; Exodus 36:1-2; Exodus 39:1; Numbers 31:50; 1 Kings 7:14; 2 Kings 23:7; 1 Chronicles 29:9; Isaiah 54:2; Matthew 5:15; Matthew 12:4

Commentary on Exodus 35 by Matthew Henry

Key Passages in Exodus 35

1. The Sabbath 4. The free gifts for the tabernacle 20. The readiness of the people to offer 30. Bezaleel and Aholiab are called to the work

[lordgodjehovahsway]

Exodus 36: Moses Allows Bezalel, Oholiab, and Their Skilled Workers to Get Started on God's Sanctuary

1 So Bezalel, Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the Lord has given skill and ability to know how to carry out all the work of constructing the sanctuary are to do the work just as the Lord has commanded.”

2 Then Moses summoned Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the Lord had given ability and who was willing to come and do the work. 

3 They received from Moses all the offerings the Israelites had brought to carry out the work of constructing the sanctuary. And the people continued to bring freewill offerings morning after morning. 

4 So all the skilled workers who were doing all the work on the sanctuary left what they were doing 

5 and said to Moses, “The people are bringing more than enough for doing the work the Lord��commanded to be done.”

6 Then Moses gave an order and they sent this word throughout the camp: “No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.” And so the people were restrained from bringing more, 

7 because what they already had was more than enough to do all the work.

The Tabernacle

8 All those who were skilled among the workers made the tabernacle with ten curtains of finely twisted linen and blue, purple and scarlet yarn, with cherubim woven into them by expert hands. 

9 All the curtains were the same size—twenty-eight cubits long and four cubits wide. 

10 They joined five of the curtains together and did the same with the other five. 

11 Then they made loops of blue material along the edge of the end curtain in one set, and the same was done with the end curtain in the other set. 

12 They also made fifty loops on one curtain and fifty loops on the end curtain of the other set, with the loops opposite each other. 

13 Then they made fifty gold clasps and used them to fasten the two sets of curtains together so that the tabernacle was a unit.

14 They made curtains of goat hair for the tent over the tabernacle—eleven altogether. 

15 All eleven curtains were the same size—thirty cubits long and four cubits wide. 

16 They joined five of the curtains into one set and the other six into another set. 

17 Then they made fifty loops along the edge of the end curtain in one set and also along the edge of the end curtain in the other set. 

18 They made fifty bronze clasps to fasten the tent together as a unit. 

19 Then they made for the tent a covering of ram skins dyed red, and over that a covering of the other durable leather.

20 They made upright frames of acacia wood for the tabernacle. 

21 Each frame was ten cubits long and a cubit and a half wide, 

22 with two projections set parallel to each other. They made all the frames of the tabernacle in this way. 

23 They made twenty frames for the south side of the tabernacle 

24 and made forty silver bases to go under them—two bases for each frame, one under each projection. 

25 For the other side, the north side of the tabernacle, they made twenty frames 

26 and forty silver bases—two under each frame. 

27 They made six frames for the far end, that is, the west end of the tabernacle, 

28 and two frames were made for the corners of the tabernacle at the far end. 

29 At these two corners the frames were double from the bottom all the way to the top and fitted into a single ring; both were made alike. 

30 So there were eight frames and sixteen silver bases—two under each frame.

31 They also made crossbars of acacia wood: five for the frames on one side of the tabernacle, 

32 five for those on the other side, and five for the frames on the west, at the far end of the tabernacle. 

33 They made the center crossbar so that it extended from end to end at the middle of the frames. 

34 They overlaid the frames with gold and made gold rings to hold the crossbars. They also overlaid the crossbars with gold.

35 They made the curtain of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen, with cherubim woven into it by a skilled worker. 

36 They made four posts of acacia wood for it and overlaid them with gold. They made gold hooks for them and cast their four silver bases. 

37 For the entrance to the tent they made a curtain of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen—the work of an embroiderer; 

38 and they made five posts with hooks for them. They overlaid the tops of the posts and their bands with gold and made their five bases of bronze.

[gay-otlc]

Beyond mere acceptance of intersex bodies, appreciation for our beautiful manifestation of humanity endures even in some modern religious like Hinduism and Judaism. One story in Genesis in the Hebrew Bible (the "Old Testament") about the creation of human beings can be translated as "And G-d created the human being in G-d image. G-d created it in the image of G-d; male and female, G-d created them" (Gen 1:27). In this reading, the original being was male and female; G-d created them- as in the singular nonbinary pronoun. Another story (Gen 2:21-22) says that G-d removed a rib from Adam to make Eve, implying that women owe men for our creation, but there is another interpretation, paraphrased from Mark Sameth's article in the Forward entitled "Was Adam A [H-slur]?" In Exodus 26:20, the same word, לצ, the word that has traditionally been understood to mean "rib" is used to mean "side"- it was a construction term referring to the side or the wall of the Tabernacle. So, if we understand that the phrase should mean "And G-d took the side of the Human...," all of a sudden, things start to make a bit more sense, and reminiscent of Plato's Symposium, even: the original human being was both male and female, with multiple sides, and G-d split them in half. People forget that the Bible was originally written in Hebrew, and many things have been lost in translation over the years, sometimes being intentionally manipulated to serve the personal worldviews of interpreters. Yes, many religions and the societies that embrace them negate our holiness (see the Vatican's official proclamation on trans and intersex folks in recent years...); others, however, see us as divine- the original human being whence all others came.

"Inverse Cowgirl," Alicia Roth Weigel

[etirabys]

Scott Alexander wrote an effective altruism Talmud parody for April Fool's:

MISHNA: Rabbi Eliezer said: one may work on AI safety but not on AI capabilities. What is AI capabilities? It is anything that makes an AI better at any of the the 39 categories of labor involved in constructing the Tabernacle. GEMARA: The Exiliarch raised a question to Rav Hamnuna: Clearly language models are forbidden due to the prohibition against writing. But why is it capabilities research to work on an image model? Rav Hamnuna answered: that is the prohibited labor of dyeing. And is it dyeing if the image is in black and white? Rav Sheshet said: rather, say that it is still the prohibited labor of writing, because the user must prompt the image model. Rabbi Zeira objects: the image model is translating the writing into its vector space; it is not, itself, improving at writing. Rather, say it is the prohibited labor of sifting, because the AI must separate pixels that should be dark from pixels that should be bright. The halakha is with Rabbi Zeira.

[patron-saint-of-lesbeans]

You've mentioned this a few times before - your thoughts on the use of violence and the like - and I was wondering if you could talk more about. How you came to the conclusion you did and etc

Of course; though I will note I’ve reached less of a conclusion and more of a holding pattern. I am always open to further dialogue and challenges to any of my opinions - to come to a definite conclusion and proclaim to know Truth is not my place and not a place I want to defend. Evolution of ideas and attitudes allows us to grow and change for the better.

In summary, every person is made in God’s image and denying them respect and life is abhorrent to me. The status quo is violent; to change the status quo requires the passive violence of gradual bureaucracy or the immediate violence of direct revolution. Making a choice between the two is commendable; both work toward change and neither is more moral or ethical. The only immoral choice is to ignore the violence of the status quo in hopes of it changing on its own without acknowledging the violence required to do so. My choice of non-violence is built on my personal experiences and capacity for violence, but I have the utmost respect for those who choose violence as their means of supporting change.

First and foremost to my approach to violence: imago dei. Every single person is made in the image and likeness of God, and has the capacity to choose forgiveness and good at any point. In the likeness of God, disrespect for their well being - emotional, psychological, or physical - is disrespect that directly opposes the goodness of God that we are meant to imitate. Capacity for change follows this thinking: we have free will to do evil, but also free will to do good. A person who has always chosen evil has the capacity to choose good, and keep choosing good as long as they live. This is why I oppose the death penalty and capital punishment. It is disrespectful to human lives, living tabernacles of the very breath of God, and it denies them the choice of repentance.

On a societal scale, violence to human life and dignity is a constant. You cannot live the way you currently do without your material life being supported by human suffering. This is just a fact of the ‘global north.’ The status quo is maintained with violence, but this violence cannot be sustained, and change will occur.

Change is inherently violent, especially where it is opposed by direct violence. Generally change occurs in two forms: revolution, or gradual bureaucracy. Revolution is seen as a ‘last resort,’ where as gradual bureaucracy is treated as the more ‘moral’ route for change, but I don’t think that’s correct. Revolution can bring about a paradigm shift much faster than gradual bureaucracy, but its violence is immediate which makes it distasteful to people looking for moral high ground. Gradual bureaucracy acknowledges the violence of the status quo and accepts that the violence will continue as change is slowly constructed. The violence is out of sight, out of mind, but it can reduce collateral friction in the immediate future with long term structural support for non-violence.

Neither is morally superior or more honorable or more ethical. Slow and tedious bureaucracy lets the violence of the status quo continue to destroy lives, but quick and violent revolution will have an immediate kill count. Innocent people die either way; especially the poor and disabled and marginalized.

My personal feelings on the immediate and passive violence of both approaches is colored by my upbringing. I’m Irish. Like, my family is ‘proud members of the IRA during the 80s’ Irish. I know the effectiveness and the cost of revolutionary violence because of the mark it left on my family and on history. But I’m also disabled. I know the importance of having structural and bureaucratic support to sustain vulnerable groups during times of change, because without them, people like me will not survive change.

I am not in a position, physically or emotionally, to enthusiastically throw my weight behind a violent revolution. I know, as a disabled person, that we simply do not have the structural and bureaucratic systems to insulate people like myself from the immediate violence of revolution. But at the same time, I am constantly exposed to and victim of the passive violence of gradual bureaucracy, which lets people like me die waiting for politicians to argue and governments to legislate.

There’s no Goldilocks scenario or perfect revolution where we can achieve immediate change without collateral damage to the most vulnerable of society. The most detrimental factor to the process of change is when people wait for that perfect revolution. They want the rewards of change with none of the risk, and in doing so maintain the status quo - often to their own detriment - because gradual bureaucracy is too slow and boring but immediate violence is too gory and bloody.

My pacifism is defined by what I cannot personally accomplish. I don’t know how I would feel if I was physically abled, because I wouldn’t have the experiences and exposure I’ve had as a disabled person. I am very much of the opinion that I would sooner lay down my life than take that of another, but the reality is we don’t know how we will react until we are faced with those situations. Non-violence is a choice as much as violence is, and neither choice is binding moment-to-moment. They are choices made constantly and daily. People who choose violence are not less principled, and people who choose non-violence are not more privileged. So long as someone chooses and commits themself to change - to acknowledge the blood spilled by the status quo and the necessity of change - they are a benefit to society, be that in bearing arms or starting gardens.

Servant of God Hélder Câmara is someone whose writings on non-violence I have long meant to read, because the one quote I know from him on the topic rings true for my own perspective on non-violence:

“And I respect a lot of priests with rifles on their shoulders; I never said that to use weapons against an oppressor is immortal or anti-Christian. But that’s not my choice, not my road, not my way to apply the Gospels.”

[hebrewbyinbal]

Sukkot: A Time of Celebration and Connection 🍋✨

Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles, is a vibrant and joyous Jewish holiday that holds a special place in the hearts of many.

It's a time when families and communities come together to celebrate the rich tapestry of Jewish tradition and the bountiful harvest season.

At the heart of Sukkot is the סוכה sukkah hut, a temporary dwelling that symbolizes the humble shelters used by the Israelites during their 40-year journey in the desert.

One hut is soo-'kah סוכה.

More than one is soo-'kot סוכות (as well as the name of this holiday).

These soo-'kot סוכות are lovingly constructed in backyards, courtyards, and even on balconies, adorned with colorful decorations and natural elements like branches and fruits.

The sukkah becomes a gathering place for family and friends, where meals are shared, stories are told, and blessings are recited. It's a place where we are reminded of the impermanence of life and the importance of gratitude for the abundance we have.

As the sun sets and the stars twinkle above, many even choose to sleep in the soo-'kah, connecting with nature and reflecting on the blessings of the harvest.

Sukkot is a time of great joy, filled with traditions that bring families and communities closer.

It's a reminder of the importance of gratitude, unity, and the simple pleasures of life.

So, as Sukkot approaches, let's embrace the spirit of the soo-'kah, celebrating our shared heritage and the beauty of gathering under the open sky. 🌟🌾

[eretzyisrael]

THIS WEEK'S TORAH PORTION

Parashat Pekudei: Exodus 38:21 - 40:38

In this Torah portion, Aaron and the priests are given their clothing for work in the Sanctuary. This marks the completion of the Tabernacle construction. Moses anoints Aaron and his sons to make their priestly positions official. A cloud descends upon the Tent of Meeting, and God’s presence fills the Tabernacle.

MORE TORAH

[geostatonary]

tonight in torah study, we discuss g-d's love for women's handmirrors and smalltalk, architectural and institutional implications of the tabernacle v temple, and discuss the construction of the tabernacle for a fifth time

[apenitentialprayer]

tsêlâ, from the verb tsâla'' means...

side or rib?

In theory, it could mean both, and I believe that is the stance that Strong's Hebrew takes on it. It is often translated as "rib" in Genesis 2, where Eve is made from Adam's צֵלָע.

If you want, we can look at the other contexts in which צֵלָע is used. For example, the word gets translated as "sides" in Exodus 25. In this context, the author is describing how to create the Ark of the Covenant, including where the gold rings should be installed - two on one "side," and two on the opposite "side." Exodus 26, which describes the creation of the tabernacle, also uses צֵלָע in the sense of "sides." Exodus 27:7 also talks about placing poles on the "sides" of the altar, and later instances of צֵלָע also have it translated as "sides," as the later uses of the phrase are in passages describing the actual creation of these objects rather than the blueprints describes in the chapters I mentioned.

1 Kings also uses צֵלָע in a context of constructing things - this time, Solomon building the Temple in chapter 6. And again, it is translated as "sides" in most of the earlier part of that chapter. But then something interesting happens - צֵלָע starts to refer not to "sides" in the sense of the abstract concept, but to the wooden panels and boards that actually support the structure. In 6:16, these panels enclose the Holy of Holies, while in 6:34 two "panels" are hinged together to construct doors.

Ezekiel also uses צֵלָע in reference to architecture; how about we move onto how it's applied to living things?

Besides Genesis 3, well, we have Job 18:12 and Jeremiah 20:10. Translations of Jeremiah 20:10 seem to read צֵלָע as "slip" or "stumble," which is very different from the senses it was used in the previously mentioned instances. Job 18:12 is variously translated as "calamity is at their side" or "calamity is ready for their stumbling," so.... ???

I do not know enough about extra-Biblical Hebrew texts to say whether there are contemporary uses of the word צֵלָע to mean "rib." You could argue that the panels of a structure are analogous to "ribs" in the anatomy of a creature, but that seems like a bit of a stretch.

The Greek Septuagint translates צֵלָע as πλευρά, which means "side" - but in the way that it's used in the New Testament, πλευρά can also mean ribs. After He dies, Jesus is pierced in the πλευρά, which gets translated as "side" in most translations, but we're imagining His heart (and, presumably before that, His ribs) is getting pierced.

Peter also has an angel appear at his πλευρά, his "side" in the abstract sense (i.e., the angel appears beside him), but when πλευρά is used to refer to a corporal, bodily part, it seems that ribs would be a fair translation. And the translator of Genesis into the Greek chose πλευρά to render צֵלָע.

[power-chords]

“You know I have this, uh, recurring dream. I'm sitting at this big banquet table and all of the victims of all the murders I've ever worked are sitting at this table, and they're staring at me with these black eyeballs... ‘cause they got eight ball hemorrhages from the head wounds. And there they are, these big balloon people, because I found them two weeks after they’d been under the bed. The neighbors reported the smell. And there they are, all of them, just sitting there.”

The order of the ritual is paramount in importance because it lends a sense of continuity to a culture. A ritual is both able to regulate society's order through its own order, as well as serve as a means of reestablishing that order when the normative patterns of a society have collapsed. This is part of the reason the "correct" method of enacting a ritual is so important and why a set of behaviors meant to unify a community can often lead to its dissolution or fragmenting. In addition to regulating a society’s order, ritual can be used to define a spatial area. In this way a ritual should be conceived of as “first and foremost, a mode of paying attention.” [...] Thus, if the ritual can be said to have a message, it “is less an idea to be taught and more a reality to be repeatedly experienced.” [...]

Offerings to gods are usually ritual offerings, able to take the role of any of the three basic types of ritual, and must be proffered in a precise way in order for them to be acceptable. [...] There is no denying that by far the most important form of offering was that of animal sacrifice. For “as sacrifice was the raison d’etre of the archaic temple…a temple or altar without sacrifice is a mere monument.” [...] Two major forms of sacrifice can be readily identified, that of gift and that of substitute. [B]oth are marked by the idea that they will either reify the existing world or reinstate a broken or completely destroyed reality (in the line of restoration or maintenance rituals). Ritual offerings are a means of reconciliation with the gods.

—Amy M. Fisher, "Pour Forth the Sparkling Chalice: An Examination of Libation Practices in the Levant," 2007

The Shulchan Arukh (“Set Table”) is the most widely accepted code of Jewish law ever written. Compiled in the 16th century by Rabbi Yosef Karo, it is a condensed and simplified version of the Beit Yosef, a commentary that Karo wrote on the Tur.

The vessels appear in the list of items to be constructed for the table within the Tabernacle. Setting a table for the gods with the foods of kings was a common ritual in both Mesopotamia and Egypt. A set table was “a mark of affluence and status.” The importance of a set table for God is confirmed by the need for one not only in the Tabernacle, but also in both Solomon's temple and Ezekiel's plans for a temple. This need did not end with the exile, as First Maccabees attests to a table in the post-exilic temple, and the Arch of Titus clearly depicts a table with a goblet perched upon it being carted off with the other spoils from the temple. Unlike the set tables of other religions, this one lacked a feast. It only held empty vessels[...] (Fisher, 2007.)

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Making the Altar of Burnt Offering

1 He made the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood. Five cubits was its length, and five cubits its breadth. It was square, and three cubits was its height. 2 He made horns for it on its four corners. Its horns were of one piece with it, and he overlaid it with bronze. 3 And he made all the utensils of the altar, the pots, the shovels, the basins, the forks, and the fire pans. He made all its utensils of bronze. 4 And he made for the altar a grating, a network of bronze, under its ledge, extending halfway down. 5 He cast four rings on the four corners of the bronze grating as holders for the poles. 6 He made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with bronze. 7 And he put the poles through the rings on the sides of the altar to carry it with them. He made it hollow, with boards.

Making the Bronze Basin

8 He made the basin of bronze and its stand of bronze, from the mirrors of the ministering women who ministered in the entrance of the tent of meeting.

Making the Court

9 And he made the court. For the south side the hangings of the court were of fine twined linen, a hundred cubits; 10 their twenty pillars and their twenty bases were of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver. 11 And for the north side there were hangings of a hundred cubits; their twenty pillars and their twenty bases were of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver. 12 And for the west side were hangings of fifty cubits, their ten pillars, and their ten bases; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver. 13 And for the front to the east, fifty cubits. 14 The hangings for one side of the gate were fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and three bases. 15 And so for the other side. On both sides of the gate of the court were hangings of fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and their three bases. 16 All the hangings around the court were of fine twined linen. 17 And the bases for the pillars were of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver. The overlaying of their capitals was also of silver, and all the pillars of the court were filleted with silver. 18 And the screen for the gate of the court was embroidered with needlework in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. It was twenty cubits long and five cubits high in its breadth, corresponding to the hangings of the court. 19 And their pillars were four in number. Their four bases were of bronze, their hooks of silver, and the overlaying of their capitals and their fillets of silver. 20 And all the pegs for the tabernacle and for the court all around were of bronze.

Materials for the Tabernacle

21 These are the records of the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the testimony, as they were recorded at the commandment of Moses, the responsibility of the Levites under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. 22 Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the Lord commanded Moses; 23 and with him was Oholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver and designer and embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen.

24 All the gold that was used for the work, in all the construction of the sanctuary, the gold from the offering, was twenty-nine talents and 730 shekels, by the shekel of the sanctuary. 25 The silver from those of the congregation who were recorded was a hundred talents and 1,775 shekels, by the shekel of the sanctuary: 26 a beka a head (that is, half a shekel, by the shekel of the sanctuary), for everyone who was listed in the records, from twenty years old and upward, for 603,550 men. 27 The hundred talents of silver were for casting the bases of the sanctuary and the bases of the veil; a hundred bases for the hundred talents, a talent a base. 28 And of the 1,775 shekels he made hooks for the pillars and overlaid their capitals and made fillets for them. 29 The bronze that was offered was seventy talents and 2,400 shekels; 30 with it he made the bases for the entrance of the tent of meeting, the bronze altar and the bronze grating for it and all the utensils of the altar, 31 the bases around the court, and the bases of the gate of the court, all the pegs of the tabernacle, and all the pegs around the court. — Exodus 38 | English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Cross References: Exodus 25:5; Exodus 25:27; Exodus 26:1; Exodus 26:19; Exodus 26:36; Exodus 27:3-4; Exodus 27:10; Exodus 30:13; Exodus 30:18; Exodus 31:2; Exodus 31:6; Exodus 39:1; Numbers 1:2; Numbers 1:50; Matthew 17:24; Acts 7:44; Revelation 15:5

Exodus 38 - The Pulpit Commentaries

Key Passages in Exodus 38

1. The altar of burnt offering 8. The laver of brass 9. The court, and its hangings 21. The sum of what the people offered, and the use to which it was applied

[transgenderer]

The Mormon Kingdom of Beaver Island

(heavily abridged wikipedia section)

Most Latter Day Saints considered Brigham Young to be [Joseph Smith]'s successor, but many others followed James J. Strang, who argued his own claim using a letter that he said Smith had written and mailed to him. Seeking refuge from religious persecution, Strang and his followers moved from Voree to Beaver Island in 1848. At the time, Beaver Island was inhabited by mostly Irish Catholic immigrants.

The Strangites flourished under their Prophet's rule and, due to the Island's strategic location, they became both became an economic and a political power in the region at the expense of nearby Mackinac Island. The Strangites also founded the town of St. James, which was named in honor of Strang. They constructed a road denominated "King's Highway" into the interior of the island that remains one of its primary thoroughfares. The Strangites cleared land; constructed cabins, farms and other improvements; and attempted to establish themselves permanently on the island.

In fact, Strang became powerful enough to force the "Gentiles", or non-Mormons, of Beaver Island to pay tithes to his church. "Gentiles", who refused were allegedly subjected to flogging or violently driven off their land claims.[6][7]

Irish Americans on the island, who were not welcome in St. James, first moved to a new settlement around Cable Bay, on Beaver Island's southern tip. The Ojibwe and Odawa population, on the other hand, fled to nearby Garden Island, where they sided invariably with the Strangites' enemies[8] to the point that Strang later alleged that the Indians had been, "armed and hunting me for my life."[9]

After first decreeing eleven days before the election that, "every Gentile family must come to the harbor and be baptized into the Church of Zion of leave the island within ten days",[10] Strang was unanimously elected to the Michigan House of Representatives in 1853 and again in 1855.

James J. Strang proclaimed himself "King of Heaven and Earth", and was crowned on 8 July 1850 inside a large log "tabernacle" that his adherents erected, in an elaborate coronation ceremony.[13] On him was bestowed a crown that a witness described as "a shiny metal ring with a cluster of glass stars in the front",[14] a royal red robe, shield, breastplate, and wooden scepter.[13]

Meanwhile, ships sailing near Beaver Island routinely, "sailed into a crack in the Lake", even during the summer, when shipwrecks in the region were highly unusual. During Strang's rule and for decades afterwards, allegations of Mormon acts of piracy, wrecking through the use of false light beacons and the cutting of anchor cables by Strangites on skiffs, the mass murder of male shipwreck survivors, and the subjecting of attractive female shipwreck survivors to forced marriage, continued to be commonly told by Beaver Island residents, as well as by Great Lakes sailors and fishermen.[15]

According to Strang's biographer Miles Harvey, there are numerous well-documented cases of groups of Strangites, who saw non-Mormons as the enemy, making marauding raids in settlements around the shores of Lake Michigan. Their acts included timber piracy, counterfeiting, home invasions, armed robbery, and horse theft in, and the theft of fishing equipment from the refugee fishermen in Mackinac Island.[17] Furthermore, on July 13, 1853, Mormon fishermen from Beaver Island fought a pitched battle on Lake Michigan against fishermen from what is now Charlevoix, Michigan.[18]

Strang, however, insisted through his newspaper that all of these charges were lies motivated by Anti-Mormonism.[16]

Strang and his adherents often conflicted with their neighbors on the island and adjacent locales. While claiming dominion of only his church, Strang tended to exert authority over non-Strangites on the island also, and was regularly accused of forcibly seizing their property and ordering physically assaults against them. Meanwhile, the island and surrounding County were ruled with Strang as the political boss, while the Strangites imposed both a monarchy and theocracy upon local government that violated both the American system of Republicanism and the separation of church and state. Even before the new County's creation, Strang was powerful enough to order the Treasurer of Mackinac County to surrender one tenth of Beaver Island's tax revenue to his church.[19]

Open hostility between the two groups frequently became violent, and a growing number of Irish-American refugees fled to Mackinac Island. Other Irish-Americans once assaulted Strangites at the post office and, in what is still called the "Battle of Whiskey Point", Strang fired a cannon at a private army of Irish-American fishermen who had come to retake the island and expel the Strangite church.[20]

Meanwhile, one former Strangite later recalled that more and more Mormon families were, "leading a double life, seemingly good Mormons, but only waiting for the opportunity to get away".[21] The beginning of the end came when Strang ordered all Mormon women to wear bloomers instead of dresses. When two Mormon women refused obedience, Strang punished them by having their husbands flogged, an act that was rendered less unpopular after one of them was discovered in flagrante delicto while committing adultery. While recovering from their floggings, both outraged husbands vowed revenge against Strang. On June 16, 1856, the United States Navy gunboat USS Michigan entered the harbor of St. James and Strang was invited aboard. As Strang walked along the dock the two Mormon flogging victims followed by several other disaffected Strangites repeatedly shot the Mormon king from behind and pistol-whipped him as he lay dying. The shooters then boarded the gunboat, which refused to surrender them to the Mormon Sheriff and instead sailed away and disembarked both men in Mackinac Island. No one was arrested, tried, or convicted of Strang's murder.

After Strang died of his wounds on July 9, 1856, mobs of dispossessed Irish fishermen from Mackinac Island and St. Helena Island arrived and expelled the Strangites, who then numbered approximately 2,600, from their claims on Beaver Island.

According to Frederick Stonehouse, "Whether Strang and his Mormons were guilty of the charges of piracy and murder their enemies levelled at them or not is unknown. In today's more politically correct climate, the feeling is that the charges were trumped up by their enemies, who were jealous of the success of the 'Saints'. As usual, the truth is likely somewhere between the two extremes"[23]

the 19th century was insane

[kdmiller55]

God’s House Built God’s Way

1 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, 3 and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, 4 to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, 5 in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft. 6 And behold, I have…

[commander-chaoss]

CHRISTIAN BROTHERS AND SISTERS

you know how the ark has been rebuilt according to the instructions in Genesis? And how there is equally detailed instructions in Exodus for the construction of the Tabernacle?

Well. Do you guys think it would be disrespectful if someone decided to rebuild the Tabernacle? Cause the ark was just a boat. The Tabernacle was the house of God himself. Like I would feel weird about somebody recreating the Ark of the Covenant, and feel similarly about the prospect of someone recreating the Tabernacle, though less strongly.

What do you guys think?

[israelseen1]

Jonathan Sacks: The Architecture of Holiness TERUMAH

Jonathan Sacks: The Architecture of Holiness TERUMAH From here to the end of the book of Exodus the Torah describes, in painstaking detail and great length, the construction of the Mishkan, the first collective house of worship of the Jewish people. Precise instructions are given for each item – the Tabernacle itself, the frames and drapes, and the various objects it contained – including their…

[popcartoonkabala]

The Kabbalah of Blackness and the Kabbalah of Liberation: Adar/Pisces reconsidered

As far as emergent polarities in media, and through media, “politics” is the hope of addressing fundamental concerns, Justice, and through justice, validation. If the story has meaning, “good” meaning, “real” merit, then it’s not just spectacle, it’s somehow art, or better than art: gospel. Revelation. Authentic divine experience, which is bound up in divine justice to the degree that engagement of the worthwhile real feels accessible, and this is the hope and joy in “educational” media. As a child, the difference between a PBS and everything else in the commercial media market was understood and experienced as a validation and virtue to anything I enjoyed from it. When Sesame Street crossed over to HBO, the irony was sublime and profound, but maybe appropriate: HBO aspires to be art amidst spectacle, the adult version of PBS, the thing we can reliably feel good about. As media congeals into it’s range of formats, from the ostensibly pseudo- transgressive to the deeply self-righteous and the myriad comedies that sew these two disparate extremes of media experience, being “bad” like sitcom characters or “good” like detective show heroes, badness to ground in the somatic darkness of the inner id+ psychotic ego and goodness to integrate a general positivity and sense of benefit from experienced narrative, either wisdom upgrade, perspective integration, or bias-concern confirmation.  The difference between actively serving and somehow feeling as if is one of the great accomplishments of media, especially in the context of temple and religion, as well. Modern alienation removed the orthodoxy from the local larger tabernacles and educational centers and moved them into a box in the house, from which the kids learn conventions and construct identity models and assumptions. Notice the pop “crisis” over the blackification and queerification of popular media, an ironic psuedo-crisis in it’s standing tension in the origins and structure of the fields and markets. How could anything bridge the distance between the Real that’s felt and the money spent in making the biggest, best distributed spectacles? Note the transgressive race/sex tension that mark much of the effective, successful action of the early cartoons! The core irony of cartoon exploitation is of course, that the power of the hero IS ITSELF a satiric inversion of the reality of people. Neither clever, invincible rabbits nor irritated woodpeckers have really actually been able to stave off the human devastation of their natural habitats. This tension crossed over very publicly recently in the context of Kendrick at the Superbowl: The hostile victory dance over Drake offerred a larger metaphor for the unright thing in the American Pop project: the difference between a predatory exploitive-- class? caste? people? identified in absolutism as “not like us” for reasons to do ultimately with community, and grounding in reality. The main transition from Aquarius to Pisces is the inversion from a functional toleration/embrace modality to a kind of resistance through a sort of demonstrative disassociation. In the original myth, Pisces is Venus and her son/father Cupid, Aphrodite and Eros: the fundamental life force itself, turning either into fish, or riding fish, to escape the end of the world. The End of The World is/means twofold: the catastrophe at the end of history, personal and/or collective, that brought us to this reigning stability (such as it is) AND the collapse of the flawed system, that same reigning stability, that same ruling standard, as something better emerges within it, to live forever. This is the god of the triumphal: the one that is alive, and by definition, wins, in some describeable, experiential way. As much as Black Americans have never quite been allowed to “triumph” beyond certain points (i.e. reparations, or even safeguards against police brutality, as deep extremes) the individual and collective accomplishments that have enriched and varying degrees of enthroned Black people as the face and heard soul of America, specifically because of the willingness to play the game, and succeed in systems designed to aggressively and ruthlessly exploit them. The end of the world is also the end of racism, since racism is arguably the main crime of This World, in that the end of racism is what is suggested or promised by the system of justice within Liberalism and Islam alike: and yet the thing in our hearts that can only see the danger of each other’s success is the mechanism of the world that makes predatory strategy feel like responsibility, chas v shalom. This is the beginning of the inversions of the first and most famous two of the seven doubles: Wisdom into Ignorance, followed by Weath into Poverty. https://prod.sefaria.org/Bava_Batra.25b.8?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en In the Sefer Yetzirah, as well as in the book of Job and the biblical tabernacle altar area Wisdom is to the South and Wealth is to the North.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sefer_Yetzirah#Theories_of_contrast_in_nature These polarities, when bridged, breed the next polarity, and this is the innovation of the Seven Doubles over the Three Mothers: The three mothers are the ones from Goldielocks: Too much, Not Enough and Yes Perfect!  Too Hot Too Cold Just Right. Too Hard Too Soft etc. These are the original excess, rebalance, and harmony that begin all the pattern, and then MEMORY turns experience into something like Wisdom-- which degrades, out of context, into something like Ignorance-- racism, chauvenism and presumption around the Known gives way to deeply missing and misunderstanding the True or the Wise. But here: Wisdom and Ignorance, as opposite extremes MUST FALL IN LOVE with each other to reconcile. And let’s say they did! Let say: Wisdom and Ignorance fall in love, get married, have a baby:  That baby is Wealth. The child of my wisdom coupled with my intuitive or compulsive ignorance, balanced into bounty itself, the test of both wisdom and the willingness to give up wisdom for insistence. This is the cypher on chapter 4 of the Sefer Yetzirah: Wealth, it’s transformation is Poverty (like the Daoists recorded) Wealth and Poverty fall in love, have a baby: That baby is Fertility itself, Production itself! All the music and all the culture, gleaned from the marriage between the poverty that purifies our hearts, the desperation and need that motivates our songs and prayers and war cries and marching songs; and the wealth that, like the rain, longs to circulate itself through an embrace of the real and the true, in that tragically predatory way that Wealth itself has always longed to offset and atone for, so as to have wholeness, Shalom itself. Production gives way to Devastation, all the good forests cut down. Production and Devastation fall in love,have a baby: That maybe, in most versions of the Sefer Yetzirah that I like-- is Life. Life becomes Death of course, the way of all grass and kitten. Life and Death fall in love, have a baby:  Peace. Peace, of course, famously gives way to War, and vice verse  War and Peace fall in love, have a baby: Sovereignty, Administration. Administration becomes Slavery. Administration and Slavery fall in love and have a baby: Grace.  Grace, taken for granted, of course becomes Creepy, or Gross. So alas for the game that makes us creepy or vilific. The bombs rain hard on whoever is around and the associations demand acknowledgement or clarification. As sad as it’s been to watch the clownification into contemptability of someone like a Snoop Dogg, themselves self defined by mercenary pragmatism that identifies itself through it’s wealth of wealths, and openness to every next offer, given way to a hollow shell without commitment or meaning, as all security compromise forces can tend to become. he had to apologize to Kendrick when he realized that letting Drake use his voice for an AI thing was an epic fail within the ettiquette of Hip-Hop. He has not stopped failing by accepting the money and offer to do peace commercials with Tom Brady, and inaugurate the cursed bad-president, as if it was the smart thing to do, since it clearly did not display as the right one.  I think about it all in the context of Israel/Palestine, where the Race conflict predates the legal bifurcation of priviledge into Whiteness (as was the Anglo-Dutch Legal model) instead remaining in the older cursed holiness of faith identity, at least socially: Believer vs Infidel gives way to Believed vs Dismissed by the law, ones station defining the exploitation or fairness one can hope or expect to encounter, by a State or an Industry that either recognizes your humanity, or the useful threat you might function as. Be blessed with easier passage and the language to help each other understand how human we really are, and how to be righter with us in response.