Take Note - Chronicle Online/The WORD 03/27/2025

Weekly On-line Rabbi's D'var-Torah

March 27, 2025

27 Adar 5785

Parashat Pekude

If you want to remember the name of a good restaurant that you went to, all you have to do is take out your phone and snap a pic.  If you want a record of who attended an event with you, you can do the same.  Our phones can do the job of remembering for us.  But, it was not always the case.

The name of our Torah portion – Pekudei פְקוּדֵ֤י – means “the records” and it refers to the details of the Tabernacle’s construction as preserved in the Torah.  The Hebrew word Pekudei comes from a root that means “to pay attention” or “to observe.”  On Rosh Hashanah, we read the story of God sending messengers to announce that Sarah would have a child the following year (Genesis 21).  That incident is introduced with the words “V’Adonai pakad et Sarah – וַה' פָּקַד אֶת־שָׂרָה – God took note of Sarah.”  It’s the same word.

So, we humans are supposed to take note of the Tabernacle’s details so that we will know how to create sacred space.  And God takes note of human beings when they are in need.  It seems as though this verb “pakad” is an important action.  We need to pay attention to the world around us and, hopefully, others will notice us as well.

Sometimes, there is so much going on in the world that it’s hard to figure out what we’re supposed to notice.  We can get sidetracked by all the noise.  Further, sometimes the world seems to focus on the wrong event or the wrong person, and we get distracted.  All it takes is a few minutes in the unreal world of social media to fall victim to misdirection and to lose sight of what’s really important.

For example, over the last week or so, a man named Mahmoud Khalil has gotten a lot of media attention.  He is currently in ICE detention for possibly violating the terms of his student visa and (eventually) green card. His wife went so far as to say that he was violently kidnapped by the arresting officers though the video of the arrest seems to indicate otherwise.  While we should all be concerned about due process and improper arrests, the world is focusing on the wrong person.  Mahmoud Khalil has an attorney, and he has already had hearings in front of judge.  He has legal protections.  Instead, the world should be taking note of Edan Alexander, a US citizen born in New Jersey.  He was literally kidnapped by Hamas and dragged into the tunnels of Gaza over 500 days ago.  He has had no hearing.  He has had no visits from an attorney or the Red Cross.  He is likely being tortured as I type these words.  The world is focusing on the wrong man.

Similarly, political activists on college campuses have been extremely effective at getting media attention for their (false) message about Hamas fighting for the liberation of the Palestinian people.  Hamas is not really concerned with the welfare of the Palestinian people.  As an organization, they only have one goal – the destruction of Israel.   Thanks to these political activists, the image of Hamas has been softened and somehow the terrorists of October 7th have been painted as sympathetic figures.  However, over the past couple of days, thousands of real Gazans have risked their lives to tell us about the reality of Hamas.  For the first time since this war has started, we are seeing Palestinians marching in protest of Hamas.  Unfortunately, the Gazans who know Hamas best get a lot less media attention than the political activists on college campuses.  Once again, we are taking note of the wrong people.

These are just two examples.  We know that the false allegations of Israel committing war crimes gets more attention than the actual war crimes of Hamas and the truly genocidal acts taking place in Yemen or Syria.  We know that the film “No Other Land” received an Oscar while the film “October 8” had to fight to find a distributor and was not accepted at any major film festival.  We know that actors who wore red hand pins to the Oscars in support of Palestinians were celebrated while Disney had to provide Gal Gadot with additional security because as an Israeli she received death threats after the release of “Snow White.”  And I could go on.

This week’s Torah portion reminds us that we’re not supposed to take note of what is shiny or loud or popular.  We are supposed to take note of what is real and important.  God took note of a woman in pain.  Our ancestors took note of how to create sacred space at the center of a community.  We would do well to emulate them by taking note of the important people and events in the world while encouraging others to do the same.  Let’s not get distracted by the noise.

Shalom,

RAF.