פָּרָשַׁת וַיַּקְהֵל

Parshat Vayakhel tells how the Mishkan was actually built, by the whole people, after the golden calf and the forgiveness. Moshe gathers the congregation and begins with Shabbat — six days of work, the seventh a Shabbat of complete rest, no fire kindled — and only then calls for the offering. The people answer beyond what was asked: men and women bring their gold jewelry, colored wool, linen, skins, wood, silver, copper, oil and spices; the wise-hearted women spin; the leaders bring the stones for the Ephod and Choshen. Betzalel and Oholiav, filled with the spirit of G-d, lead every wise-hearted craftsman, until the craftsmen tell Moshe there is more than enough and Moshe has the giving stopped.

Then the work, in the order it was commanded in Terumah, each piece as Hashem commanded Moshe: the ten woven curtains with keruvim and the goat-hair, ram-skin and tachash coverings; the gold-covered boards in their silver sockets with their bars; the Parochet and the entrance screen; the Aron and the Kaporet with its keruvim; the Shulchan; the Menorah of one hammered piece; the incense altar, the anointing oil and the incense; the copper altar with its grating; the laver, made from the mirrors of the women; and the courtyard with its hangings, pillars and gate. In many years Vayakhel and Pekudei are read together, and it is often Shabbat Shekalim or Shabbat Parah.