Very often, old Bob Marley tunes run through my head; they constitute a discernible percentage of my personal soundtrack. This week’s reggae classic has been ‘Get Up, Stand Up!’ – an early 70’s number written by Marley and Peter Tosh. One notable bit of trivia – this was the last song that Marley performed live. As last words go, it’s a pretty good one.
Here are some of Get Up, Stand Up’s central lines –
Most people think
Great God will come from the skies
Take away everything
And make everybody feel high
But if you know what life is worth
You will look for yours on earth
And now you see the light
You stand up for your rights. Jah!
I’m taken with the theology of Get Up, Stand Up, which describes a reciprocal relationship that connects God and humanity. God shows up when we stand up; we need to step toward one another in order to connect. Sitting back and waiting won’t bring God any closer. So suggest Tosh and Marley.
So too suggests the mishkan – the portable sanctuary or Tabernacle whose construction details fill this week’s parasha. The sidewalls of the mishkan are to be built from acacia wood planks that stand upright. An 18th century, mystically minded commentator named R Haim ibn ‘Attar, reads the symbolism of the mishkan, teaching us that the Hebrew word for plank, KeReSH, holds a deep allegorical meaning. The letters that form that word – Kuf, Resh, Shin – also form the word KeSHeR – connection. The fact, in turn, teaches that the “planks (kerashim) are connections (k’sharim) by means of which all the holy aspects (behinot) of above and below are connected and united.” Great God fills the mishkan with Divine Presence (shekhinah) when we “make the planks for the Tabernacle of acacia wood, upright.” (Exodus 26:15)
An early Hasidic master, R Elimelekh of Lishensk, pushes the allegory one critical step further. Noting that the Hebrew word for falsehood – SheKeR – is also formed by the same three letters, R Elimelekh reads the Torah’s command this way: “make of yourself a plank for the Tabernacle (keresh la’mishkan), that is be(come) a chariot for the Divine Presence (merkavah la’Shekhinah).” Standing upright, being a KeReSH, means resisting SHeKeR. That’s how one carries the Divine Presence within. That’s how we get to connect heaven and earth in our own lives and in our time and place.
So…”now you see the light; You stand up for your rights.”
Shabbat Shalom
