Vayakheil: privacy

The parsha describes the construction of the mishkan.  The earlier ( very similar) parsha - Terumah- described the plans for the mishkan.  The actual assembly merits its own record.

This parsha disturbs me.  Where is the mishkan that I was supposed to build?  The parsha says that every one who had skill/talent did her work.  Did I use my talent talent to the fullest?

When I was a fellow, training in hematology and oncology, at Columbia University (1986) I presented a poster at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).  The work demonstrated that cells made (more) malignant by the introduction of a specific cancer inducing gene(oncogene) were killed by different drugs, depending upon which gene was introduced.  The idea that cancer treatment should be based upon the molecular cause seemed  very reasonable to me. The idea did not catch on at the time.

Now, it is practical to identify the activation of many of the genes that (presumably) cause cancers. There are multimillion dollar projects, at Harvard, Oxford, etc, and a large industry  dedicated  to correlating gene alterations with  response to cancer  treatment.  My Mishkan is being built, my contribution was smaller than I would have liked.


The mishkan is a set of boxes, one inside the other.  The arrangement attests to the majesty of the innermost content, the Tablets of the Law. Entombed in a golden coffin ( aron) with golden , winged, Cherubim  adorning the  cover (of forgiveness- Kaporeth), the tablets have their own room.  They are separated from the holy service objects ( table, candellabra, spice alter)

There is an inaccessible, super holy and super private  place inside every person  We never get there. Maybe, rarely  we can  get close.