Parsha Stories (Va’Yakhel/Pikudei)

In this week’s double parsha, Moshe instructs the people how to build the Mishkan, the portable house where God will dwell. Thanks to the generous donations and hard work of B’nai Yisrael (for six days at a time), the Mishkan is completed after one year. Now the Divine Presence, the shechina, is able to dwell among the people and journey with them through their travels in the Midbar (wilderness).