The desert can be a dangerous place, especially at night. I should know because of a harrowing experience I had back in my first trip to Israel in 1989. We were spending the night in the Negev as part of my high school’s 11th Grade study abroad program. And, after being regaled at a late night session about scorpions and other creepy things dwelling in the region we made our way back to our tents.
I was in the middle of the group, kibitzing with classmates, when suddenly a few of them completely disappeared from my view in front of me as if they had been swallowed by the desert. It turns out they had slid down a sand dune and were in a plateau fifteen feet below the ground we were walking. Luckily, no one was hurt, but I still remember the experience as a warning that this was a place where the unexpected can happen.
As we come to the close of the book of Exodus with the reading of a double portion, Vayakhel/Pikudei, the People of Israel have clearly been spooked by their environs. They are a bunch of city dwellers making their way through what must have seemed like what we would call the “Wild West.” God understands this and gives the Israelites the ultimate security blanket – a cloud to watch over them by day and a pillar of fire by night.
This is actually what is displayed on the ark at Shir Shalom – the gray metal pillars jutting out of the back representing the moving cloud, and the image on the stained glass on either side of the ark representing the fire. It is as if during our time in our sanctuary, we too are shielded from harm. After all, you need not just walk through the desert at night to be afraid of the unexpected. As anyone who has tried to navigate a parking lot filled with black ice during a Buffalo winter knows, you can never be too vigilant about the next place you put your foot.
To safe journeys and a peaceful Shabbat,
Rabbi Alex