Spinning Goats

How do you show up? Do you bring your all to the table?

In an interesting change of words in this week’s Parsha, the Torah says that the “women spun the goats”.  The Torah is telling us of Moses instruction to the Jewish People about the construction of the Mishkan, all of its vessels and the Kohen’s clothing. 

Among the things that were prepared were the tapestries that covered the Mishkan and the curtain between the Holy and Holy of Holies.  Some of these curtains were beautifully embroidered with fascinating designs.

Here the Torah is telling us that the women were the ones who did this work.  But why does the Torah say that they spun the goats.

Rashi tells us that they actually spun the goat hairs while the hair was still on the back of the goats.  That is quite a talent!

But why is the Torah telling us about this talent?  What is the messaging for us?

“Things that excite you are not random. They are connected to your purpose. Follow them.”  (I saw this on a meme shared on our family chat but the author is unclear.)

Our tradition tells us that if we have a talent it is a sign that our purpose lies therein.  These talented women saw that they had this gift and understood that they needed to bring this to their service of Hashem.

This is why the Torah is telling this to us.  Simple and straightforward.  Do you have a talent? Of any sort? Bring it to the table! Use it to influence one person or many people.

So I ask again, how do you show up? Do you bring your all to the table?

Hashem only evaluates us based on our own strengths and talents, let’s embrace them.

Have a great Shabbos!

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