It’s not just our outward words and actions that can cause harm, but our inner thoughts as well. Just as our actions can have a significant impact on others, the way we treat ourselves - physically and emotionally - can take a toll. We must strive to act with kindness and compassion towards others and ourselves, recognizing that it’s not just the wellbeing of others that’s at stake, but also our own.

Like many Torah portions, there’s an inherent contrast in the text we read this week. If the time following childbirth requires a certain period of purification, that implies that giving birth is an impure act in some way. Yet could there be a more God-like experience than childbirth?

When we get so much of our information from social media and online “news” sources it’s more important than ever to verify and validate before we take what we read as fact, or we risk “strange fire” by spreading misinformation.

You might think burnt offerings are a thing of the past, but it’s still traditional to save and burn a bit of the challah we bake before Shabbat. You might not have had the experience of being a priest and washing your hands before offering a sacrifice to God, but there’s a good chance you’ve washed and said the blessing for handwashing before eating. As Jews, it’s not a matter of being doomed to repeat history because we forget it. We remember and live in this history every day of our lives.

When you break an oath you’ve made to another person, you apologize, plain and simple, and the other person decides whether or not to forgive. But what do you do when you break an oath to yourself? In those cases, the apology and the forgiveness are both up to you, and the first step to making progress of any kind is being honest with yourself.

As we end the book of Exodus we find that the Israelites have created two embodiments of holiness in the Israelite camp: the Tent of Meeting (Ohel Moed) and the Mishkan. The Ohel Moed is a place to be present. On the other hand, the Mishkan, the sacred space where God will dwell among the Israelites, travels with the Israelites and is often at the center of moments of awe and wonder.

Is the purpose of the design of the holy Tabernacle for God to feel at home or for the Israelites to feel safe and present? The text doesn’t provide an obvious answer, but in reading the descriptive details, it appears that the grandeur of the Mishkan is partly because God wanted as many people as possible to contribute to its creation. That way they’d feel connected to the space and proud to be there.