“A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin, and culture is like a tree without roots.”

This famous quote, attributed to Jamaican political activist Marcus Garvey, underscores a fundamental truth: you cannot know who you truly are without looking to the past. This concept can be found in the opening of the first of this week’s double Parsha, Vayakhel.

The Parsha begins with Moshe gathering the Jewish people to relay the instructions for building the Mishkan (the Tabernacle). When Moshe finishes giving his instructions, the Torah describes their departure:  וַיֵּ֥צְא֛וּ כׇּל־עֲדַ֥ת בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל מִלִּפְנֵ֥י מֹשֶֽׁה׃

“The entire congregation of the Children of Israel went out from before Moshe.” (Exodus 35:20)

The final words seem redundant. If Moshe was the one addressing them, it is obvious they were departing from his presence. Why does the Torah feel the need to specify that they went out “from before Moshe”?

Rabbi Yaakov Neiman offers an explanation based on a commentary by the Dubno Maggid regarding the travels of the Jewish people in the desert. In Parshas Masei, Moshe records “their goings out according to their journeys”… “their journeys according to their goings out”. Why the reversal and seeming repetition of the wording?

To explain this shift, the Dubno Maggid shares a parable:

A widower with an only son decides to remarry. Unfortunately, his new wife makes life miserable for the boy. The father, pained by the situation, eagerly awaits the day his son can marry and start a home of his own. When the wedding day finally arrives, the father and son set off together.

During the journey, the father asks the driver, “How much longer until we arrive?” The son, however, asks, “How long have we been traveling?” While both are asking about the journey, their focus is different. The father is focused on the destination—the joy of the wedding. The son is focused on the origin—how far he has finally moved away from his past suffering.

In the desert, Moshe was intensely focused on the spiritual destination of the Land of Israel. The Jewish people, however, were often focused on where they had come from.

In our verse, the Torah adds the words “from before Moshe” to highlight the people’s mindset of looking back. They understood that knowing where they came from was essential for knowing where they were going. They didn’t just leave Moshe; they carried the experience of “being before Moshe” with them.

As we move through life, the Torah reminds us to take our past experiences—and the teachings of our ancestors—with us. Only by understanding our roots can we truly understand who we are and who we are meant to become.

Rabbi Shaps and the JET Team