The Power of Words to Gather (Vayakhel)
in honor of my beloved father, Rabbi Gary Creditor
I was blessed to sit beside my father yesterday, surrounded by the community he served with such devotion for decades — Temple Beth-El in Richmond, Virginia. Rabbi Rachel Salston, now the spiritual leader of the congregation, graciously welcomed us as we launched my father’s book, Manifest Decency, a title that so perfectly captures who he is. The video is available on YouTube, and I can tell you — it was extraordinary. These thoughts are offered with gratitude for him.
We are nearing the end of the Book of Exodus, Sefer Shemot, and this week we read Parashat Vayakhel. It is part of a pair — often read with Pekudei, though this year they stand alone. The structure of these portions is striking. Just a few weeks ago, in Terumah and Tetzaveh, we received the detailed instructions for building the Mishkan, the Tabernacle, and for fashioning the garments of the High Priest. Then, the flow of the text was interrupted by the painful episode of the Golden Calf. Now, we return to the construction of the Mishkan, but this time, something is different.
The portion begins:
“Moses assembled the entire community of the Children of Israel and said to them: These are the things that God commanded you to do.” (Ex. 35:1)
At first glance, this verse seems simple, even formulaic. But Rashi, our great teacher, invites us to look more closely. He notes that the Hebrew word Vayakhel — “and he assembled” — is in the causative form. That means Moses did not physically gather the people; rather, they were drawn together by his words.
What a stunning insight.
There are leaders who gather people through force, through power, through personal magnetism. And then there are those whose words alone create the sacred space where community forms. Moses, Moshe Rabbeinu, was such a leader. He did not demand. He did not coerce. He spoke — and his people came together.
And that, too, is who my father is.
For decades, his words have drawn people together. Not through ego, not through force, but through Torah, through kindness, through unwavering commitment. Last night, as I sat beside him at his book launch, I watched as his words — words he never intended to gather into the book he gave me permission to publish — continued to bring people together. That is the mark of a true leader.
Let us work to choose words that gather. May this linguistic intention bring unity to a world so in need of healing.
