parsha bit: Vayakhel-Pekudei

[cellio]

This week's double parsha contains a precise and public accounting of all donations made by the people to build the mishkan. While Moshe was trustworthy, nonetheless it was important to avoid even the appearance of wrongdoing. The rabbis taught that one who enters the Temple treasury must do so barefoot and wearing clothes that have no pockets, because if he becomes rich the people will say he stole from the treasury. It is not enough for a man to be morally clean before God; he must also be free of suspicion among his fellows. (Exodus Rabbah 51:2)

Comments

[patsmor.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Interesting about the shoes.

"Justice must not only be done, but must be seen to be done" ??

[cellio]

(Previous try: oops, I missed a word in your comment.)

Shoes: Apparently the concern was that you could hide coins in your shoes.

[patsmor.livejournal.com]

(No worries!)

I was realizing that about the shoes -- I had never thought about it before. It was spinning all sorts of interesting thoughts through my head, actually.