R. Tali Adler on Pekudei: Silver and Gold

Human beings love to make idols of our dead. Desperate to keep our lost loved ones within reach, we create forms that we can cling to in their stead. We name buildings and mark park benches; install portraits and keep voicenotes on our phones. We believe, somewhere in our hearts, that if we can create the right form, capture the right image, wear the right talisman—his scarf, her watch—then they are not really gone.