Parashat Terumah
A Sanctuary Within
The construction
and sacrificial activities of the Sanctuary, which are now expressed in prayer,
give us the opportunity to encounter the divine.
By Rabbi Hyim Shafner
The following article
is reprinted with permission from Hillel: The
Foundation for Jewish Campus Life.
This week's Torah portion, Trumah, contains the first words
told to us after the narrative describes Moses' ascension to Mount Sinai. Most
of the portion is a long description of the building of the tabernacle, a
traveling temple that the Jews had in the desert.
The portion begins as follows:
"And God said to Moshe saying, 'tell the children of Israel; take gifts to
me from each person according to their desire...and this you will take: gold,
silver, bronze, purple wool...and oil for the menorah...And you will make a
sanctuary for me and I will dwell among them. All I have shown you of the look
of the mishkan (tabernacle) and its
vessels shall you make...'" (Exodus 25:1-9)
The rest of this week's portion and all of next week's go on to describe in
detail how to construct the tabernacle.
Read the following questions and discuss them. Then, read the texts below and
discuss the questions again:
1. Why do you think the laws of the tabernacle are given to Moses first?
2. If we believe God is
everywhere, infinite, and non-physical, why does the Torah ask us to build a
physical space for God's dwelling?
3. If God just brought the Jews
out of Egypt and split the Red Sea, then why does God need the Jewish people to
provide the materials and labor to build the mishkan (tabernacle)? Why wouldn't
God do it Himself?
Some Texts:
Rabbi Tarfon said, "How
great is work, for even God (who is everywhere) will not bring the divine
presence to rest on the Jewish people until they have done work. As the Torah
says, '[They must] make for me a tabernacle and [then] I will dwell among
them.'" -Avot D'rabbi Nason
"Change was very difficult for the Jewish people. Therefore, God gave them
animal sacrifices because that is the type of service they were used to, not
because it was the best type. God wanted to turn their sacrificial service of
idols to the service of the One God." -Maimonides--Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon
of Fez (formerly of Cordoba), 11th century (Guide
to the Perplexed 3:32)
A Word
The Talmud says that for us
today prayer has replaced the sacrifices. Doing the work of approaching God,
exercising the ability of the human to reach beyond and encounter face to face
the brute existence of the Most High, is what both sacrifice and prayer are
really all about. This is service for no ulterior purpose than encountering the
Divine one on One, and standing in relationship with God.
If we experience Being through relationship, as Martin Buber said we do, then
the primacy of the experience of approaching, standing before, and interacting
with the Divine, may be one of the most powerful and necessary things we can do
as humans and Jews.
A famous Chassidic Rabbi once asked, "why does the Torah say, 'Build a
sanctuary for me and I will dwell in them (plural)?' Wouldn't it be more
correct to say, 'build a sanctuary and I will dwell in it (singular)'?
The answer teaches us that God really desires a sanctuary in each one of us.
Prepared by Rabbi Hyim Shafner, St. Louis
Hillel at Washington University.
Provided by Hillel’s
Joseph Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Learning, which creates innovative
educational resources based on Jewish texts and trains Hillel students,
professionals, and lay leaders to infuse Jewish content throughout their
activities. © 2002 Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life.
