Terumah
Exodus 25:1- 27:19
After having had a good run, beginning with the creation story, the patriarchs and matriarchs of Israel, the Israelites move to Egypt, enslavement and redemption, and the sublime moment at Mount Sinai we now hit the ground of creating a life not dependent on miracles and thunder and lightning coming forth from the mountain.
On this Shabbat, when we read the Torah portion “Terumah” we begin to discover some of the essential conditions of being in a relationship with the Eternal. Though containing a detailed description of what will be needed for the building of the tabernacle - the portable sanctuary within which the tablets of the law would be housed - and how the work should be executed, instructions that will be repeated several times over in subsequent Torah readings, that is not the essential point of instruction. It may have been back then, but it has not been for a very long time.
Many commentators will draw our attention to two verses near the beginning of the portion: “God spoke to Moses, saying: Tell the Israelite people to bring me gifts (Terumah); you shall accept gifts from every person whose heart so moves him...” (Exodus 25:1-2) and a few verses later “… And let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them...” (Exodus 25:8)
The purpose of building a sanctuary—whether the mishkan in the desert, the Temple in Jerusalem or your place of worship in Lafayette—is not that God will be confined into that space. It is not an instruction with the intent to ‘domesticate’ God! The project needs to have a center to which all turn. It creates community, and as it does it shows each and every one who are those that have a ‘heart that moves them’ and who are in it for self-aggrandizement or to take advantage of the others’ efforts. Ultimately one is better off with free-will gifts than with those that were extorted.
The building project results in a stronger community, one that feels it has a purpose, one that offers every individual a chance to contribute her/his part, be it big or small. When we engage in such a project -at some point it may be the physical building of something, at others it is building knowledge, commitment, observance of mitzvoth, then we feel that God dwells within each of us. The Hebrew is clear, we do not build to bring God into a space, we build in order to feel God’s presence within each of us “that I may dwell among them!”
Each of us has a gift, something special we can bring to the community’s plate. What is that gift? How do you access it so that you’ll be able to give? That is the challenge of building community, awakening the potential within us to contribute and in return - by living in community - feel that God dwells within us.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Roberto D. Graetz
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