"Terumah" – Building a Tabernacle Within Us

One of the topics of this week’s Parashah, Terumah, addresses the construction of the Tabernacle, Mishkan, the transportable house of worship which G-d orders Moses to instruct the Yisraelites to build for him: “have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them.” (Exodus 25:8). The Parashah discusses the subject at length, rather exhaustively and with much details.

“It was a modest affair,” states Rabbi Sacks when reviewing the issue of the Tabernacle in his excellent book, “The Home We Build Together.” According to him, and rightly so, “it had, or so it seems, no lasting significance….. So why is the story of the Tabernacle told at such length?” he asks.

Sacks believes that “the {Tabernacle} narrative is deliberately constructed in such a way as to create a set of linguistic parallels between the Yisraelites’ construction of the Tabernacle and G-d’s creation of the universe.” According to Sacks, in “commanding Moses to get the people to make the Tabernacle, G-d was in effect saying: To turn a group; of individuals into a conventional nation, they must build something together.” The kind of Nation that the children of Yisrael were destined to become “is created through the act of creation itself,” Sacks adds.

The Tabernacle which “was built out of difference and diversity” and which was built out of the differential contributions where each was valued equally…….was a visible emblem of community,“ Sacks goes on to say. “It represented…, in social terms integration without assimilation.” The Tabernacle, therefore, is the symbol of society,” Sacks explains. Once we recognize that, we understand the parallelism between the story of creation and the construction of the Tabernacle and its “immense implication: Just as God creates the natural world, so we are called on to create the social universe.”

As always, I am, again, in awe of Sacks’s brilliant interpretation of this Parashah.  I believe, however, that there is another angle that it can be looked at. It stems from the Hebrew choice of words in G-d’s directive to Moses regarding the construction of the Tabernacle, which, unfortunately, is mistranslated..

The Hebrew word, “B’tocham,” that the text uses, means “in them” and not “among them” as the English translation states. That difference sheds another light on what I reckon G-d intended.

My understanding of G-d’s command to Moses is that it is not only the material portable structure that He was referring to. I believe that G-d also meant a spiritual Tabernacle, one that will create a permanent dwelling place for Him not only in their camp but also in their heart, in their soul. G-d wants to dwell “in them,” not only among them. He wishes to be part of their essence.

As significant a step as it was towards helping them become a nation, the Yisraelites did not need only a social universe.  They need to remember that G-d did not intend for them to be a nation just like any other. They are G-d’s chosen People. Without internalizing that notion, without understanding it, their social universe, on its own, would not last long. Without G-d ‘s dwelling in them and not merely among them, as a constant reminder of the Covenant entered at Mount Sinai, they would never accomplish the role that they were called to fulfill.

I would venture, therefore, to add another dimension to Rabbi’s Sacks’s drawing the parallel between G-d’s creation of the natural universe and the social universe symbolized by the construction of the Tabernacle. In my view, the Tabernacle also represents the creation of our Jewish spiritual universe, the one that cements the natural and the social ones into a cohesive unshakable, indestructible and powerful force.

Shavua tov.

The Importance of Terumah

Terumah, in Hebrew, means “contribution.” It is the name of this week’s Parashah (Torah portion).

Too often the word is translated to mean “donation.” That is NOT what the Torah meant and that is not what our sages intended it to be perceived as when they named this week’s Parashah after it.

Furthermore, according to Zohar, Vol. II, p. 147a, the term means “lifting up.”

What is the significance of these different definitions to one small word, the reader might ask.

The answer lies in the subject of this week’s Parashah. It provides the details surrounding the construction of Beit Hamikdash (the Tabernacle), G-d’s dwelling place among His People. “Then Have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. (Exodus 25:8).

Just as He created and defined the universe through a set of very strict laws, so does G-d provide a very well-crafted and carefully demarcated set of principles and patterns that include materials and exact measurements for the blueprint that will eventually materialize into His House. His instructions are very clear and for a reason.

This House will be built with the wisdom of the heart. That combined balance between mental and emotional intelligence is what will be the corner stone of Beit Hamikdash. Its construction and eventual structure will reflect the true nature of G-d. Though G-d can create a universe and a dwelling House among His People, both with set boundaries, He himself is limitless.

In other words, as we, Jews, know, G-d’s presence cannot be either confined to or openly manifest itself in our physical world. The intention, the nature and the purpose of the House G-d wishes the Yisraelits to build for Him can be found in Deuteronomy 12:22: “Then there shall be a place which the Lord, your G-d shall choose to cause His name to dwell there.” The name will be the essence of that House, we are told.

Some may stop and ask, why does G-d put forth so much detail when He describes what some may consider a very elaborate and complicated plan? The Yisraelites would surely have other issues to address when they come to Eretz Yisrael. They will have to run an orderly society. They will have to establish a proper judicial system, they will have to have a strong army, fight enemies (as their name Yisrael suggests) and many other matters. Surely, G-d could have built that House merely by speaking. After all, did He not create a whole universe purely by His exclamations?

And that is where the Terumah, contribution, comes into the picture.

G-d does not merely wish to have a House among the Yisraelites, a House that will bear His name. G-d wishes each and everyone of them to be part of this grand master plan. He asks every single member of their People to contribute, each in their own way, towards it. That way they will not be merely spectators, they will become part of it. They will help create it. Creators cannot separate themselves from their creation. This way, G-d wishes to ensure that He will not only dwell in His House but also in them, in their hearts and in their essence

That is why, I believe, the Zohar, as mentioned above, defines, Terumah also as “lifting up.” When G-d dwells in each and everyone of us, our soul is enriched by invisible wings which lift us and enables us to soar to blessed and blissful spheres which, in many cases, our daily burden bars us from reaching. It brings us closer and closer to what G-d has destined us to become “a Goy Kadosh,” “A Holy Nation.”

Shabbat Shalom