Parshat Terumah
February 7th-8th, 2003
6 Adar 1, 5763

"Hashem spoke to Moshe, saying: ‘Speak to the Children of Israel and they shall take for Me a portion (terumah), from every man whose heart will motivate him you shall take My portion (terumah).

This is the portion (terumah) that you shall take from them: gold, and silver, and copper; and turquoise wool, and purple wool, and scarlet wool; and linen and goats’ hair; and ram skins that are dyed red, and techashim skins, and shittim wood; oil for the [menorah] light; spices for the anointing oil and for raising the smoke of the incense; shoham stones and filling stones, for the Ephod [apron of the High Priest] and for the Choshen [breastplate of the High Priest].

They shall make Me a Sanctuary (mikdash), so that I may dwell among them…" (25: 1-8; my emphasis)

This is the Torah portion from which synagogue solicitors, and Federation fund-raisers, love to quote in their attempt to open our hearts (and our wallets)!

And rightly so, I suppose. For as we see in the verses above that begin the parsha, Hashem calls on the Jewish people to open their hearts (and wallets) to contribute precious materials for the construction of the Tabernacle (mishkan).

As building projects go, this was certainly no small potatoes (i.e., social hall expansion, and so on). It was to be a sizeable structure of great aesthetic beauty and immense architectural sophistication--to say nothing of the mystical significance discussed by many of our commentators. (Rabbi Elie Munk writes in The Call of the Torah: "According to the Kabbalists, the Tabernacle represents a microcosm of the universe…[and] reflects the universal source from which life and blessings emanate to all the spheres of creation.") This Mishkan would be the public center of our service of G-d in the desert, and during the first part of our sojourn in the Land of Israel--the precursor to the Holy Temple. It would house the Tablets of the Law, and would be the site to which Moshe would repair to receive Hashem’s Word, and the Jewish people would come to bring offerings unto G-d.

No fixed donation amount was dictated to the Jewish people, nor was obtrusive moral pressure applied. (Note: I do not mean to suggest, by implication, anything about Federation tactics!) It was a free-will offering, with each Jewish person giving according to his/her heart’s (and soul’s) desire.

How did our ancestors respond? If it was, in a sense, a test of their love of Hashem, and their enthusiasm to lead lives of holiness, then we can say that they passed with flying colors. They came forward with gusto, contributing so much material that the chief craftsmen had to exclaim (further on in Exodus): "The people are bringing more than enough for the labor of the work that Hashem has commanded to perform" (36, 5). What’s more, the Jewish people were unstinting in the donation of their time and their talents as well. See the parsha of Vayakhel for all the inspiring details.

What can we learn from the Torah’s account of G-d’s call to donate, followed by the enthusiastic response of the Jewish people? (Besides historical precedent for coughing up the cash during Campaign.)

As is often the case, the profound commentary, S’fas Emes (by R. Yehuda Leib Alter, 1847-1905, the second Gerrer Rebbe), derives from the Torah’s verses deeper hints and directions to help us open our hearts and minds to Jewish spirituality, and to help us progress in our service of G-d.

He notes that the verse (quoted at the top) should really say, "Speak to the Children of Israel, and they shall give to Me a portion," rather than "take for Me a portion." He explains that since everything in the world (and in our lives) truly belongs to G-d, we cannot really "give" Him anything at all. Our challenge--and our calling--is to take, or set aside, from those things that we treat as if they were our own (our money, our talents, our time) a portion (terumah) for G-d. The essence of that "taking" is really the inner desire to turn away from our own purposes or passions and devote ourselves (and "our" possessions) to G-d. We take a part of ourselves, and we willingly devote it to Hashem. When we do that, we have become elevated--a portion of ourselves has been lifted up to Hashem (terumah is related to the Hebrew root meaning, "to elevate"). We have made for Hashem an offering of holiness, a "mikdash" (Sanctuary, related to the Hebrew root, "to make holy").

Therefore, he goes on to explain, this commandment to give freely to G-d for the construction of a "Sanctuary" (a place of consecration) did not just occur once, but is operative in every moment of our lives. It involves our thoughts, our emotions, and our everyday actions as much as our gold and silver (and checkbooks). All of our desires, ambitions, thoughts and drives are to be "taken" and set aside for Hashem. From the "portion," or terumah, that we set aside, the whole will become elevated, and eventually we can be inspired to offer the totality of our selves. After all, we say in the Shema:"You shall love the Lord, your G-d, with all your heart," not with half of one.

To cleave to Hashem in thought at all times, and to donate all of our lives to Him (through the medium of Torah study, and mitzvah observance) is the highest goal of the righteous. By developing the desire to make free-will offerings to Hashem, our inner selves and our outer lives, our private domiciles and our public spaces will become a "mikdash," a Sanctuary, where G-d’s Will is lovingly performed. Every mitzvah we do should, ideally, be preceded by that thought (or something like it): "Through this act, I am taking myself away my own [puny] temporality, and elevating myself to come close to the Eternal One."

And what will be the result (or reward) of making a Sanctuary for Him--of taking the ideals of the physical Tabernacle and internalizing them in all spheres of our lives? The verse above tells us: "They shall make Me a Sanctuary, so that I [G-d] may dwell among them." Note that the Torah doesn’t say that G-d will dwell "in it," [i.e., the Tabernacle itself]. While it’s true that G-d’s presence could be strongly sensed in the physical confines of the Tabernacle (and later, the Temple), His ultimate goal is that His presence (the Shekhina) dwell among US, the Jewish people--that is, in all areas of our lives.

As Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch writes, the reward of our dedicated service unto G-d is "the blessing-giving presence of G-d in our midst, manifesting itself in the happiness of our private and national lives." A happy, fulfilled and flourishing life in this world is the goal of the Torah--not merely the joy of the world to come. We can get there by taking inspiration from the Tabernacle--that structure that, Hirsch explains, was to be "mikdash, the Home of Consecration, and mishkan, the Home of G-d’s Proximity to us." (See Hirsch, Commentary to Exodus, 428-429)

May we be inspired by the example of our ancestors to take from what we think is our own, and learn to willingly donate it (and elevate it) for Hashem, the true Owner. With the guidance of the Torah, and a free-willed dedication to its commandments, our lives can truly become holy, spiritually beautiful, and full of blessing. Our homes and our hearts can become a "midkash," a Sanctuary, and the presence of G-d can once again dwell among us as a people.

GOOD SHABBOS!

My e-mail address is yosefe@comcast.net

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Rabbi Yosef Edelstein, Savannah Kollel. Phone: 912-351-0469; fax: 354-9923