Parshat Terumah 5762

"Intention is everything" - Rav Kook, Orot HaKodesh

Do you feel that Judaism - as practiced in our synagogues today - is lacking passion, excitement and inner meaning?

One of the greatest impediments towards religious growth is that many feel that Judaism does not have a place for our own feelings and emotions. We perform Mitzvot, we daven, but often we don't feel an inner connection to G-d - the One who gave us the 613 commandments in the first place.

In parshat Terumah, we witness the emergence of a deeper kind of religious experience - a more personal one based upon an inner relationship with G-d. The Torah teaches, "Take for me an offering." (Shmot 25:2) Rashi explains that "for me" means "for my name," with G-d in mind.

The Torah is teaching us a lesson about what matters most. Prayer, and for that matter all Mitzvot, must come from within a person. Mitzvot need to be 'for G-d's name' and not for any other reason.

It is here in our parsha, when we are introduced to the first commandment to build the tabernacle - the pinnacle of Jewish communal life - that G-d says to us that real religious encounter occurs when it comes from the right place. We must build a deeper kind of Judaism, one that begins with proper intention. If we can bring the right intention into our religious lives, we will begin to discover the difference between a "Hitzoni," (external), and a "Pnimi," (inner) type of Judaism.

We must arouse within us and bring to the "alter" of expression our deepest emotions and feelings of love and excitement that we stand before the Creator of the universe. As the Talmud tells us, "Rachmana Liba Bai," (Sanhedrin 106b) - "G-d wants [what's within] our hearts." Rav Avraham Isaac Kook illuminates this point in the Lights of Holiness:
"Humanity must go through extensive development before it will recognize the great value of the intention and the will, of the hidden idealism in the depths of the soul, which continually adorns itself in an array of new colors that disclose some of its treasure and majestic greatness….Intention is everything. The revival of intention is the revival of the world." Lights of Holiness, Vol. I. pp. 124-125

Not that action is not of the essence. When a Jew does a Mitzvah - for whatever reason - it is considered "above" as a Mitzvah. For instance, if a person lost money and a poor person found it; it is still considered a Mitzvah since someone benefited from it.

In this way, building the Mishkan is similar to Tzedaka. The Mishkan can be built without excitement and enthusiasm. It will still be considered a 'building,' but it will not express the true intention of its Architect, to be a place where His presence is manifest.

When we do a Mitzvah without proper intention we still connect to G-d, albeit in a peripheral way. It's similar to a long distance call with a weak line. You know your communicating, but the feelings, nuances and excitement are lost in the poor connection.

With the right intention, however, we strengthen the signal. We bring inspiration, enlightenment and excitement into our daily lives. As the Zohar teaches, when we do a Mitzvah with sincere intention, we give wings to the Mitzvah causing us "to fly above to the highest realms [of existence]."

Intention is where the greatest action is conceived. And the higher the intention, the more the Mitzvah becomes permeated with divine life. As Rav Kook beautifully expresses:
"The love that is astir in you - raise it to its basic potency and its noblest beauty, extend it to all its dimensions, toward every manifestation of the soul that sustains the universe…Ascend toward the heights, because you are of mighty prowess, you have wings to soar with, wings of mighty eagles. Do not fail them, lest they fail you; seek for them, and they will at once be ready for you." Lights on Orot Vol. I, pp. 83-84.

But we must still ask, if Terumah is similar to Tzedakah, why specifically in relation to the Mishkan, does G-d instruct us to contribute to His "Name?" Why is the building of the Mishkan centered out to be the central Mitzvah where sincere intention in required?

The reason is that the Mishkan represents the connection between G-d and the Jewish people. The Korbanot or sacrifices offered in the Mishkan bring the Jewish people closer to G-d. The word Korban (sacrifice) is related to the work Karov, which implies coming closer to Him through our actions, feelings and desires.

The inner experience of the Mishkan is profound and intimate. As the Torah tells us, "Build for Me a Temple and I will dwell amongst them." When we connect our inner being to G-d, we give Him a "place" so that his Presence can be manifest within us and within His Temple.

We can 'build' a life of Torah and Mitzvot, but if we don't make a place for G-d to dwell within us we will miss the opportunity to create a Judaism that is vibrant and full of meaning. 

As the Kotzker Rebbe was once asked, "Where can G-d be found?" He answered, "Wherever you let Him in."

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Daniel Schonbuch
National Educational Director of NCSY

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