Shalom.
This week we are reading parashat Terumah, the seventh Torah portion in the book of Shemot,
Exodus.
The portion, beginning in Chapter 25, deals entirely with one subject…the instructions
G-d gives to Moshe, for him in turn to give over to the Children of Israel, for the construction
of the Tabernacle, later in history to become the Holy Temple, and its vessels.
The 'Mikdash,' the Sanctuary commanded here, was realized in its modest, traveling
form as the Tabernacle until Israel entered her land and the tribal portions were set.
Then the Holy Temple was established on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem, its permanent, past and
future location.
But remember the broad picture, the context of what's going on here.
The nation of Israel is still encamped at the foot of Mount Sinai.
Two portions ago, in parashat Yitro, the Children of Israel arrived at Sinai, receiving the
Ten Commandments and experiencing the Revelation, hearing, and seeing for that matter, the voice
of Hashem.
Last week, in parashat Mishpatim, with the people still in position at the Sinai encampment,
Hashem gives over to Moshe, to give over to Israel, another 53 commandments relating to
the establishment of a just society.
Towards the end of parashat Mishpatim, Moshe gives over Hashem's newly-received commandments
to the people, who respond with a resounding, history-making 'na'a'se v'nishma,'
'We will do and we will obey.'
At the very end of Mishpatim we are told that Moshe ascends to Mount Sinai to receive the
stone tablets and the teaching and the commandments, and he remains there for forty days and forty
nights.
It is as a continuation of this point that our portion of Terumah begins.
Two things immediately stand out as being unique about our parasha.
One is the subject matter, the content being exclusively taken up with the matter of the
Tabernacle and its details.
But the other unique aspect is the perspective that we are afforded… Moshe ascends the Mountain
to receive the entire Torah and all its instruction and that is what's taking place now, but
the subject of the Mikdash, Hashem's Temple in its first guise as the Mishkan, the Tabernacle,
is the teaching that Torah chooses to record…this is the information that we are told Hashem
is giving over to Moshe on the cloud-covered Mountain.
As verse 9 informs us, 'like everything that I show you, the form of the tabernacle
and the form of its vessels.'
And again in verse 40, 'See and make, according to their form that you are shown in the mountain.'
Moshe won't be coming down until chapter 32 of parashat Ki Tisa.
Then, after the debacle of the Golden Calf, Moshe will ascend a second time for another
forty days and forty nights, descending to the people the second time on Yom Kippur,
the Day of Atonement, with the message of forgiveness.
Parashat Vayakhel begins on the day after Yom Kippur, in Exodus Chapter 35, and that
is when Moshe gathers together the whole nation in an assembly and gives over to them all
these commandments of the Tabernacle which Hashem taught him in our parasha while he
was on the Mountain, and the people zealously and promptly go and donate all the materials,
and construct the Tabernacle.
So understand this.
Parashat Terumah, our reading this week…affords us a perspective from G-d's point of view.
Here unfolding before us we are privy to an intimate glimpse into what is taking place
between Hashem and Moshe on the Mountain.
It's like Hashem's back pages, it's like reading His diary.
Let me explain what I mean by that, but you have to open up your heart in the deepest
way…The parasha opens with the words, 'Speak to the Children of Israel and let them take
for Me a portion, from every man whose heart motivates him you shall take My portion.'
In Hebrew, 'v'yikchu li,' 'let them take for Me.'
Rashi comments, what does the verse mean by 'Li,' 'for Me,?'
He says, 'for My name's sake.'
So too in verse 8, Hashem states, 'And they shall make for Me a Sanctuary, and I will
dwell among them.'
This is the verse of paramount significance which teaches us that it is an eternal commandment
to build the Temple – in every generation, now in our day as well.
Commenting on the words 'And they shall make for Me,' again, Rashi tells us it means
'they should make a house of sanctity for My Name.'
So Rashi identifies Hashem's use of the word 'Me' as meaning 'for the sake of
My Name.'
Meaning, even though I am asking you to do something for Me, it's not even really for
Me, it's for My name… meaning, its for you… for man, to know My name.
Which is why He created man in the first place, and the purpose of human existence.
But it's so interesting that G-d is using the pronoun Me, the first-person singular
pronoun, referring to the speaker.
That got me to thinking.
Since the beginning of B'reishith, from the start of the creation narrative, throughout
Torah to this point, rarely has Hashem spoken about Himself.
And rarer still has He asked for anything 'for Himself.'
In Gen. 15:9 at the covenant between the portions Hashem instructed Avraham 'Take for Me three
heifers, three goats, three rams, a turtledove and a young dove.'
G-d gave Avraham a vision of the promise of the Land, of exile and redemption, and He
made a covenant with Avraham on that day.
That was the first time in the Torah that Hashem used the word 'Li,' 'for Me.'
Then, earlier in the Book of Exodus, referring to the giving of the Torah at Sinai, G-d instructs
Moshe and Aaron to inform Pharaoh that the G-d of Israel says, 'send My people and
they will celebrate for Me in the desert' (5:1)…
He says (6:7) 'And I will take you to Me as a people, (13: 2) 'Sanctify for Me every
firstborn' and in chapter 19 (5-6) 'and you shall be for Me a treasure from all the
peoples for to Me is the whole world, and you shall be for Me a kingdom of priests and
a holy people.'
There are a few more examples.
In chapter 20, 'An altar of earth shall you make for Me, and when you make for Me
an altar of stones,' in the next parasha He uses it consistently regarding the priests
who will be ministering to Me.
….
And so, intrigued by this word Li, 'for Me', I found that our sages in the Midrashic
work known as the Sifri (B'halotcha 92) sum up the matter beautifully.
They taught:
'In every place the Torah states the word 'Li,' for Me, it is something everlasting
and eternal.
Regarding the kohanim it states 'and they shall minister to Me,' regarding the Le'vi'im
it states 'and the Le'vi'im shall be to Me,' regarding Israel it states 'for
the Children of Israel are servants to Me,' regarding the firstborn it states 'for to
Me is every firstborn of the Children of Israel,' regarding the Holy Temple it states 'and
they shall make for Me a sanctuary,' regarding the altar it states 'an altar of earth make
for Me,' regarding the anointing oil the verse states 'holy anointing oil shall this
be for Me,' regarding the sovereignty of King David it states (Sam.
I 16:1) 'for I have seen a king for Myself among his sons'; regarding the offerings
it states 'to offer for Me in its appointed time'… in each of these mentioning of Li,
it is everlasting and eternal.
What an amazingly beautiful insight our sages are conveying.
Hashem's use of the word 'Li' is a signal of what is most precious to Him.
And eternal.
Small wonder that the matter of His commandment to build the Temple is what He chose to share
with Moshe on the Mountain.
And when it comes to the building of the Holy Temple, we are so accustomed to interpreting,
intellectualizing, analyzing, apologizing, even mythologizing, often trivializing, pompously
prioritizing…. we seem to have a plethora of excuses as to why, in our minds, to paraphrase
the prophet Hagai's complaint, 'the time has not yet come to build the Temple.'
But why do we insist on approaching what many consider as the 'inconvenience' of building
the Temple, from our point of view?
Why do we remain so insensitive and unmoved by Hashem's point of view?
'Build for Me a Sanctuary,' He says, 'And I will dwell among you.'
Does that not stir us?
Who could refuse such an offer?
And since when is our opinion so vastly important anyway, in the fulfilment of what G-d commands
us?
Especially when in reality its's really for us, not for Him.
He's not the one who needs it, as King Solomon declared, 'the heavens and the heavens of
heavens cannot contain You.'
The very use of the word Li, Hashem's mitzvah to 'Make for Me a Sanctuary' is a signal
that this is precious to Him, and eternal – and as Rashi teaches us, the house of
sanctity for G-d is not even about Him... but for His name's sake.
For man to know His name.
This is it, the moment G-d has been waiting for, since before Creation, as the Talmud
relates: 'He thought of the Holy Temple even before bringing the world into being'.
It's the secret of man's creation, as we are taught, 'Adam was created from the
very spot of the location of the altar in the Holy Temple', the place that realigns
his relationship with G-d.
It's the secret of the Garden of Eden, as the sages teach, 'the center of the Garden
and the location of the Tree of Life is the Holy of Holies'.
That means that the Divine service in the Holy Temple is an act of rectification and
a way of getting back to the Garden.
The cherubim atop the Ark of the Covenant within the Holy of Holies that we learn about
this week, are the very same cherubim that guard the path to the Tree of Life.
The Holy Temple is the perfection of creation, the continuation of Eden, the continuation
of the Sinai Revelation…
And it's also Hashem's romantic dream of wanting to be in our world, of hoping that
we would want Him.
What if it all means something?
We have it all wrong.
It's G-d whose looking for man, who is looking for acceptance, to be welcomed into this world.
The House we are to build for Him is a place for all mankind to connect with the One Perfect
Unity, to become a world united; streaming to this one place that Hashem calls Li, for
Me, 'For My House shall be called a house of prayer for all nations', as Hashem declares
through His prophet Isaiah, means Mi casa es su casa.
A place to gain higher consciousness, to overcome base nature, to elevate all existence, a model
for the world.
A microcosm of a perfect world, designed for man to grow closer to His creator.
The Divine call that beckons to build the Holy Temple is Hashem imploring man, hoping
He will be wanted in this world, it's the place of one love, one heart, where Hashem
wants to get together – and stay together -- with His creation.
May we build it speedily and in our day, amen.
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