Articles with the tag: terumah

A Medrash of Value

Meander through the garden of Torah and you will discover a veritable Pardes, an orchard rich in taste offering a variety of choices suited for every palate. The first course always served in this spiritual oasis is the P’shat, the simple meaning of the text. Our menu of Divine delectables then calls for a little appetizer, or forshpeiz as we used to say in Yiddish,  to tease and whet our appetites. That is why Remez, the part of the Torah that drops hints in alluding to further delights is the second stage of this mental culinary feast.
Finally we’re ready for some serious intake. D’rush which is the homiletical dimension of the Torah knows no bounds. You just never know…

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More Than a Faucet

Once upon a time there was a people with no land, though their need for a home was no less than those of other nations. Thus it came to pass that their leader, Moses, received instructions from on High to build a Sanctuary that would accompany the Jews on their desert wanderings.
The chief architect of this travelling Temple was amazingly enough a young lad named Betzalel Ben Uri, who himself had just become Bar Mitzvah. The Torah itself attests to the professional capability and integrity of this child/man when it states that the son of Uri, “did everything that Hashem commanded Moses.” Our Sages however wonder why the phrase commending the architect does not more appropriately read that Betzalel,...

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All Jews Count

The Divine had spoken.  “Make for me a Sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.”  Obviously G-d does not need a house where He can rest.  He did however desire a place where His power would be manifest, offering inspiration and strength to all those who came there.

According to the Sages, the Israelites emptied Egypt of its wealth, first at the Exodus itself and later at the splitting of the sea.  Indeed, one Midrash posits that every Jew was so amply rewarded for their years of bondage, that each Hebrew slave left with ninety pack animals loaded with gold and silver.  Had they wanted, they could have constructed the entire Tabernacle from gold alone.
Clearly, in such an affluent…

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The Crown of Torah

G-d had unveiled his blueprint for the Mishkan, the desert Sanctuary. Detailed and intricate instructions for each and every aspect of the structure were revealed. Among the sacred utensils to be built, three were to be adorned with a zer, a decorative rim or golden crown: the Altar, the Table and the Ark.
The commonality of these three objects is underscored by a Mishna recorded in Ethics of our Fathers that lumps together three stations in life. In the words of Rabbi Shimon, “There are three crowns: the Crown of Torah, the Crown of Priesthood and the Crown of Royalty.” The commentaries point out that these three articles in the Sanctuary parallel the three crowns listed in the Talmud.
The…

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A Different View

Have you ever sat down with an architect to design your new home? Or gone house hunting? You walk in and orient yourself from the front door.  In your mind you want the bedrooms somewhere to the back, the family room off to the side, etc.

But have you ever built a house for G-d? Or gone synagogue shopping? Instead of using the entrance and lobby by which to fix your perspective, try looking at it from G-d’s point of view. After all, it is His House! An example of this can be drawn from this week’s Biblical portion.

In the desert Mishkan, as well as in the Temple in Jerusalem, the most sacred part was the Holy of Holies….

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Details: an Entree to Holiness

There is a saying of our Sages, “That which is passed is past.” In modern parlance we would translate it thus; “Who cares? It’s too late!” This motto seems most appropriate when applied to the elaborate detail of the Tabernacle recorded in this week’s Torah portion. The difficulty in understanding the Bible’s meticulous enumeration of every material used and every utensil designed, is that unlike the Holy Temple, the desert sanctuary was never meant to be a permanent edifice.

Its purpose was to serve as the religious focal point while the Hebrews wandered among the sand dunes. When the people enterd the Holy Land it was to be replaced by the Temple in Jerusalem. Why, then, does the Torah describe…

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Between the Is and the Ought

Enter a Synagogue and there are various artifacts one can expect to find. Such a collection would certainly include an Ark where the Torah scrolls are kept, a Bimah, an eternal light, and so forth. Venture out of the Sanctuary into the kiddush room and you will see a silver wine cup, two challahs, etc.  All of these are reminiscent of our people’s first Temple, the desert Mishkan.  This travelling exhibit of G-d’s Presence similarly featured and Ark, a Menorah, an altar, and a table of challohs.

Conversely, there are other items one does not imagine bumping into; foremost in this list would be any three dimensional figure that could possibly be misconstrued as an idol. Nonetheless, within the most…

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Give or Take. It’s Not the Same.

I am confident. If our great-grandparents did it, then there is no reason we can’t either. With no experience in organizing a building campaign or constructing a Synagogue,  our ancestors   built the first Jewish Temple. Their holy facility was to be the paradigm of all sanctuaries to follow. All we need to do, it seems to me, is follow their lead.

With that in mind, let’s turn to the Bible for a copy of their instructions. It begins with these words, “Speak to the children of Israel and have them take for Me a gift offering.”

An interesting choice of words. Especially considering the term, “Take a gift,”  when the word ‘give’ would have been more appropriate.

Eveyone is familiar…

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A Lifesaver

This week’s portion begins with a mainstay of Jewish life, the appeal. “Speak to the Israelites and have them take to me an offering. From every man whose heart impels him, you shall take…” All the commentaries explore the peculiar expression, “take to me,”  rather than the expected, “give to me.” 
On a simple level, we can say that since G-d owns everything,  it is impossible to give Him anything. Giving implies ownership. Therefore, we don’t use the expression “giving” to the Master of all, but “taking.” That is to say, since G-d already owns everything, we ‘generously allow’ Him to ‘take’ that which is already His.
No surprise, but the first time that an act of chessed (kindness) in…

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The Building Campaign

Peace had finally arrived in the Promised Land. In its wake, the expected hopes and fears everyone came to fruition. The Israeli mother breathed a sigh of relief. The American fundraiser stifled an anxious moan. For the soldier, it was a moment of triumph.  For the donor, a time of trial.
Indeed, with no crisis on the horizon, the entire army of Jewish bureaucrats, directors, consultants, fundraisers, and executives found themselves with nothing left to organize. A campaign was needed, some mission with a sense of urgency to rally the troops. And so was born the Beit Hamikdosh (Holy Temple) Campaign.

From all across the “fruited plain” community leaders from every UJA (now called the UJC, United Jewish Communities) were…

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