Timeless Torah

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 the transitory Mishkan at great length?

The command to build the Tabernacle folloe\wed the most awesome experience, the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai. At that time G-d revealed Himself in His full glory and the barrier that separated Heaven and Earth was removed. Yet for all the manifest majesty of Mount Sinai, G-dliness did not permanently permeate the material world. The best proof of this is that after the Divinr Presence departed from Mount Sinai, the hallowed mountain reverted to its former non-holy status.

The reason for this is that at Sinai, the people were passive participants. It was G-d who descended and it was G-d who allowed the physical world a glimpse of heaven. Since it was G-d’s presence alone that imbued the mountain with holiness, upon His “departure” the craggy rock reverted to its former worldly self.

Therefore, a second stage of revelation followed. A stage where it was incumbrnt upon man to actively draw G-dliness into the human dimension. This was done by the construction of the Tabernacle. Unlike the Sinai experience, the sanctuary did not miraculously descend upon the nation - they had to build it themselves.

This “hands-on” experience caused the material objects used in the construction to be permeated with eternal holiness. The very name of this week’s Torah portion, Terumah, indicates how a Jew is able to refine the physical so that it becomes a vessel for holiness.Terumah has two meanings, “separating” and “uplifting”. By separating material objects from their mundanity, we can uplift them to holiness.

In such service, the Torah points out, every object, evry detail, and every type of material is important. Each has its own place. Each is to be recorded in the Bible. Each can become holy and each empowers the Jew to transform the whole world into one vast Tabernacle.