A Taste of Shabbos – Parashat Terumah

This week is a ‘Triple Header’ of Torah readings. But as George Carlin said about the difference between football and baseball, in baseball it’s all about coming home. So too about these readings. One is the regular Torah portion of Terumah, the commands to gather the materials for the Tabernacle in the desert. The second is the offering of a half shekel toward the maintenance of the Tabernacle, and the third is the New Moon reading for the month of Adar, where we’re enjoined to be happy. All three convey one common theme: We are all incomplete unless we connect with one another, with our inner selves and with G-d. 1-Parts of the Tabernacle represent bringing our individual talents to the service of the One on high. 2-Realizing that whatever our uniqueness, we need the uniqueness of the other to complete ourselves. 3-Wherever we go in life, both individually and collectively, we meet the one ubiquitous G-d, caring for us and walking beside us.

Where is the Tabernacle today? The clue comes from the eighth verse: They shall make for me a Sanctuary and I will dwell in THEIR midst. The verse does not say in ITS midst, because it really refers to the ‘inside’ of every Jew, foreshadowing the ‘outsourcing’ or, ‘insourcing’ of the Temple in many dimensions. For example, our sages tell us that when the holy Temple was destroyed, pieces flew all over the earth, and wherever they fell, houses of prayer and Torah study arose. On an even more personal level, we are taught that our homes can become miniature sanctuaries, especially during our meals. This is not a novel idea; The Ramban writes that when the Mishkan was built, the divine Presence returned to the Jews as it did when our matriarch Sarah baked her challah and lit her candles in the first Jewish home! The Berditchiver Rebbe brings it all together for us: He taught that if, as the Talmud puts it, when Mashiach comes, the congregations and study halls where only a few mitzvot are fulfilled, will return to the land of Israel, how much more so Jewish homes where so many more mitzvot are fulfilled on a daily basis.

Thus it makes sense to refer to Shabbos as, ‘A sanctuary in time,’ or as A.Y. Heschel put it, ‘an oasis in time.’  The second half of Exodus deals primarily with this sacred building, providing more space for the Mishkan than any other commandment in the Torah. Shabbos is when we get to appreciate one or all of this set of three types of relationships. In a similar vein, the Netivot Shalom explains the three way debate in the Talmud of how to define and actually become a Chasid, a righteous person. One is to fulfill the laws of damages, another is to fulfill the Ethics of the Fathers, and a third is to fulfill the laws of blessings. One can see that these three areas also correspond to the three relationships- interpersonal, one’s inner growth, and one’s connection to G-d.

I once taught a second grade and asked the kids, ‘If G-d is bigger than all the worlds, why did he ask the Jews to build him a house inside the world?’ One boy replied, ‘So we have a place to meet him!’ Pretty intelligent if you think about it. The special house does not have to be physical, but it should be ‘common ground,’ that is a space where there’s room for a meeting of bodies, hearts, minds and souls. And this coming month is a very apropos time/place for that meeting. In fact, the name of the month Adar is also related to the Hebrew word ‘dirah’ meaning dwelling place, as in the saying, ‘G-d desires a dwelling place in the lower worlds.’ Now if G-d is not only everywhere, but also possesses everything, what can we possibly give Him that he doesn’t already have? That’s why Terumah begins, ‘TAKE for me an offering.’ In other words, the only thing we can do is paradoxically to raise up divine, earthly possessions and then give them back to Him, ‘each person according to the donations of his heart.’  Years ago I went to my one and only rock concert in Taos NM. The star was Peter Himmelman, the now traditionally religious son in law of the other worldly Bob Dylan. It was the first time I experienced someone calling out, ‘GIVE IT UP for Peter,’ followed by thundering applause. I think about that when we come to Terumah. That’s what G-d is asking of us. Just give up your weekday distractions, and on one day a week, ‘Donate to me your heart.’