Shabbos Parashas Terumah - 5774

Shabbos Parashas Terumah - 5774

Rabbi Hal Miller

They shall make a Sanctuary for Me so that I may dwell among them.

[Shemos 25:8]

Our parsha goes into much depth concerning exactly how the tent and utensils

that served in the desert as "G-d's House" were to be made. Why? The Torah

gives us a very specific shopping list for materials, and detailed plans for

the construction. Would it make a difference if the House were built in a

different manner? All of this material and effort was to be replaced by King

Solomon when he eventually built the First Temple in Jerusalem. Would the

Torah have spent this much textual effort on a tent that was only temporary

in use? What was behind it? How does this apply today?

At first glance, our pasuk seems to answer these questions when it says "so

that I may dwell among them." What does this mean? Ramban says, "in that

House and on the Throne of Glory that they will make for Me there." Abarbanel

disagrees, saying that this answer indicates some physical boundaries or

limitations upon G-d. He says that instead, the 'dwelling' among Israel does

not follow from the building of a physical house, but from the following of

His commandments. Nechama Leibowitz notes that Rashi and others put this

parsha after the Golden Calf in chronology, thus the purpose of our pasuk is

to show the world that G-d still remains with the Jewish people despite their

failings. Sefer HaChinuch also addresses the purpose when he says, "G-d

desires us to perform His commandments for no other reason but to promote our

own well being." Further on, he adds, "Righteous acts perfect the heart

spiritually."

Rav Hirsch says, "Our verse extends far beyond the mere presence of G-d in

the Temple, it means the proximity of G-d in our midst." He continues, "this

blessing and proximity of G-d is not brought about by the mere correct

erection and upkeeping of the Sanctuary, but can be won only by consecrating

and giving up our whole private and public lives to carrying out the Divine

Torah."

Rav Moshe Feinstein takes into consideration both physical and spiritual. He

writes, "On the surface it would appear that the holiness of the Sanctuary has

to emanate from Hashem. Humans can only build a physical structure, which

Hashem then makes into a Sanctuary by causing His Presence to dwell in it.

Nonetheless, this verse seems to imply that it was a task of the Jews to

actually make a Sanctuary, and not just the building to house it. If so, the

Torah teaches us here that it is within the power of humans to cause Hashem's

Presence to dwell among them."

So what is a 'Sanctuary'? Another translation of this verse would be, "And

they shall make a sacred entity for Me." We think of 'Sanctuary' in terms of

a building, akin to a fancy synagogue, but 'sacred entity' gets away from the

limitations of that view.

The end of our pasuk is often translated as "in their midst". This can mean,

as "among them" might, and as the simple English would imply, that G-d would

be a next-door neighbor, one we might see at the local butcher shop, etc. Or,

it could mean 'inside of us', which is not a physical presence but a spiritual

one.

It isn't the intrinsic monetary or physical value of the components that our

portion points to. Those material elements have long since disappeared from

our view. The Torah is describing by way of imagery what we must do to elevate

ourselves, to warrant G-d's continual Presence in, around and among us. This

is what we must do to set ourselves aside, to make ourselves holy. The

Sanctuary that our verse describes is not a physical house, but our individual

spiritual selves. As Rav Moshe explained, it is within our power to bring G-d

into our lives. We have but to observe His Torah.