Shabbat Parashat Terumah - 5781

Shabbat Parashat Terumah - 5781

Rabbi Hal Miller

They shall make Me a Sanctuary so that I may dwell among them. [Shemot 25:8]

Our portion this week includes a series of commands. In some of them God says to

Moshe, "they shall", and in some of them He says, "you shall". Who are these

commandments meant for? Why the changing back and forth?

Torah Temimah translates the "they shall make" entries as "let them make", which

implies God is telling Moshe that these are opportunities more than commandments

and that Moshe should step back and let the people get involved if they wish to

participate. In 25:10, "They shall make an Aron", Torah Temimah compares it to

Devarim 10:1 where Moshe is directed to make an Ark as well. We know from

numerous other places (including this series of drashot from some years back)

that there were at least two Arks, one that we all think of with the gold coverings,

and one only of wood that Moshe was to use for the original Tablets and for a

verse or two that preceded the Ark in our verse. Onkelos seems to be of the same

opinion in that he changes 25:10 from "make an Ark" to "make the Ark", implying

that the people get to make this one, but Moshe makes the other. Perhaps the

answer to our question is the idea of sharing.

Ramban seems to follow as well, at least partially. He agrees that some things

are for Moshe to do and some for the people to do, but instead of being mere

opportunities, he sees these as commandments, in the sense that one who does

what he is commanded earns more merit than one who does the same thing

voluntarily, since it is proof of acceptance of God's mastery. He also understands

the "you shall" in the singular to be directed to Moshe, not individually, but as

the representative of the nation, thus the commandments are really to all of the

people, but the action involved only required one to carry it out.

In verses 25:11 and 12, Onkelos doesn't see fit to tell us who the commands

are directed to., Instead of "you shall cover" and "you shall pour", he writes

them as "cover" and "pour", indicating either agreement with Ramban or that

our whole question may be moot.

Rav Moshe Feinstein sees a lesson in these verses. It would seem that, while

people could build a building, it would take a Moshe and/or God directly to make

anything holy. Our verses show that the people themselves can bring God's

Presence into our midst, and can make an object holy. This reminds us to be

careful with everything we do in life, as we can do it either for mundane

purposes or for holy purposes. We must strive to elevate ourselves.