Parashat Terumah – 5785

A D’var Torah for Parashat Terumah

When someone talks about a sanctuary, what comes to mind? If one uses that term for a house of worship, then images of clergy might enter one’s mind, with an Aron Kodesh, an ark containing the Torah scrolls, and the bimah with stands for the clergy to lead a prayer service. Maybe some stained glass. Definitely a window or two.

The sanctuary can be large and formal –think of Temple Emmanuel in New York City.  Or it can be small, informal and intimate such as a neighborhood shtiebel, and anywhere in between. They are places for Jewish prayer, where individuals try to get closer to God, and to each other, in prayer and song.

The term sanctuary first came into our lexicon with this week’s Torah portion, Terumah. But that sanctuary was not of an arbitrary size with rooms and fixtures which could vary. No, the first sanctuary, the Mishkan, a portable sanctuary for offerings as the Children of Israel went from Mount Sinai to the Promised Land, was a very specific size, made from very specific materials and for very specific uses.

But even though the sizes and structures are different, the purpose of all sanctuaries remains the same: To try to get closer to God.

The command from God to Moses goes out in our portion:

וְעָ֥שׂוּ לִ֖י מִקְדָּ֑שׁ וְשָׁכַנְתִּ֖י בְּתוֹכָֽם׃

And let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.

(Exodus 25:8)

One purpose of this Mishkan is to keep Moses near the people. God will now talk with Moses in the sanctuary, so he does not have to travel up and down Mount Sinai anymore. But this structure was not built for Moses’ sake, it was built for the people.

Rambam, the influential Sephardic Torah scholar of the 12^th century, thought of the sanctuary for specific purposes.

“It is a positive obligation to build a house for God where offerings may be brought and to make pilgrimage to it three times a year.” (Laws of the Chosen Temple 1:1)

The Ramban, Nahmanides, a 13^th century Catalan rabbi, had a slightly different view on the purpose of the sanctuary,  that it would intrinsically be a spiritual place.

“He first commanded about the matter of the tabernacle that,” stated Ramban, “He should have a house among them that would be dedicated to His name – and there would He speak with Moshe and [continue to] command the Children of Israel. And behold the main object in the tabernacle is the place that the Divine presence would rest, which is the ark, as He said (Exodus 25:22), “And I will meet with you there and I will speak with you from above the ark-cover.”   (Ramban, Shemot 25:1).

The Bekhor Shor, a 12^th century French commentator, adds another layer of understanding. “When God gave the Ten Commandments to Moshe, the stone tablets needed to be stored somewhere. Therefore, an ark was needed. But it would not be fitting to just have an ark, and therefore an entire Tabernacle was constructed. It would also not be proper to have a Tabernacle sitting alone in the desert, and therefore the Jewish people were to set up their camp surrounding the Tabernacle.”

A modern-day approach to the existence and significance of the sanctuary comes from Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, a 20^th century English commentator.

“That is how God came to be close to the Israelites through the building of the sanctuary. It wasn’t the quality of the wood and metals and drapes. It wasn’t the glitter of jewels on the breastplate of the high priest. It wasn’t the beauty of the architecture or the smell of the sacrifices. It was the fact that it was built out of the gifts of “everyone whose heart prompts them to give” (Ex. 25:2). Where people give voluntarily to one another and to holy causes, that is where the Divine Presence rests,” Rabbi Sacks said.

Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, the 18^th century founder of Chabad, understood the sanctuary in very mystical terms as he wrote in Tanya: “This is what man is all about. This is the purpose of his creation and of the creation of all the worlds, higher and lower—that there be made for God a dwelling in the lower realms.”

The building of the sanctuary, the Mishkan, is an important step in improving the relationship between God and the Jewish people. Yes, it is a physical place, a physical space which is beautifully decorated and designed.

But the reason that the sanctuary was built was not to hold God, because no building can, but for God to have a place to dwell with us and within us.

In a famous Hasidic saying, the Kotzker Rebbe, a 19^th century Chasidic rabbi and leader, was once asked: “Where does God dwell?” to which he replied, “Wherever you let Him in.”

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Rabbi Gerry L. Ginsburg (AJR ‘19) is Associate Rabbi of Temple Beth El, Stamford, CT (Conservative). He works in pastoral counseling, adult education, synagogue outreach, life cycle events and worship services.