Torah Bites for Your Table: Parshat Terumah

This week's parasha concerns the building of the Mishkan, the portable tabernacle built by the Israelites in the wilderness. In commanding the Israelites to build this magnificent structure, the Torah records God's famous statement that, "And let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. Exactly as I show you - the pattern of the Tabernacle and the pattern of all the furnishings - so you shall make it" (Exodus 25:8-9). In this verse, the purpose of the Mishkan is spelled out of clearly: it is structure we create to bring God's presence closer to us.

However, our commentators are curious about why the Israelites are commanded to build the structure at this. Why not command them to build the Mishkan BEFORE receiving the Ten Commandments, or even before they left Egypt altogether? The great Spanish commentator Nahmanides (The Ramban) answers the question in the following way:

"When God spoke to Israel face to face at the Ten Commandments, instructing them – through Moshe – in some of the commandments, that are as principal commandments of the Torah… and Israel accepted upon themselves to do all that they had been commanded… He forged a covenant with them concerning all of this: from now on they were to be His nation, and He would be their God… AND NOW THEY WERE HOLY, WORTHY OF HAVING A SANCTUARY IN THEIR MIDST, THAT GOD'S GLORY MIGHT REST AMONGST THEM. And therefore God first commanded concerning the Mishkan, so that He would have a House in their midst, sanctified for His Name, and there He would speak with Moshe and command Bnei Yisrael…." (Introduction to Parshat Terumah).

In this passage, Nahmanides reminds us that the Israelites only became worthy to create a holy structure after they embraced the Torah, the model for how they ought to live their lives. For our Jewish Communities, this parasha ought to remind us that we can create any structure that we want, but the structure become holy when we choose to live lives of holiness. May we merit that type of embrace in our own lives, the lives of our families, and the Jewish Community.

Shabbat Shalom,
Josh

Bites for your Table:

1. Parents: What does it mean to create a physical space that can be "holy"? What have you done to help a holy space for your family?
   
2. Children: Why would it be important for the Israelites to build a sanctuary for God? How does making this building help God become closer?
   
3. Seekers: What is your personal "mishkan"? How do you find ways to create sanctuary in your everyday life?