Parshah Summary – P’shat
The parshah opens with Hashem calling upon the Children of Israel to contribute thirteen materials toward the building of the Sanctuary—gold, silver and copper; blue, purple and red-dyed wool; flax, goat hair, animal skins, wood, olive oil, spices and gems. On Mount Sinai, Moses is given detailed instructions on how to construct this Sanctuary so that it could be readily dismantled, transported and reassembled as the people journeyed through the desert. Within the Sanctuary’s innermost chamber, behind a woven curtain, the ark containing the tablets of the testimony engraved with the Ten Commandments would be housed. Upon the ark’s cover would be two winged cherubim hammered out of pure gold. In the outer chamber would be the seven-branched menorah, and the table upon which the “showbread” was arranged. The Sanctuary’s three walls would be fitted together from 48 upright wooden boards, each of which was overlaid with gold and held up by a pair of silver foundation sockets. The roof would be formed of three layers of coverings: tapestries of multicolored wool and linen; a covering made of goat hair; a covering of ram and “tachash” skins. Across the front of the Sanctuary would be an embroidered screen held up by five posts. Surrounding the Sanctuary and the copper-plated altar in front of it would be an enclosure of linen hangings, supported by 60 wooden posts with silver hooks and trimmings, and reinforced by copper stakes.
Torah of Awakening | Jewish Meditation Teaching
וְעָ֥שׂוּ לִ֖י מִקְדָּ֑שׁ וְשָׁכַנְתִּ֖י בְּתוֹכָֽם׃ Let them make for Me a sanctuary, and I will dwell among them… - Shemot (Exodus) 25:8, Parshat Terumah
Rabbi Moshe of Kobryn taught on these words that Hashem spoke to Moses from the burning bush (Shemot 3:5)
שַׁל־נְעָלֶ֙יךָ֙ – Remove your sandals… Rabbi Moshe said, “Remove the habitual which encloses your ‘foot’ – that which comes between you and your experience of the world – and then you will know: הַמָּק֗וֹם אֲשֶׁ֤ר אַתָּה֙ עוֹמֵ֣ד עָלָ֔יו אַדְמַת־קֹ֖דֶשׁ הֽוּא – the Place upon which you stand is holy ground… That is, the place upon which you find yourself is holy; for there is no aspect of human life within which we cannot find the holiness of the Divine – everywhere, and at all times.” This is meditation. וְעָ֥שׂוּ לִ֖י מִקְדָּ֑שׁ – Let them make for Me a sanctuary… The Mikdash, “Sanctuary,” comes from the root קדש kadosh, which means “holy” or “sacred.” The actual meaning of קדש is “separate,” but not in the ordinary sense. In the case of a troubled relationship, the word “separate” connotes distance, disconnectedness, alienation. But kadosh is the opposite. In a Jewish wedding ceremony, we hear the words: אַתְּ מְקֻדֶּֽשֶׁת לִי At meKUDESHet li – “You are holy to me.” The betrothed couple becomes “separate” because they are each other’s most intimate, and therefore separate from all other less intimate relationships. So, the separateness of קדש kadosh points not to something that is distant, but most central. It points not to alienation, but to the deepest connection. וְשָׁכַנְתִּ֖י בְּתוֹכָֽם – and I will dwell among them… The Mikdash is the place that the Divine quality of קדש kadosh dwells and communes with the Israelites, as it says – שָׁכַנְתִּי shakhaniti – I will dwell. This root of shakhaniti, שכן, is also found in the other word for the Sanctuary, Mishkan, as well as the word for the Divine Presence itself, Shekhinah. And what is the main function of שכן– this communing with the sacred? The Israelites came to the mishkan, and later the Temple in Jerusalem, to heal their separation from the Divine – separation in the ordinary sense of the word. They brought their fruit, their grain and their animals to be offered on the fiery altar in order to heal the disconnectedness and alienation caused by their own transgressions. The word for a sacrificial offering is korban, from the root קרב which means not sacrifice, but nearness, closeness, intimacy. Where was this Mikdash placed? Was it separate from the camp, off at a distance? No – it was in the very center of the camp. And within the very center of the Mikdash was the most holy – the kadosh kadoshim – the Holy of Holies – the Center of the Center. This representation of the sacred in space and architecture is not mere ritual magic from the past. It is a pointer to the true sanctuary of Presence within your own life. There can only be one center of your life, and that center is the one place that life is actually being lived – this moment. You are never separate from this moment, and yet – are you truly dwelling within it? וְעָ֥שׂוּ לִ֖י מִקְדָּ֑שׁ וְשָׁכַנְתִּ֖י בְּתוֹכָֽם׃ Asu li Mikdash v’shakhanit mitokham – Let them make for Me a sanctuary, and I will dwell among/within them… There is a Divine call – It calls to us equally in pain and in joy, in excitement and in boredom. It says, “Come to the center. Build me a sanctuary.” How do we build it? The essence of the sanctuary is not the structure, but the space within the structure. The structure is already there as your body, your mind, your heart. They become a sanctuary the moment you allow there to be a space. The space completes the structure. Come into that space – come into your body, come into this moment. Bring your korban to the altar. Is there pain? Is there fear? Is there regret? Is there embarrassment? Bring it all. Let the fire upon the altar of the present moment burn away the separation; this is meditation. If it hurts, let it – the pain is temporary, and gives way to the Sacred. Because from within the space of allowing yourself to feel whatever needs to be felt, there is the possibility of transmutation – the energy of separation and pain becomes the energy of love. And from this love there is the possibility of external healing as well – the healing that happens between people through deeds of love. The sages taught that it is for the sake of love that the universe has come into being, that when we do acts of Hesed, of loving kindness toward one another, we make the world itself into a Sanctuary, into a home for the Divine. That is our tremendous potential: to uncover this fundamental quality of sacredness – first within ourselves, through Presence, and second toward others, through our words and deeds. This is the Path of ק Koof, “Sanctification.”
Read past teachings on Terumah HERE
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