Parshat Terumah,
a section of the Torah that we will read this coming week, speaks to us as
women in a very special way. It tells of
the instructions Moses received about building the Mishkan, the portable
Tabernacle, that would accompany the Israelites in the wilderness. The Mishkan is not just any structure, it is
the portable sanctuary that will house G-d’s presence in the midst of the
community. The materials that were to be gathered included: gold, silver, brass, fine linen, skins of
rams, skins of seals, goats’ hair, blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and acacia
wood.
Rashi
comments specifically about the acacia wood that the Israelites were commanded
to use. He asks, “From where did they
have acacia wood/ shittim wood in the wilderness?” His response is a quote from Rabbi Tanchuma,
who wrote a body of midrashim in the 4th century. “Rabbi Tanchuma explained: our forefather Jacob foresaw through Divine
inspiration that Israel was destined to build a Mishkan in the wilderness. He brought Shittim trees to Egypt and planted
them there and he commanded his sons to take them with them when they would
depart from Egypt.”
Jacob had
the foresight to anticipate the needs of a future generation. He knew what his descendants would need and
he provided it for them. When you think
about life, we are all dependent upon the foresight of those who precede us in
life. We do not choose the world into
which we are born, but we also know how the previous generation’s decisions
ultimately have affected us.
As women, I
believe we are very cognizant of our role in preparing the world to be a
suitable home for our children and grandchildren. We think beyond ourselves perhaps because we
tend to be in tune with the nurturing side of G-d, the Shechinah, which is also
the presence of G-d that dwells among us.
So in order to prepare for the
future we also have to be able to turn inward and be open to the presence of
G-d within our midst. In Exodus it says
that G-d’s sanctuary was built so that G-d could dwell among the Israelite
community. The image of G-d in Terumah
is not of a dweller on high…but a dweller within our midst. “ Many streams of
Judaism have taught that G-d is unreachable, unfathomable, outside…completely
other than creation, but Jewish mystics have sensed a radical connection
between the presence of G-d within our midst and finding one’s self. Rav Kook
explained that G-d is not outside of us.
God is the breath of our nostrils’…His teaching says that G-d is also
inside of you, as close and tangible as your breath.”
There is
one more part of parshat Terumah that I feel is very significant. Moses was told to “accept gifts for the
making of G-d’s tabernacle from every person whose heart so moves him.” The word
Terumah, refers to charitable gifts that are given spontaneously because a
cause or need stirs one. Tzedakah on
the other hand is an act of righteousness, of doing what is just. It is
incumbent upon us to do acts of tzedakah.
Terumah is a free will
offering. Think about your own life,
surely there are individuals to whom you give your time and energy not because
you are obligated but because your heart moves you to do so. As women we are constantly giving such
gifts…to our families, friends, and community.
Is it because we sense the gifts that have been given to us by others
who also opened their hearts to give to us?
Is it because we sense that G-d has indeed given us gifts and that we
are moved to share those gifts with others?
As you do Torah yoga today, think
about the gifts you have received openly and the gifts that you are moved to
give to others but are not required to do so.
Some
final thoughts…
The twelfth-century Torah commentator from
Spain, Ibn Ezra, realized the importance of the body on the spiritual path of
wisdom. He said, “The one who knows the secret of his soul and
the characteristics of his body can know things of the upper world, because the
human being is a little world.”
As we
work individually and collectively today, in the pursuit Torah knowledge, self
knowledge, and a connection to G-d…let us think of these words of Rav Kook:
All existence whispers
to me a secret:
I have life to
offer—take it, take it…
Arise, and live, and sing
to beauty and to life…
Draw delight unending
from the dew of heaven.
Boker tov.
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