This Parashah is called Terumah. The root of the Hebrew word Terumah is “ רום room”, which means “to elevate”. With that in mind, chapter 25 begins with our Creator telling Moses to tell Israel to “bring to Him terumah”. This word has been translated in many ways—offerings, contributions, elevation, giving, tithing, etc. —but the Torah is very specific and repeats a particular term for a reason. Rabbis speak in a circular way; they don’t go from point A to B, rather, they go from A to A, repeating these topics like a circle. Once you enter one of these circles, you soon realize that they form an upward spiral within which you are elevating yourself in your understanding of our Creator’s revelation.
The beauty of studying the Torah is that it is not static; it evolves into ever-greater revelations. When you remain narrow-minded, focusing on a single point, you lose the ability to see the bigger picture. The Torah is holistic. We are the highest of His creation, made in His image and likeness, so much more than the physical aspects of our being. Moses will be giving us many examples of this.
But here he is going to begin with something that was an eye-opener for me. Among our greatest sages, there is considerable controversy over the chronology of Terumah. Exodus chapters 31 and 32 should follow chapter 24 directly, which ends with Moses ascending the mountain for forty days and forty nights. We read about Israel’s sin of the golden calf, and this changes everything. The greatest gift that He gave us, other than our life, is free will. Why is this so important? Most religions treat us like cattle and limit our ability to think rationally. There was a time when people believed that the Earth was flat, and anyone who disagreed and said it was round was killed. God wants us to think! We need to understand the role the mishkan will play in our relationship with the Creator. Our Creator gave Moses instructions for building the Mishkan using very succinct elements, but He didn’t tell them exactly how to do it. Why? Because He trusts His creation and gives us the opportunity to develop our imagination and creativity, with which we are endowed.
What is one of the keys to understanding Terumah? Our Creator never told the Israelites to “give” תן (ten) to Him; rather, He used the word “bring” כך (kach). When we give, it comes from us, but when we bring, the idea is that someone has already provided what we are simply taking to Him. I want to emphasize this point —neither you nor I can give anything to our Creator because He needs absolutely nothing from us. In fact, He gives us everything we need so that we can bring a portion back to Him. We need to change the idea that we are “sacrificing” when we bring our tithes and offerings to the community. That is what many religions teach. Exodus 25:1-2 tells us that Moses “shall accept an offering from everyone who brings it with a willing heart.” Notice that there was no force or obligation involved. This is the character of the true believer. When we need to ask people in this community to give, it means something is wrong in their hearts. It shows that they are so tied to the money that God has given them. Change the idea of giving to bringing. Rav Shaul spoke of the cheerful giver. Our Creator never asks us for something that He hasn’t already provided. It is sad that we come every week to hear God’s revelation, yet we just listen; we do not do what He says. The Torah teaches us that listening means to obey. We said, “We will do, and we will obey”. The only way we will follow the Creator is by “doing” what He tells us…that’s how we obey.
The Creator describes 15 elements for building the Mishkan. Some people are so spiritual that they lose sight of the Torah’s practical nature. The Creator only asked them to bring things that they already had, things indigenous to where they were and had been given to them when they left Egypt. Later, we will see how He called men and women who had the skills and expertise needed for their particular roles… carpenters, seamstresses, metalworkers, and so on. Why gave them their skills?
What is the greatest Terumah that we can offer our Creator? Ourselves! What happens when we offer ourselves? We are elevated -רום room. We become lighter. Material things hold us down when we think that we are more important than serving our Creator. How often have I heard this statement? – “My time is precious, it’s sacred; Don’t ask me to do anything – I have enough to do”. Self-centredness is our problem. Terumah means to free ourselves from the things that keep us from getting closer to our Creator. When we hold onto something, it becomes our god. Be careful what you are holding onto. Our Creator wants to liberate us – to make us lighter.
In Exodus 25: 8, there is a very interesting statement that has sparked much discussion among our sages. “V’asu li mikdash v’shachanti b’tocham. Make Me a Sanctuary for Me to dwell in them.” Why didn’t He say for Me to dwell in it? We obviously can’t put our Creator in a Tent built by man, but it would be our focal point. We would only have to look at the Mikdash, and know that He will always be with us. Rav Shaul told us that each of us is like a tent in which the Presence of God lives. Wherever we go, He is with us. OY…where have we taken Him? We cannot hide from Him, deceive Him or play any games because He knows everything about us.
Why is the Mishkan, the Tent of Meeting, spoken of at this point in the Torah? It wasn’t the most important thing. The central point of this message is where the tablets given to Moses to bring to the people would be kept. In chapter 24: 9 says, “And then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu and the seventy of the elders of Israel. And they saw that the God of Israel, and there was under his feet like a paved work of sapphire stones, and like the very heavens for clarity, but on the nobles of the children of Israel, he did not lay his hand. They saw God, and they ate and drank. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me into the mountain. And there I will give you the tablets of stone and the Torah and the Commandments which I have written that you may teach them. So, Moses arose, and Joshua his minister went up into the mount of God. And then Moses went up into the mountains, and the cloud covered the mountains. Now the glory of GOD rested on the mountain Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days, and on the seventh day, He called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. The sight of the glory of GOD was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain and in the eyes of the children of Israel. So, Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain and Moses was on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights.”
Well, Moses went up to receive the Tablets and put them in the Ark. The Ark was the central focal point of the Mikdash, the sanctuary. Why? Because this was his Brit, his covenant between Him and the people of Israel, and it was important enough to store in the Ark. Sometimes we lose the simplicity of what the Creator wanted to teach us and we elaborate and become more preoccupied with how tall the tent was and how long it was, what materials were used and what the quality of the materials were. The Creator didn’t give us much information; it only says that we had to pay attention to certain things. No one knows how thick the beams were, or whether they were square or round. They were never told the specifics; they had to decide for themselves what they would do. We pay more attention to the less important things, while the things that need it we ignore. That’s how religions are formed. People prefer the superstitious hocus pocus, or say what the Scriptures never said. We sometimes don’t understand that our creator is leading us in ways that help us be practical.
I started this message by stating that we are created in God’s likeness and image, and that He gave us the capability and artistic freedom to do so in the way we saw fit. Look at the difference between the Creator and religion. Our creator gives us leeway, while religion puts us in a box and takes away our free will. It wants us to follow the letter of the law, which is why we Jewish people have so many different traditions depending on where we are from. The same thing with Christianity.
The more we are on the side of the Creator, the lighter our spirit becomes because we are elevated. As a matter of clarification, when we hold onto our material possessions or emotional problems, we are not free to be elevated! That is the message of Terumah.
God placed the sanctuary in the middle of the community so that He, not us, would always be the focus of our lives. We are to keep Him constantly in our hearts and minds. When we are overwhelmed and confused about our lives, we become unfocused. That’s when it’s time to come back to what He gave us–to the tablets Moses placed in the Ark – to the Ten Commandments, and soon our attitude will change.
Sometimes we think we are the only ones who serve, but let me tell you, there are many people who serve. There are also people who do not serve but appear to be serving. The only One who knows our hearts is our Creator, and no one has the right to judge anyone else; we can never judge the intentions of others, only our Creator knows us. There are people who serve because they want to be religious. Let me challenge you with this: serve your Creator because you are free to serve him, not because you’re in prison and have no other choice. The greatest joys in life lie in serving and doing things for others.
Not long ago, I invited someone to come to our services, but they said, “My Shabbat is for me. I enjoy myself on Shabbat.” That sounds beautiful. He’s free, but I soon discovered that this person is very miserable. When we isolate ourselves, we will be alone sooner or later. God created us to have fellowship, to be part of a community. That’s why the Torah and the Ark were placed in the center of the people of Israel, so that they could continually have Him in their hearts and minds.
To sum up: The Mishkan surrounds the sin of the golden calf. It was built so that we can constantly turn our focus from our old gods toward Him, wherever we are, whatever we are doing, especially during the busyness of our lives, our jobs, children, and family. The Mishkan contains the crucial element that we need in our lives – the Ark containing the Ten Commandments. They help us choose right from wrong. Then we can use His gift of Free Will to elevate ourselves by choosing to live within the upward spiral of acknowledging sin, i.e., our disobedience to the Ten, making reparation and beginning again. That is the essence of Terumah…always bringing everything to the Creator, and remembering that the first thing we bring to Him is ourselves.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Percy Johnson (Netanel ben Yochanan – Ranebi Z” l)