Jewish Community Center and Jewish Experiences For Families p resents CHALLAMANIA Fmily Fun Stir it ... Roll it ... Take the challah hone anc bake it ... Suiday, February 5, 1---3 pm Jewish Community Center Jimmy Prentis Morris Building 15110 W. 10 Mile, Oak Park Jaffee Hall • Design challah trivets • Make challah • Meet Bible heroes • Challah storytelling • Challah covers • And lots more ... ALL FAMILIES OF EVERY SHAPE AND SIZE WELCOME Admission: Kosher non-perishable Shabbat foods to be donated to Yad Ezra jcc For more information call the JCC JPM 967-4030 or M/17 661-7646 SAVE MONEY...DON'T FLY TO VEGAS DRIVE TO SOUTHFIELD AND ATTEND 4 f: •/ es 041111 SATURDAY' FEBRUARY 11, 1995 8:00 P.M.•12:00 MIDNIGHT • Black Jack • Over and Under • Craps • Roulette • Cash Prizes • Refreshments Door Prizes: VCR and Color TV (need not be present to win) $5.00 Donation... $500 per person limit on winnings... License M25351 21100 W. 12 Mile Road, Southfield, MI Proceeds for General Fund • Call (810) 352-8670 for further information. 34 The True Gift Comes From The Heart DR. RICHARD C. HERTZ SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS ith the conclusion of the revelations at Sinai, this sedrah deals with the building of a taber- nacle to house the two tablets of the law. Two words, "willing heart," are the key here. Scripture says, "Tell the Israelite people to bring Me gifts ... from every person who has a willing heart." The rabbis point out you cannot command a man to give. Giving, true giving, must come from the heart. That is why the Torah says that the of- fering should come from every man, not just large givers or men of wealth or station, but everyone so that the tabernacle can be a house of prayer for all people, a people's sanctuary. The requisite is not how much you give, but simply how you give. A willing heart is the only qualification for membership in the household of Israel. The story of the building of the sanctuary in our sedrah has stim- ulated the imagination of the rab- bis through the ages. They even dared to ask why a sanctuary at all. If God is God of the whole universe, why should the children of Israel have been ordered to build a little portable tabernacle? The Midrash tells how God replied to such a question, saying that the kings of the earth are mere men of flesh and blood. They need all the appurtenances of in- signia for them to be recognized as kings. But God does not need such things. He neither needs food nor drink nor even light. 'Do not worry yourselves that you do not have a place for Me," God said. But the children of Israel were not satisfied and insisted upon some appropriate place to keep the two tablets of the law given to Moses at Sinai. God said to the people, "If you insist upon carrying out your wishes, do so but do it in a way I command you. Notice, it is customary in the world that he who has a little son cares for him. He washes him and feeds him and rears him and educates him. When the son comes of age and makes a place for himself in the world, he provides for his father and often builds a dwelling place for him. In like manner, as long as you were a young people, I pro- vided for you. I fed you with man- na. I gave you water to drink in the wilderness. But now you have come of age. You are freed from Egyptian bondage and you wish to provide a dwelling place for Me. Dr. Richard C. Hertz, is rabbi emeritus of Temple Beth el. Remember, I do not need a taber- nacle because I lack a dwelling. Even before the world was creat- ed I had My Temple in the heav- ens of the universe. Only as a token of my affection for you my people will I dwell among you in the sanctuary that you want to build." And so the people were so pleased with God's answer that they went ahead and built a sanc- tuary. Scripture dwells in loving de- tail the minutiae of each and every specification of the length and breath of the sanctuary. Every detail regarding the con- struction of the sanctuary is pro- vided for, in order that the sanctuary might become a visi- ble emblem to the people that God dwells among them. It was to be a portable structure to ac- company the Israelites in their wanderings. It was to be an ob- long structure, rectangular in shape, a holding place for the holy of holies. Shabbat Terumah: Exodus 25:1-27:19 I Kings 5:26-6:13. The sanctuary was to show the indwelling of the divine presence in the camp of Israel. The ark and its contents were the symbol of the covenant between God and Israel, made of pure gold such as they learned from Egyptian arti- sans. The ark had to be trans- ported from station to station in the wilderness by means of gold- plated wooden poles inserted through gold rings attached to the sides. The poles remained in place even when the ark was sta- tionary. The sole function of the ark was to house the two tables of stone that Moses received at Sinai when God made a covenant with the Israelites after their de- parture from the land of Egypt. The second sacred item of fur- niture that stood in the outer sanctum was the seven branch menorah. Instructions about the menorah were very detailed. No menorah that incorporates all of the features of the tabernacle menorah has ever been uncov- ered in the Near East. The most famous menorah relief on the Arch of Titus in Rome was the idea of some Roman artist and may have been a facsimile of Herod's Menorah dating from at least 1,000 years after the one in the tabernacle.