TORAH PORTION

Seeking, Finding God

Parshat Terumah:

Exodus 25:1-27:19;

I Kings 5:26-6:13.

A

re 21st-century Jews looking
for a new and different kind
of relationship with God than
their parents and grandparents did?
According to some scholars, we are
entering a new phase in Jewish history
dominated by "seekers." Rabbi Sidney
Schwarz, author of Finding a Spiritual
Home, explains that a
seeker expresses "an inter-
est in personal and social
transformation [and] ...
in a belief that is more
immanent than transcen-
dent so that God can be
experienced through many
aspects of life:'
Put more simply, a "seeker"
desires an intimate relation-
ship with and knowledge of
the Divine. She or he wants
to feel a deep connection to
God, to encounter God "face-to-face."
But is that such a new thing?
In truth, our people have been seekers
ever since God first spoke to Abraham.
In this week's Parshat Terumah, God
instructs Moses to tell the Israelites to
build a Mikdash, a sanctuary, so that
God may dwell among them (Exodus
25:8). The 13th-century Rabbi Moshe
ben Nachman teaches that the presence
of God that dwelt openly upon Mount
Sinai, appearing as a consuming fire
for all Israel to see, dwelled also within
the tabernacle.
The Israelites feared the intensity of
the encounter with God on Sinai and
therefore asked Moses to act as their
intermediary (Deuteronomy 5:5). God
understood the Israelites' apprehension,
and as a result, God decided to stop
appearing in an open, public manner.
The tabernacle, therefore, served as a
concealed space in which Moses alone
could receive God's instructions.
Ever since the loss of the tabernacle
with the destruction of the two Holy
Temples, Jews have sought to reen-
counter the Divine presence — to
come face-to-face with God again.
How, then, without the tabernacle
or a Holy Temple, do we encounter
God? For some, it is through prayer.
According to the Talmud, God's pres-
ence dwells among 10 Jews assembled
for tefillah. We discover God when
gathering with a minyan, a prayer quo-
rum, to express our thanksgiving to our

Creator and to pray for peace, health
and communal strength.
As one wise person noted, prayer is
when we talk to God. Study, however, is
when God talks to us. While God's pres-
ence appears when 10 people gather
together for prayer, the Mishnah teach-
es that God appears even when only
two people come together
to study Jewish texts (Pirkei
Avot 3:2).
There is a third way as
well. When we engage in
acts of gemilut chasadim
(loving-kindness), tzedakah
(righteousness, charity) or
tikkun olam (repairing the
world), we seek to discover
the presence of God in the
individuals we are helping.
Through social action —
helping those in need — we
rediscover tzelem Elokim, the image of
God that rests in each person.
Upon three things the world stands,
and in three ways do we truly discover
God's presence: study, prayer and the
holy work of striving to make this
world a better place.
This Shabbat, let us too seek an
encounter with the Divine. Just as
our ancestors experienced Sinai and
Moses had the tabernacle, we too are
blessed with an opportunity to have a
personal relationship with God.
It takes hard work and study. It takes
communal dedication to creating
sacred space and individual dedication
to making sacred time for prayer. It
takes reaching out to those in need.
And it takes striving every day to
lead holier, more meaningful lives.
"Seek Me and you shall live God
reminds us through the prophet Amos.
Let us take God up on the offer. ❑

Aaron Starr is a rabbi at Congregation

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In what ways do you seek to
encounter God and the Divine
presence? Do Jews of today differ
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What can you do to help our com-
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and acts of loving-kindness?

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February 18 • 2010

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