FEBRUARY 27 • 2020 | 33
A
s a person who loves
building projects, I
find Terumah’
s intri-
cate description of the
blueprint and materials
needed for the construc-
tion of the Mishkan more
exciting than most.
Reviewed again and
again, the Torah takes the
precision of holy space’
s
construction quite seri-
ously.
The building of the
tabernacle is a watershed
moment in the history
and emergence of our
people. The dedication of
a central hub for worship (and
sacrifice) will serve as the focal
point of Jewish life and practice
for the next 1,000 years.
The vast majority of this
week’
s portion (all but nine
sentences) is filled with the
nitty-gritty details that describe
what will become the
locust point of Jewish life.
However, it is in the open-
ing lines that we find the
most radical and inspira-
tional aspects.
“Tell the Israelite peo-
ple to bring Me gifts; you
shall accept gifts for Me
from every person whose
heart so moves them”
(Exodus 25:2). Though
this might not seem like
such a unique instruction,
the implication here is of
the upmost importance. Every
person is not only welcome to
contribute, but without their
gifts, we would be unable to do
the work of building the insti-
tutions necessary to sustain our
community.
The text goes on to list the
different types of gifts that one
may bring to contribute. They
range from that which you
would expect, like gold and sil-
ver, to that which may leave you
perplexed — dolphin skins, for
example. (We’
ll have to leave the
question of where exactly one
finds a dolphin in the desert for
another time.) In summarizing,
the famous commentator Rashi
understands there to be 13 cate-
gories of gifts one may bring.
As we know, 13 is a special
number in our tradition. While
the age of b’
nai mitzvah might
be the first thing that comes to
mind, 13 is also the number of
attributes of God, which are the
different ways we can experience
Divinity in the world.
From this, we learn that the
work of building the tabernacle
is as complex and diverse as our
community. Just four weeks ago,
we read that the Israelites came
up out of Egypt as an erev rav, a
mixed multitude (Exodus 12:38).
Now, as we begin to build the
infrastructure of our peoplehood,
we see not only the importance,
but also the power of that diver-
sity.
In its instruction to us the
Torah is quite clear: We need
you, all of you, moved by your
own heart, in order to make our
community possible.
In the climatic conclusion
of the command to construct
the Mishkan, we read V’
asu li
mikdash, v’
shachnti b’
tocham,
“Let them build me a sanctuary
that I may dwell among them.
”
These words, commonly found
etched into the walls of our con-
temporary congregations, are a
reminder that it is on us to bring
Divinity into this world; we are
the builders of community, and
every one of us has a unique and
precious gift to offer.
Rabbi Ari Witkin is the director
of leadership development at the
Jewish Federation of Metro Detroit.
Parshat
Terumah:
Exodus 25:1-
27:19; I Kings
5:26-6:13.
Rabbi Ari
Witkin
Spirit
torah portion
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