26 | FEBRUARY 18 • 2021
SPIRIT
Lasting Legacies
W
hile not often
considered an
architectural design
manual, the Torah has several
examples of artful and practical
construction instructions.
Noah’s ark is described with
dimensions and floor
structure. There are
building codes requir-
ing a rail for a porch
to prevent a fatal fall.
There is a description
of house demolition in
case of a tzara’
at (skin
disease) outbreak. And,
in this week’s portion,
there is the design of
the Tabernacle and its
furnishings.
Though an immense
undertaking, the
Tabernacle was only meant to
serve a purpose at a particular
time and place. It provided
the Israelites with a religious
center, where God’s presence
rested throughout the travels in
the wilderness; the initiative to
fund, design and construct the
Mishkan was a massive amount
of work for a structure that
would eventually be retired.
One of the Tabernacle details
is the design of its walls. They
were made of planks of shittim
(acacia) wood. The instructions
for the courtyard planks are
curious. “You shall make the
planks for the Tabernacle of aca-
cia wood, upright.
”
Why does the Torah speci-
fy that the boards be laid out
vertically standing upright? Is
there some advantage to having
a wall made of vertical rather
than horizontal boards? The
Talmud (Yoma 72a) teaches that
the boards of the Mishkan were
to be constructed in the same
manner they had grown. The
end bearing its roots should
provide support and stability,
and its side bearing branches
should rise up. The Torah’s
directive that they should stand
erect serves as a reminder that it
will endure forever; its roots —
of sanctity, reverence and wor-
ship — are firmly embedded
in our collective religious
and national consciousness,
even when the Mishkan
itself is no longer in use.
But where did these planks
come from? The midrash
(cited by Rashi) teaches that
this was not just any acacia. It
is the acacia planted by Jacob.
Ya’akov planted them for this
very purpose, so the Israelites
could avail themselves of this
resource when called upon
by God to construct a sacred
Tabernacle. According to the
midrash, the foresight and deeds
of Jacob provided his descen-
dants generations later with the
means to serve and worship
God. His planning and effort
supported his descendants long
after he was gone.
Long after the Mishkan is
gone, we read of the acacia wood
standing erect reminding us that
our strong and steadfast legacy
and traditions continue within
each of us. And when Jacob
planted the seeds that grew the
materials used in his descen-
dants’ sacred undertaking, his
work outlived him by millennia.
Our virtuous and religious
efforts today, how we educate
and what we model, will mean
our children and their children,
for generations to come, can
continue to stand tall and proud
like the acacia of the Mishkan.
Rabbi Azaryah Cohen is head of school
at Frankel Jewish Academy in West
Bloomfield.
TORAH PORTION
Rabbi
Azaryah
Cohen
Parshat
Terumah:
Exodus
25:1-27:19; I
Samuel 15:2-
34. (Shabbat
Zachor)
FEBRUARY 2021
Michigan State University researchers have
received $2.1 million in grant funding to test
for the novel coronavirus in wastewater,
including from the Detroit area, which has
the potential to be an early warning system
for the presence of COVID-19.
The funding was provided by the Michigan
Department of Environment, Great Lakes
and Energy, and the Michigan Department
of Health and Human Services from
Michigan’s allocation of federal money
under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and
Economic Security Act, or CARES. Existing
COVID-19 wastewater surveillance programs
were funded to quickly establish a
standardized and coordinated network of
monitoring systems across the state.
Joan Rose, Homer Nowlin Chair in Water
Research at MSU, was awarded $1.3 million
of the total funding to train and assist labs
with analytical methods.
Irene Xagoraraki, associate professor of civil
and environmental engineering at MSU, was
Continued on page 2
MICHIGAN STATE
U N I V E R S I T Y
Michigan-based Chef Hunny Khordorkovsky will demonstrate cooking a Moroccan
Israeli dish prior to a screening of In Search of Israeli Cuisine, while Yemenite Israeli
singer-songwriter Tair Haim (right) of A-WA will perform live and take questions
from the audience.
REGISTER FOR THESE EVENTS or ask to be added to an email list at
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PHOTO CREDIT JERRY ZOLYNSKY
The JN and the Jewish Community Center’s JFamily
will once again shine the public spotlight on teens
in our community with Rising Stars: Teens Making a
Dif
erence. 18 remarkable Jewish teens in the Metro
Detroit area will be selected and featured in the April
29, 2021, issue of the Jewish News and recognized
on the JN and JCC’s JFamily social media pages.
Nominees must live in Michigan, identify as Jewish
and be students in grades 9-12; they can be self-
nominated or may be nominated by others today
through March 17.
Nominees should be recognized for impact,
contribution and/or achievement in areas
including (but not limited) to:
• Tikkun olam, volunteerism, social action,
advocacy, philanthropy
• Academics/education
• Athletics
• Music & arts
• Business & entrepreneurship
• Overcoming obstacles and challenges
• Jewish growth and learning
• Leadership
SEEKING
TERRIFIC TEENS!
To nominate yourself or a teen you know, go to
thejewishnews.com and click on the Rising Stars button
or to jfamily.jccdet.org/risingstars. The deadline is March 17.