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Welcome to Terumah the portion that describes in great detail the building of the mishkan a portable sanctuary in the desert. The photo is from my extensive collection of signs from synagogues and other Jewish institutions that have closed.                                                   
                                                                      Michael (mjstrassfeld@gmail.com)
Intention/kavanah for the week:

Imagine creating a sanctuary
where light flows out into the world,
where there is a willingness to sacrifice by giving to others
or by using less to help the environment
and where people could feel connected to you.
This portable sanctuary would accompany you when you rise up and lie down,
and in your comings and goings.
What if that sense was what you wore in the world rather than the armor of suspicion, jealousy or anger?
How much easier would it be travel without all that weight of negativity?
Reflect on this notion of sanctuary each morning as you begin the day
and relax into it each night as you fall asleep to your inner light.
 
Song:
Sanctuary (based on Ex. 25:8)
 
Oh God prepare me to be a sanctuary
Pure and holy--
tried and true
And with thanksgiving I’ll be a living
Sanctuary for you.
 
V’asu li mikdash v’shakhanti b’tokham
Va’anakhnu n’varekh yah, mei’atah v’ad olam
 
Translation:
And they shall make for Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.
And as for us, we bless the name of Yah, from now until the end of time.





                                                       
To listen to the song

 A word of Torah:

            Terumah focuses on the building of the sanctuary/mishkan that will accompany the Israelites through their wanderings in the desert. God says: “Make for me a sanctuary and I will dwell in their midst.” It is striking that God doesn’t say: Make for me a sanctuary and I will dwell in it or I will dwell in your midst (singular). The Israelites have just experienced the encounter with God at Mount Sinai. They are about to continue their journey to the Promised Land. They want God to be their constant companion on that journey. In response, God tells the Israelites they must make this portable structure. They need to make a holy sanctuary for God. God isn’t going to miraculously make a sanctuary appear. It would be easy to understand this as God asking the Israelites to build God a home as a sign of respect so that God will be with them as they journey. Instead, God says, “If you engage in this project, then I will be with you.”
        God doesn’t need a place to reside. But God does need the people to stop being so passive and join together as one community. Then, and only then, will there be a space for God to be among them. It is the way they engage in the project rather then what they build. The Torah tells us everyone contributed to this building campaign. For the only time in human history, it was announced that the campaign was so successful that no more contributions were needed. Kol ish asher yidvenu libo—every person whose heart so moves her. Not only did everyone participate but they did so willingly.
        The mystics describe God as ein sof-infinite. Humans are clearly finite. Yet there are ways that being created in the image of God makes us Godlike. One of these is the capacity to love. We know that we can love more than one child or one friend. Our ability to love partakes of the infinite. A giving heart is the home that God desires. Then God will dwell in our midst and be the beloved companion on life’s journey.
       Why are we given so many details of the building in the text? To remind us that even if God "isn’t in the details," redemption certainly is. It is the daily acts of caring that continue to build a sanctuary for God and for this planet and for each of us.
 
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