It's all about "us."

Terumah

Exodus 25:1-27:19

Précis: As the Israelites continue their journey through the wilderness, God tells Moses to ask the people for gifts to build the Tabernacle. “Terumah” (voluntary donations) of fine metals, yarns, skins, and woods are offered by the People. God gives Moses precise instructions as to the interior and exterior construction of the mishkan (tabernacle). Specific items include an altar for burnt offerings, curtain (parochet) to separate the main room from an inner sanctum, elaborate candlesticks, incense burners, and other tools. There will be a special Ark to be placed in an area called the Holy of Holies to house the tablets of the Ten Commandments. Precise measures are given for all spaces as well as specific materials designated for the composition of the mishkan.

Ex. 25:10-11 “They shall make an ark of acacia wood, two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high. Overlay it with pure gold - overlay it inside and out - and make on it a gold molding round about.”

In a discussion of this verse, Nahama Leibowitz reminds us that the rabbis made good use of grammar as an important source of interpretation of the text. When the Torah commands the creation of the various ritual items used in the mishkan, the text uses a singular verb form (“You shall make”). When it comes to the fashioning of the Ark, God orders that “They shall make an Ark” (using the third person plural verb form).

The mishkan itself and the ritual items were visible to the People as the Priests went about the public rituals of Temple worship. The Ark, however, was hidden from sight, even though it contained the most holy of items, the tablets of law (which I’ve previously described as the Jewish People’s “mission statement”). Only the High Priest approached the Ark, and only on Yom Kippur. It remained hidden and invisible to all others. What is the connection between public/private and singular/plural?

One traditional commentary suggests that “They” means the entire Jewish People, to suggest that Torah is something in which every member of the People must take part, as opposed to the ritual tools, which were created and used by individuals.

In our modern world, our congregations are often decorated with stained glass and handsome ornaments to beautify our public, sacred spaces. Like the talented individual craftsmen of the Bible, the sanctuaries and ritual items we use today have been created by inspired individual artists. Inside the modern sanctuary, however, there remains an unseen core: our mission of fostering the teachings of our tradition and the mandate to work for a better world. This is an unseen task which we must do together. It’s a “third person plural” responsibility.

Rules and a Social Contract

Mishpatim

Exodus 21:1 - 24:18

Précis: Having received, in the previous parasha, the Ten Commandments, Moses now reveals ordinances (“mishpatim”) needed to flesh out the legal system. The first group relates to the rights of slaves, followed by rules about murder, crimes against parents, personal injury law, offenses against property, and bailment. A list of moral offenses follows, including seduction, witchcraft, sexual perversion, polytheism, and oppression of the “widow, the orphan, and the stranger among you.” The parasha includes the command to observe a sabbatical year, the Shabbat, and then lists the requirements for the observance of the pilgrimage festivals (Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot). The command not to boil a kid in its mothers’ milk is included, and at the conclusion of the parasha, we find a ceremony where the People, represented by Moses and 70 elders, have an encounter with the Divine Presence and accept the laws and the Covenant.

Exodus 21:1 “Now these are the rules you shall set before them…”

One 9th grade student in a class I teach at a community midrasha asked a really important question: why is it that sometimes in Torah, lots of action takes place in only a few sentences (e.g., the beginning of the Book of Shemot, where within three short chapters the Jews are enslaved, Moses is born, kills the Egyptian guard, flees to the desert, and confronts the burning bush). On the other hand, we have the extended story of Joseph which goes on for parasha after parasha. I confessed that I did not have an answer for him, but I was proud of his insightful question.


Speaking of narrative, this week’s parasha provides a significant and stark literary style change, since we leave the narratives of Genesis and the first part of Exodus and focus on “law.” Narrative will hereafter be occasional. While Torah is much more than a “legal code,” law and its impact on society become the central focuses of subsequent Biblical (and then rabbinic) Judaism.

One key element of the Jewish concept of law in society is that justice is impartially administered: one law applies to everyone (including the "stranger in your midst"). A second theme is that justice needs to be tempered with compassion and mercy.

The lengthy list of commands in this parasha suggests that injustice results when society loses its balance, when the “social contract” that binds the society together is ignored, be it between employer and employee, debtor and lender, or between king and subject. We are to pay particular attention to the welfare of the weakest members of society: the widow and orphan or the stranger. As Ibn Ezra teaches, "The essential principle is that no one shall compel by violence one who is less powerful.”

POLITICAL SPOILER ALERT: In this election year of 2012, we have already witnessed a political debate focused on blame, attacks on personality, and the “gotcha” game of one-upping the opposition. Lies, exaggeration, and deception seem to have replaced much substantive debate. The GOP debates and President Obama's State of the Union portend a potential debate about the future of the American social contract. Will the 75 year old traditions of “liberalism” which have given us Social Security, Medicare, equal rights under the law regardless of age, race, or gender be replaced, and if so, by what?

I suggest that this week’s parasha gives us an important focus on how this upcoming debate should be measured. Will one law apply impartially to all, or will certain segments of society enjoy a favored status? How can we best maintain a just society, with compassion for even the least among us?

Like the student I mentioned at the outset, I don't know the answer, but at least I know the question.