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.