T’rumah
Ex. 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. “T’rumah” (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, a
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. 25:3 “Tell
the Israelite people to bring Me gifts; you shall accept gifts for Me from
every person whose heart so moves him.”
Rabbi Sacks has
written about the Tabernacle from the perspective of the destruction of the
First Temple in Jerusalem (Covenant and Conversation, 2/6/19). He
notes that “It is hard to understand the depth of the
crisis into which the destruction of the First Temple plunged the Jewish
people. Their very existence was predicated on a relationship with God symbolized
by the worship that took place daily in Jerusalem.” Babylon’s conquest in 586 BCE meant that
the Jews lost not only their land and independence, but also, their hope.
This is perhaps best expressed in Psalm 137, where the Jews sang, “By
the waters of Babylon, we sat and wept as we remembered Zion…How can
we sing the songs of the Lord in a strange land?” The answer began to take shape. With the loss
of the Temple, Jews could come together in collective worship. It was during
the Babylonian exile that the tradition of exegesis of the Torah began.
Ezekiel prophesized on
the creation of the synagogue as an institution: “This is what the
sovereign Lord says: although I sent them far away among the nations and
scattered them among the countries, yet I have become to them a small Sanctuary
(Mikdash me’at) in the countries where they have gone” (Ez. 11:16). The Temple had been destroyed, but
a miniature remained.
Historians often ignore the revolutionary nature of the synagogue as an institution. It was an entirely novel form of divine worship, unlike any others previous seen in human experience. But what was the origin of the synagogue? Ironically, here we come full circle to this week’s reading: to the Tabernacle. It was designed to be portable and temporary, as opposed to the stationary and “eternal” Temple. The Tabernacle in our parasha was erected so that God could dwell within the People (Ex. 25:8). In other words, God lives in the human heart, and so the location of the “dwelling place” becomes irrelevant. This would usher in the creation of the synagogue seven centuries later, and the synagogue can be seen as the parallel of the Tabernacle for us today.
Historians often ignore the revolutionary nature of the synagogue as an institution. It was an entirely novel form of divine worship, unlike any others previous seen in human experience. But what was the origin of the synagogue? Ironically, here we come full circle to this week’s reading: to the Tabernacle. It was designed to be portable and temporary, as opposed to the stationary and “eternal” Temple. The Tabernacle in our parasha was erected so that God could dwell within the People (Ex. 25:8). In other words, God lives in the human heart, and so the location of the “dwelling place” becomes irrelevant. This would usher in the creation of the synagogue seven centuries later, and the synagogue can be seen as the parallel of the Tabernacle for us today.
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