Torah Portion - February 7, 2008

Parashat Trumah

Exodus 25:1–27:19
 

Make Me a Sanctuary so That I May Dwell Among You

  This week’s Torah portion, Parshat Trumah, comes at an auspicious time for Beth Or.  We are reading a section of Torah that provides detailed instructions for building the mishkan, that portable sanctuary in which the Israelites worshipped as they journeyed through the wilderness. It is as if God’s very Self dwells in the holy ark that they build.

 God instructs Moses to tell the people:

…have them make Me a sanctuary so that I may dwell among them. Exactly as I show you—the pattern of the Tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings—so shall you make it. (Exodus 25:8–9)

  Often, this phrase is used as the motto of a synagogue, or inscribed on the cornerstone when a new temple is built. And yet, if we read the as text closely as Torah commentators do, we note that this verse reads “so that I may dwell among them” rather than “dwell in it.”  In other words, despite the text’s meticulous attention to the details of building the sanctuary, God does not dwell there. Indeed, God has never dwelt in any kind of structure, or at any particular place. Yes, the biblical God wants the people to build a sanctuary. But God makes it equally clear that God dwells among the people. .

 Previously in the Torah text, individuals who had one on one encounters with the Holy One did so in natural settings. Our ancestors prayed in fields, or experienced miracles near bodies of water, or from within a burning bush, or atop a mountain.  After Moses’ awe-inspiring encounter at Mount Sinai, however, everyone’s experience of the Divine was permanently altered. They were instructed by God not just to believe but to do; not just to be in reality as it was, but to change physical space by building the mishkan. .

 Of course, God never actually dwelled in the mishkan, or in any particular place. Perhaps the spiritual limitations of our ancestors rendered them incapable of such abstract an understanding as an imperceptible, ubiquitous God that did not dwell in any particular spot on earth. That is why they are instructed to build the mishkan;   to symbolize to people who needed tangible evidence, that God’s presence was indeed everywhere.  

  Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch suggests that the sanctuary was therefore never seen as merely a structure, but as a physical symbol of the covenantal relationship between people and God.  

  Today, we know that a place of worship is not the only place to encounter God. For some, it is not even the best place for a Divine encounter. Here at Beth Or, our primary hope is that our temple be a place to experience the comfort and joy in community. Our holy ark, home of the actual Torah text as well as a reminder of the mishkan that was built in the desert reminds us that the awesome Presence.

 Most of us have other “sanctuaries” where we personally experience holiness. The arts, the natural world, the spiritual disciplines of yoga or meditation or Tai Chi, and many other places and experiences can bring about a sense of the divine. Yet those of us who also choose to belong here understand that we also require our communal sanctuary—not so much the place, as the experience that God dwells among us when we gather for a holy purpose.

 This week, the community will be gathering to discuss the future direction of Beth Or. It is, in a sense, like building the mishkan. It is holy work, and if it is done with the care that our ancestors took in parshat Teruma, then no doubt the Divine Presence will dwell among us.