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Share(א) וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר ה' אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃ (ב) דַּבֵּר֙ אֶל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל וְיִקְחוּ־לִ֖י תְּרוּמָ֑ה מֵאֵ֤ת כָּל־אִישׁ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר יִדְּבֶ֣נּוּ לִבּ֔וֹ תִּקְח֖וּ אֶת־תְּרוּמָתִֽי׃ (ג) וְזֹאת֙ הַתְּרוּמָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר תִּקְח֖וּ מֵאִתָּ֑ם זָהָ֥ב וָכֶ֖סֶף וּנְחֹֽשֶׁת׃ (ד) וּתְכֵ֧לֶת וְאַרְגָּמָ֛ן וְתוֹלַ֥עַת שָׁנִ֖י וְשֵׁ֥שׁ וְעִזִּֽים׃ (ה) וְעֹרֹ֨ת אֵילִ֧ם מְאָדָּמִ֛ים וְעֹרֹ֥ת תְּחָשִׁ֖ים וַעֲצֵ֥י שִׁטִּֽים׃ (ו) שֶׁ֖מֶן לַמָּאֹ֑ר בְּשָׂמִים֙ לְשֶׁ֣מֶן הַמִּשְׁחָ֔ה וְלִקְטֹ֖רֶת הַסַּמִּֽים׃ (ז) אַבְנֵי־שֹׁ֕הַם וְאַבְנֵ֖י מִלֻּאִ֑ים לָאֵפֹ֖ד וְלַחֹֽשֶׁן׃ (ח) וְעָ֥שׂוּ לִ֖י מִקְדָּ֑שׁ וְשָׁכַנְתִּ֖י בְּתוֹכָֽם׃ (ט) כְּכֹ֗ל אֲשֶׁ֤ר אֲנִי֙ מַרְאֶ֣ה אוֹתְךָ֔ אֵ֚ת תַּבְנִ֣ית הַמִּשְׁכָּ֔ן וְאֵ֖ת תַּבְנִ֣ית כָּל־כֵּלָ֑יו וְכֵ֖ן תַּעֲשֽׂוּ׃ (ס)
(1) The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: (2) Tell the Israelite people to bring Me gifts; you shall accept gifts for Me from every person whose heart so moves him. (3) And these are the gifts that you shall accept from them: gold, silver, and copper; (4) blue, purple, and crimson yarns, fine linen, goats’ hair; (5) tanned ram skins, dolphin skins, and acacia wood; (6) oil for lighting, spices for the anointing oil and for the aromatic incense; (7) lapis lazuli and other stones for setting, for the ephod and for the breastpiece. (8) And let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. (9) Exactly as I show you—the pattern of the Tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings—so shall you make it.
Why did [God] command the erection of the tabernacle, when [God] said "that I may dwell among them," as if God were an object demarcated and limited in space — which is the opposite of the truth!... After all, God himself spoke these words through the prophet Isaiah (66:1): "The heavens are my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what kind of house can you build for me?"
Rabbi Louis Ginzberg was a Talmudist and leading figure in the Conservative Movement of Judaism of the twentieth century.
God was indeed anxious to have a sanctuary erected to Him, it was the condition on which he led them out of Egypt, yea, in a certain sense the existence of all the world depended on the construction of the sanctuary, for when the sanctuary had been erected, the world stood firmly founded, whereas until then it had always been swaying hither and thither. Hence the tabernacle in its separate parts also corresponded to the creations of the six days. The two tablets in the ark corresponded to the heavens and the earth, that had been created on the first day. As the firmament had been created on the second day to divide the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above, so there was a curtain in the tabernacle to divide between the holy and the most holy. As God created the great sea on the third day, so did he appoint the laver in the sanctuary to symbolize it, and as he had on that day destined the plant kingdom as nourishment for men, so did he now require a table with bread in the tabernacle. The candlestick in the tabernacle corresponded to the two luminous bodies, the sun and the moon, created on the fourth day; and of the seven branches of the candlestick corresponded to the seven planets, the sun, Venus, Mercury, the moon, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars. Corresponding to the birds created on the fifth day, the tabernacle contained the cherubim, that had wings like birds. On the sixth, the last day of creation man had been created in the image of God to glorify his creator, and likewise was the high priest anointed to minister in the tabernacle before his Lord and creator.
The one in which you are reading these words
Is at the center of concentric worlds.
They are each bigger than this place.
They are higher.
Holier and more real than this world.
Shabbos is more real than Wednesday.
Jerusalem is more real than Chicago.
The sukkah is more real than a garage.
Tzedakah is more real than income tax.
Holy is more real than profane.
Standing closer to the Holy One is more real than being far from God.
But they are also smaller than this ordinary world.
For they are within it.
- Rabbi Lawrence Kushner
(ה) כְּשֶׁבּוֹנִין בֵּית הַכְּנֶסֶת, צְרִיכִין לְהוֹרָאוֹת תַּלְמִיד חָכָם, אֵיךְ וּבְאֵיזֶה עִנְיָן לִבְנוֹתוֹ.
(5) When building a synagogue it is necessary to consult a Torah scholar to determine how it should be constructed.
(ב) אין בונין ב"ה אלא בגבהה של עיר ומגביהין אותו עד שיהיה גבוה מכל בתי העיר שמשתמשים בהם לאפוקי בירניות
(2) We do not build a synagogue except on the heights of the city, and we raise it until it is above all the buildings, including “bairnios” [=ornamental structures].
רמי בר אבא הוה קא בני בי כנישתא הוה ההיא כנישתא עתיקא הוה בעי למיסתריה ולאתויי ליבני וכשורי מינה ועיולי להתם יתיב וקא מיבעיא ליה הא דרב חסדא דאמר רב חסדא לא ליסתור בי כנישתא עד דבני בי כנישתא אחריתי התם משום פשיעותא כי האי גוונא מאי אתא לקמיה דרב פפא ואסר ליה לקמיה דרב הונא ואסר ליה אמר רבא האי בי כנישתא חלופה וזבונה שרי אוגורה ומשכונה אסור מאי טעמא בקדושתה
(ואמר) רב פפי משמיה דר' מבי כנישתא לבי רבנן שרי מבי רבנן לבי כנישתא אסיר ורב פפא משמיה דרבא מתני איפכא
Rami bar Abba was building a synagogue. There was a certain old synagogue he wished to demolish and take bricks and beams from it and reuse them. He sat and considered Rav Ḥisda's [opinion]. As Rav Ḥisda had said, 'One should not demolish a synagogue until one has built another synagogue.'
In that case, it's due to [potential] negligence.* In a case like this, what should we do?
He went to ask Rav Pappa, who prohibited it. Then he went to Rav Huna, who also prohibited it! Rava said, 'For this synagogue, exchanging it or selling it is permitted, [but] renting it or mortgaging it is prohibited.'
Why would that be? Because it remains in its sacred state.**
§ Rav Pappi said in the name of Rava, "[To convert a building] From a synagogue into a beit midrash is permitted, but from a beit midrash into a synagogue is prohibited. But Rav Pappa, in the name of Rava, teaches the opposite!
*Negligence = Perhaps after the first synagogue is demolished, a new one will never be built.
**but would be used for a non-sacred purpose.
(ד) צריך לפתוח פתחים או חלונו' כנגד ירושלים כדי להתפלל כנגדן וטוב שיהיו בב"ה י"ב חלונות:
(ה) לא יתפלל במקום פרוץ כמו בשדה מפני שכשהוא במקום צניעות חלה עליו אימת מלך ולבו נשבר:
(ו) ולא בחורבה מפני חשד ומפני המפולת ומפני המזיקים:
(4) It is necessary to open openings or windows in facing Jerusalem, so as to pray opposite them. And it is recommended for a synagogue to have twelve windows.
(5) One should not pray in an open place, such as a field, for one someone is in an enclosed place, the fear of the king falls upon him and his heart breaks [in prayer].
(6) And [one should] not [pray] in a ruin, because of the fear, because of collapses, and because of the evil spirits.
