5782 Terumah
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Exodus 25:1-27:19
- God asks the Children of Israel to donate gifts (t'rumah) for the building of the Tabernacle so that God may "dwell among them." (25:1-9)
- Instructions for the construction of the Ark, table, and menorah are provided. (25:10-40)
- Detailed directions are given on how to build the Tabernacle. (26:1-27:19)
We read about Moshe up on הַר סִינַי (Har Sinai, Mount Sinai) last week in Mishpatim, and the big Ten Commandments scene was just before that in Yitro. This week and next, we hear the plans for building the mishkan.But two weeks from now, in Ki Tissa, we will read about חֵטְא הָעֵגֶל (heit ha-eigel), when Benei Yisrael are impatient waiting for Moshe to come down from Har Sinai, and they create a golden calf to worship. Moshe comes down the mountain and shatters the לֻחוֹת (luhot, tablets) when he sees this.The story of heit ha-eigel seems to be a continuation of the story of the giving of the Torah. This prompts our פַּרְשָׁנִים (parshanim, commentators) to ask:What actually happened after Benei Yisrael received the Torah?
(א) וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃ (ב) דַּבֵּר֙ אֶל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל וְיִקְחוּ־לִ֖י תְּרוּמָ֑ה מֵאֵ֤ת כׇּל־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 מְאׇדָּמִ֛ים 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 כׇּל־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.
אֵין מוּקְדָּם וּמְאוּחַר בַּתּוֹרָה. מַעֲשֵׂה הָעֵגֶל קוֹדֵם לַצִּוּוּי מְלֶאכֶת הַמִּשְׁכָּן יָמִים רַבִּים הָיָה...
The Torah is not always written in the order of how things happened. The story of the golden calf happened a long time before the command to make the mishkan.
... וְאָמַר לְכֻלָּם עִנְיַן הַמִּשְׁכָּן אֲשֶׁר נִצְטַוָּה בּוֹ מִתְּחִלָּה, קֹדֶם שִׁבּוּר הַלּוּחוֹת...
...Moshe told all of them about the mishkan, which had been commanded before the story of the breaking of the tablets...
God creates the cure before the disease (Megillah 13b).
לִשְׁכֹּן lishkon (שֹׁרֶשׁ ש.כ.נ)
To dwell, to be housed
מִשְׁכָּן (mishkan) = The temporary home for God that Benei Yisrael built in the desert
שָׁכֵן (shakhein) = Neighbor
שְׁכוּנָה (shekhunah) =Neighborhood
שְׁכִינָה (Shekhinah) = God’s presence
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
This would prove to be the turning point in Jewish history. Until that moment the Israelites had been recipients of God’s miracles and deliverances. He had taken them from slavery to freedom and performed miracles for them. There was only one thing God had not yet done, namely, give the Israelites the chance of giving back something to God. The very idea sounds absurd. How can we, God’s creations, give back to the God who made us?...At the heart of the idea of the Sanctuary is what Lewis Hyde beautifully described as the labour of gratitude. His classic study, The Gift,[2] looks at the role of the giving and receiving of gifts, for example, at critical moments of transition.
https://www.rabbisacks.org/covenant-conversation/terumah/the-labour-of-gratitude/
This would prove to be the turning point in Jewish history. Until that moment the Israelites had been recipients of God’s miracles and deliverances. He had taken them from slavery to freedom and performed miracles for them. There was only one thing God had not yet done, namely, give the Israelites the chance of giving back something to God. The very idea sounds absurd. How can we, God’s creations, give back to the God who made us?...At the heart of the idea of the Sanctuary is what Lewis Hyde beautifully described as the labour of gratitude. His classic study, The Gift,[2] looks at the role of the giving and receiving of gifts, for example, at critical moments of transition.
https://www.rabbisacks.org/covenant-conversation/terumah/the-labour-of-gratitude/
R. Umberto Cassuto (20th cent.)
In order to understand the significance and purpose of the Tabernacle, we must realize that the children of Israel, after they had been privileged to witness the Revelation of God on Mount Sinai, were about to journey from there and thus draw away from the site of the theophany. So long as they were encamped in the place, they were conscious of God's nearness; but once they set out on their journey, it seemed to them as though the link had been broken, unless there were in their midst a tangible symbol of God's presence among them. It was the function of the Tabernacle (literally, 'Dwelling') to serve as such a symbol. Not without reason, therefore, does this section come immediately after the section that describes the making of the Covenant at Mount Sinai. The nexus between Israel and the Tabernacle is a perpetual extension of the bond that was forged at Sinai between the people and their God. The children of Israel, dwelling in tribal order at every encampment, are able to see, from every side, the Tabernacle standing in the midst of the camp, and the visible presence of the Sanctuary proves to them that just as the glory of God dwelt on Mount Sinai, so too God dwells in their midst wherever they wander in the wilderness. This is the purpose of Scripture (25:8), when it states: 'And let them make Me a Sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst.'
In order to understand the significance and purpose of the Tabernacle, we must realize that the children of Israel, after they had been privileged to witness the Revelation of God on Mount Sinai, were about to journey from there and thus draw away from the site of the theophany. So long as they were encamped in the place, they were conscious of God's nearness; but once they set out on their journey, it seemed to them as though the link had been broken, unless there were in their midst a tangible symbol of God's presence among them. It was the function of the Tabernacle (literally, 'Dwelling') to serve as such a symbol. Not without reason, therefore, does this section come immediately after the section that describes the making of the Covenant at Mount Sinai. The nexus between Israel and the Tabernacle is a perpetual extension of the bond that was forged at Sinai between the people and their God. The children of Israel, dwelling in tribal order at every encampment, are able to see, from every side, the Tabernacle standing in the midst of the camp, and the visible presence of the Sanctuary proves to them that just as the glory of God dwelt on Mount Sinai, so too God dwells in their midst wherever they wander in the wilderness. This is the purpose of Scripture (25:8), when it states: 'And let them make Me a Sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst.'