Terumah: How We Should Construct Ourselves

Last week, we started a new phase in the Biblical narrative, where the stories about people's lives start taking a back seat, and we focus our attention instead on laws, instructions, and guidelines. Even though we will still hear quite a bit more about the Exodus, our interest has primarily shifted elsewhere. And this week, we begin to learn about the construction of the Tabernacle; the portable proto-Temple that the Israelites carried around with them for 40 years in the desert.

So for those of us who aren't standing with our tool belts and power-saws at the ready, not particularly interested in building a new Tabernacle (or a new Temple for that matter...), what can we learn from this section? Is there a message hidden somewhere inside the Tabernacle's building blocks, waiting for us to discover it? Why yes, I believe there is!

One of the things we read about is how many of the Tabernacle's components were made out of pure gold; taken from Egypt when the Israelites broke free from captivity. But one interesting thing to note is that several of the most important objects - including the Ark which housed the Ten Commandments, the poles which carried the Ark, and the central table inside the Tabernacle - were all made of acacia (pronounced a-KAY-shuh) wood, and only COVERED with gold. Other, less important, objects were made of solid gold, but the most important things had wood inside, and only a thin layer of gold on top. Why is that?

The gold was an impressive and flashy material, but it was also cold and hard. Wood, meanwhile, comes from a living thing; it represents humility and simplicity, but isn't necessarily as impressive to look at. By having parts of the Tabernacle fuse the two elements together, the Torah is teaching us about life. Indeed, God is telling us something about how we should construct ourselves.

There can be objects and possessions in our lives which are expensive and glitzy. But they may also be cold, devoid of internal, deeper meaning. We ourselves, and the way we live our lives, must have a core that focuses on humility and preserving life. Yet I will also say that this isn't meant as a diatribe against materialism; after all, much of the Tabernacle WAS made out of gold! Caring about our outward appearance is valuable too. The rabbis emphasize something called “Hiddur Mitzvah,” beautifying our commandments, and taking pride in making them as impressive and awe-inspiring as possible. Aesthetics and wealth are not inherently false pursuits, but they must also hold a deeper meaning behind them. Are we also caring about our fellow human beings, and using our abilities to improve the world??

The Torah is encouraging us to look inside ourselves, and to ask the tough question, "What am I made of?" As we look ahead to the festival of Purim, and we prepare to put on masks and costumes, take a second to think about the person hiding underneath that mask. Judaism isn't just about the observance of holidays, or the building of sacred buildings, it also cares about who we are as people - like the Tabernacle - both inside and out.