Terumah: If You Build It, God Will Come

Where is God? How can I believe in a God I can neither see nor touch? These questions greatly infuriated the Ancient Israelites, so much so that they eventually built a Golden Calf to force the issue; to create a physical image, even though it was strictly prohibited. Even today, many people find this issue aggravating, and it doesn't help that there are so many anthropomorphisms (fancy word for God-taking-on-human/physical-attributes) in the Bible. We hear about the "opening of God's hand" or "God walking in the Garden of Eden" or "God's flaring nostrils" (no, you didn't read that wrong). With so many visual images of God, is it any wonder that we expect to feel God's Presence, or that we want to see a physical depiction of God?

This week's Torah reading, Terumah, contains one of my favorite verses in the Bible, but it is also a line that contributes to the notion of God taking on human form... or maybe not. We are now entering the final section of the Book of Exodus, and the focus of the Torah shifts to the building of the Tabernacle, the portable sanctuary the Israelites built in the desert, aka the Mishkan. As God is about to begin laying out the blueprints for the construction project, God says to Moses, "Let them make for Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them" (Ex. 25:8).

You can't necessarily tell in the English, but there is a grammatical error in this verse. It should

really have said, "Let them make for Me a sanctuary that I may dwell IN IT." But it doesn't say that. Instead, it says that God will dwell "among them," i.e. among the people. At first glance, this looks like yet another anthropomorphism: God is looking for a home to "live" in. God's getting tired of wandering in the desert, and needs a place to relax, get out of the sun, kick off the sandals, and maybe snooze for a bit. A somewhat ridiculous image, I'll admit. Which is precisely why the verse does NOT say, "I will dwell in it." God doesn't need a home, because God is everywhere. So what is the purpose of the Mishkan?

God knows that human beings need physical objects (Exhibit A: The Golden Calf). We are too focused on an "I'll believe it when I see it" mentality, and it's hard for us to accept a God that is invisible and silent, yet constantly all around us. Although, sometimes we're ok with it. When it's purely academic, or when life is good and we have no complaints, we either don't care, or we're fine with an intangible God. But when tragedy strikes, or when we desperately need help and support, it sure would make us feel better to have something physical to lean on, or someone to yell and scream at.

And that is precisely what I love about this verse. When we build the Tabernacle, or when any of

us today build a space for God in our own lives, God will "dwell" among us. The great Chasidic master, Menachem Mendl of Kotsk, once asked his students where God was, and they answered that "the whole earth is filled with God's Glory!" "No," said Menachem Mendl. "God dwells wherever we let God in." God doesn't "need" a home. But if we want to feel God's Presence, it is up to us to build that space; to take the time, energy, and effort to bring God into our lives.

Photos in this blog post:

1. Image courtesy of Debbie Scott

2. CC image courtesy of goatling on Flickr

3. CC image courtesy of Lauren Murphy on Flickr

4. CC image courtesy of recubejim on Flickr

5. CC image courtesy of Martin Pettitt on Flickr