Terumah: A New Light Beams Down on Our Holy Space

The Israelites are in the desert. God has started giving them laws to govern their lives, and the oppression of Egypt now seems long gone. It's time to create

a society, and it's time to begin observing rituals. So, the Israelites set about building a worship space, or perhaps more specifically, an altar on which to offer ritual sacrifices to God. The Torah calls it a Mishkan, which is often translated as "Tabernacle" (a super-helpful word that definitely doesn't alienate any English-speaking readers...). In essence, we're talking about a sacred space; an area that is separated from the rest of their encampment, to be used only for communing with God. And how do you make such a space unique? How do you designate it as holy and important? By making it fancy-shmancy, of course! :-)

Our parashah starts by inviting all the Israelites to bring "gold, silver, copper, blue-, purple-, and crimson-yarn, fine linen, goats' hair, tanned ram skins, dolphin skins, acacia wood, oil, spices, aromatic incense... and precious stones for the breastplate" (Ex. 25:3-7). Anything beautiful, valuable, scented, rare, or unique

was collected to spiff up this holy area. Makes sense, doesn't it? Even today, when we want to mark something as important and/or sacred, we beautify it in order to indicate to others that this is valuable to us. I'm telling you all this, because a related verse in this text jumped out at me. Right before that list of precious gifts, the "suggested donations" chart, the Torah states, "you shall accept gifts for Me [God] from every person whose heart so moves him/her" (v. 2). So all of that "stuff" listed above constituted voluntary contributions, not mandated or required ones. These were free-will offerings that came from the heart. Well, right here at Ohev Shalom, we witnessed the fulfillment of this verse in real time.

Last week, we installed a new window in our synagogue building. And not just any window. Our smaller prayer space, the "Sally & Benjamin Balin Chapel," has only one window, and it used to be nothing much
to look at. Now, however, we have a beautiful stained-glass window, depicting a gorgeous tree covered in orange fruits, with a mocking bird hidden among the branches, and words of love and affection interwoven throughout the tree. This window is the definition of a gift from the heart. Naomi and Harvey Spector commissioned this work of art for us in memory of their son, Andrew, who passed away last year. The words - in Hebrew and English - that adorn the tree speak to the myriad ways that Andy improved and enriched the lives of all who knew him.

I love everything about this new window; the symbolism, the inspiration, and just the incredible aesthetics. I especially relish how it embodies the values of our ancient ancestors in THIS week's Torah portion! It is filled with personal meaning

that moved a particular family, but in gifting it to the community, they have allowed all of us to be inspired by the beautiful life of Andrew Spector AND they have elevated the holiness of our prayer space. Back in the Torah portion, right after listing all those items for donation, the Torah expresses a very famous sentiment. God says: "Let them make for Me a Sanctuary, and I will dwell among them" (v. 8). You might have thought that God would say, "make a Sanctuary, and I will dwell... IN IT." Instead, it says "among them," inside the people themselves. Indeed, when we designate something as holy, and pour ourselves into the project with our energy, our resources, our joy, our love, our dedication, and our hearts, holiness doesn't just fill the project itself. It permeates us as well. The new, warm, comforting glow that pours into our Chapel through Andy's window is certainly a testament to that.

May his memory always be for a blessing.


Images in this blog post:
1-3 - Shards of glass that embody Andy's personality, getting ready for assembly
4 - Andrew's Window, completed.