Terumah: It’s Not What We Make, It’s How We Make It, and What We Do

By Hazzan Jacob Sandler.

I was reading a compilation called “Torah Insights” to find some inspiration for a Thursday Thought. And there were a few different passages on Parashat Terumah and they all ultimately had the same lesson. The short version is: The Mishkan is beautiful, and helps us focus on our worship and service of God. However, God dwells among the people, not the place. And it is our actions that are paramount in inviting God’s presence into our reality.

One of the writers wrote about the coming of the Messiah who will rebuild the Temple. Some believe that Mashiach will come unconditionally. Others believe that the entire Jewish people needs to do some form of repentance. Maimonides reconciles the two saying “I believe with perfect faith in the coming of the Mashiach, and he will only come when the Jewish people repents” – meaning that logically, Maimonides has faith in the Jewish people to bring about the Mashiach. We should all strive to that faith, and we must all be active participants in bring about that miraculous redemption.

The second writer taught about the meaning of holiness. A Mikdash is a holy place – but he writes that it isn’t the place itself which is holy. It is the act of building it, and sanctifying it which makes it holy. We read God’s command, “make me a Mikdash, and I will dwell among them.” God, in His infinity, doesn’t dwell in the finite structures of the Mishkan. Rather by sanctifying our physical space, as we do with time through Shabbat and Holidays, we invite God into our lives. And he goes on to say that when Solomon builds the Temple, God’s presence is dependent on our following the Torah and mitzvot. What we do, what we build, how we act is what ultimately brings holiness into our being.

The third thinker noticed an odd verse about how the Mishkan walls stay standing. “The middle bar across the planks shall extend from end to end” the Torah states. According to Targum Yonatan, this plank was from Abraham’s tent – the quintessentially open and welcoming tent.  The Mishkan contained the Ark of the Covenant and was designed according to Torah. It was used for Divine worship – Avodah. But the middle bar which helped it stand was a symbol of Abraham’s chesed – Gemilut Chasadim – loving kindness is also necessary. “The world stands on three things: Torah, Avodah and Gemilut Chasadim.” Another reminder that it is the kindness we show in our deeds that is key to unlocking God’s presence in our world, alongside study and prayer.

These are three different takes on our parashah, and each one is a call to beautify our world, invite God’s presence into our world, and create a sanctuary – and this requires thoughtful action, deeds of love and kindness, and the strength and faith to take the first step.