PIVOTAL PLANKS: PARSHAT TERUMAH

Shira Smile Shiur – January 27, 2014/Shevat 25, 5774

Summary by Channie Koplowitz Stein

            In giving instructions for fashioning the beams for the structure of the Mishkan, the Tabernacle, Hashem informs Moshe of the position of the various beams and the materials to be used for their composition. Hashem concludes with, “You shall build the Tabernacle according to this manner, as you will have been shown on the mountain.” Why repeat this last detail when we are already told that Bnei Yisroel did all exactly as Moshe had instructed them according to the command of Hashem?

            Among the multiple approaches to understanding this seemingly irrelevant repetition, Rabbi Gamliel Horowitz, begins our first explanation in Tiv Hatorah. Since Hashem had already told us that He desires a Sanctuary so that He may dwell within us, not only within it (veshochanti betocham), we are to understand that it is not only the physical structure that is to be built according to His will, but also the temple we build within ourselves that must be built according to His will. In other words, as Rabbi Beyfus explains in Yalkut Lekach Tov, your actions dedicated to Hashem’s command should be the model upon which the physical structure is to be built. Rabbi Beyfus explains further through an analogy. If we are expecting an important visitor to our home, we take great pains to ensure that the house is clean and orderly, for we value the opinion our guest will form of us and we want him to feel comfortable. Similarly, Hashem wants to come to reside within us. Therefore, we must make ourselves a comfortable home for His presence, leading our lives according to His will to accommodate His presence within us and within our homes.

            The Slonimer Rebbe, Rabbi Shalom Noach Berezovsky details further how our inner sanctuary mirrors the Sanctuary we built during our sojourn in the desert. That Sanctuary had three distinct areas, the Holy of Holies, the inner chamber, and the outer chamber. Each of these areas corresponds to a major area of human physiology. The Holy of Holies, seat of the Ark and the Tablets of the Law, corresponds to the brain, the mind, and the source of all our thoughts and imagination. As such, our thoughts and intentions in all our interactions must always be directed by Heaven, focusing on what He would want of us. Next, the inner chamber where the Table of Showbread and the Menorah were placed corresponds to the heart, the seat of our desires, hopes and ambitions. These too should be focused toward Hashem. Finally, the outer chamber where the altar for sacrificial animals was located and which always had a fire burning corresponds to the kidneys, the seat of our physical desires and passions.

            Using these correlations, the Netivot Shalom explains the verse in Psalms, “One thing I asked of Hashem … that I dwell in the house of Hashem all the days of my life …” Rabbi Beyfus notes that the way to ensure that we dwell in the house of Hashem is to bring our passions and desires in alignment with Hashem’s desires. Our entire hashkofoh, the orientation of our homes and of our lives, must be a Torah orientation. We’re here to build, to do, and to create that Sanctuary within ourselves so that it reflects the sanctity of the Holy Temple, so that we become a place where Hashem feels comfortable.

            While the beams of the Tabernacle must be inherently infused with holiness, the position of each within the structure must also be maintained, informs us Rabbi Weinberger in Shemen Hatov,  quoting the Talmud Yerushalmi. Each beam was marked with a letter to maintain its position, similar to Tab A fitting into Slot B in a model building kit. If all the beams were fairly similar, what difference would their position make? Letitcha Elyon notes that there is a difference in energy and therefore of kedushah in different positions, and so it was important that each beam maintain its position each time the Tabernacle was dismantled and then rebuilt. Similarly, notes Mishchat Shemen citing the Shlah Hakadosh, a man dons his tallit in the same position each time he wears it, finding the atarah, the decorative band, and placing that end on top.

            The Tiv Hatorah deduces from the ordered structure of the Mishkan that we too must create order in our service to Hashem. We should have a designated place where we daven regularly for, as the Sifsei Chaim points out, the Torah alludes to Yitzchak’s going daily to Be’er Lachai Roee for his afternoon prayers, for this was a place already infused with holiness when an angel appeared there to Hagar. This is where Yitzchak felt a special connection to Hakodosh Boruch Hu and, as Rav Dessler points out, a place from which previous prayers from this place would escort current prayers upward to God’s throne. So too when we designate a particular area as our “prayer nook”, we infuse it with the holiness of our cumulative prayers in this spot.

            Letitcha Elyon cites Rabbi Reuvain Grozovsky a”h, original Rosh Yeshiva of Torah Vodaath, in noting that creating a designated place refers not only to a physical area but also to my place in life, a mental, spiritual and emotional place where one can feel grounded, where the vagaries and vicissitudes of life won’t affect the basic structure. Therefore one will be asked at the end of his life, “Did you designate times for Torah study,” rather than, “Did you study Torah?” As Rabbi Pincus writes in Tiferes Shimshon, we are not always in the mood to learn or to do acts of kindness, but if we designate specific times and places for these activities, these times for  prayer, for learning and for doing acts of chessed become inviolate. Just as the entire world runs on structure or else chaos will result, so too must we invest our lives with structure, adds Rabbi Wolbe in Aleh Shor.

            Rabbi Mordechai Kaminetsky emphasizes this point of orderliness in Step by Step. The entire world was created order out of chaos, and the Torah was the blueprint of creation. Therefore, if we are to try to find our own purpose in the world, we must create structure within our lives. If we have a schedule from which we refuse to deviate, we will always know where we are and what we’re supposed to be doing, and we will retain our sense of purpose.

            While the positioning of the beams was so clearly and fully structured, the sockets into which they were inserted were interchangeable. According to Rabbi Yehudah Klein in Alei Higayon, the 100 sockets represent the 100 blessings we are encouraged to recite daily. These blessings represent our awe of heaven which should be ubiquitous, with no designated and limiting place.

            Further, notes Rabbi Kofman in Mishchat Shemen, the priests rotated their duties in the service in the Beit Hamikdosh. If order was so important, why deviate on this point? Rabbi Kofman suggests that changing the specific duties on a daily basis was a means of dispelling rote performance and maintaining enthusiasm in the service, so that even within strict structure we could maintain an element of spontaneity and eagerness. We must try to recreate our original enthusiasm for each mitzvah on a daily basis.

            We could say that by creating order and structure and by maintaining eagerness for mitzvah performance, we are emulating Hashem and creating a life of meaning. How are we to do this? By not taking life for granted and by feeling the chessed  of Hashem every moment from our Modeh Ani in the morning until we go to sleep with the Shema on our lips Then we become Yehudim, Jews whose very name means gratefulness. And we emulate Hashem by creating order and structure in the edifices of our lives, in the performance of mitzvoth that form the daily fabric of our lives, because we recognize that Hashem is always guarding us, keeping us from harm. But we also know that Hashem’s chessed is constant and ubiquitous, and we can emulate Hashem by also looking for spontaneous and constant opportunities to perform acts of loving kindness.

            Rabbi Mordechai Drucker gives us an interesting insight into these two elements of service to Hashem. Using the observation of the Baal Haturim that the phrase “ata horaita – you have been shown” is used only when Moshe reviews the Sinai experience, an event referred to in our current verse, and here when Moshe instructs Bnei Yisroel in building the Sanctuary, Rabbi Drucker explains that you cannot build a structure of service to Hashem without emunah, without faith. Whether you are building a physical sanctuary of wood and stone or the sanctuary within ourselves, you must be able to share and give of what you have, for Hashem is the One Who gives us everything. When you recognize that truth, you can imbue your life and all your actions with that belief and build a structure of commitment to Hashem that will withstand any threat. That Sanctuary, whether it be an external edifice or within the essence of the human soul, will be a Sanctuary in which Hashem can comfortably reside.