Parashat Terumah and Creating Holy Space

Shabbat Shalom. This week’s Torah portion, Parashat Terumah, kicks us off for the next few that will revolve around the building of the Tabernacle, or Mishkan, the establishment of the new rituals that will occur in conjunction with having a formal altar travel among them, and the garments that the priests will wear while they perform said rituals. This week’s Haftarah is similarly about the building of Beit HaMikdash, the Temple under King Solomon.

Inthis parasha, God says, “Make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.” Bereshit Rabbah offers a Midrash that “from the beginning of Creation the Holy One of Blessing desired to have partnership with the beings in the lower realm. When did the Holy One of Blessing solve this? In the setting up of the Mishkan, as it says: ‘And the gifter, on the first day, his offering’ - this is the first of the creation of the world. Said the Holy One of Blessing: ‘it is as if on that day I created My world.’” Of course, from the beginning of Creation, The Holy One of Blessing did have a partnership with the beings of the lower realm. It was’t always a perfect partnership, but God dwelled in the Garden among Adam and Eve. Enoch walked with God. Noah worked with God to save and rebuild the parts of the world deemed worthy during and after the flood. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob held a covenant with God, a covenant that was renewed through Moses, and later through various other kings and priests and prophets during times in which a Mishkan or Mikdash stood and times in which there was no centralized place to commune with God. And to today, again an era without a Tabernacle or Temple, we are able to relate to the Higher Power of our understandings in whatever way we find moving.

But there is also something moving to the idea that God wanted to dwell among us, among our ancestors. Wanted to know there was a home and a place that all Jews understood to be a secure location of the Divine. And for us, too, it can be helpful and comforting to know that there is a place for everything and everything has a place. We have home offices because many people agree that if work needs to be done at home, it’s best accomplished in a designated work space, rather than with the laptop on the couch. So, too, we visit our passed loved ones at their gavestones, though we know that’s not where there souls are, because it feels a more grounded way to communicate with them. We pray in synagogues, though we know that is not the only place to do so, because it feels more comforting to pray together, at set times and in sanctuaries laid out in specific designs meant to mimic the ancient, singular Sanctuaries.

Undeniably, in my experience, when work is able to be accomplished efficiently in a comfortable position, when we are visited at home by the spirits of our loved ones, when we are spontaneously prompted to blessing by the beauty of the world, it is all the more delightful and touching and authentic feeling than when we went to seek it in it’s proper place. But if we sat around waiting for those moments of perfection to fall upon us, we might never experience true accomplishment or achieve weekly spiritual refreshing. Having the proper space and time carved out for us helps us to reach the goals we enter that space to do, better sets us up for success in the time we allot for ourselves for that aim. In the coming weeks, I invite you to be mindful of how the physical construction and design around you affects your attention at any given moment, and how you can better craft your habitations to suit your different needs throughout the day and week. I’m not talking about great remodeling undertakings, but things like limiting excess in a room to reduce possible distractions and keeping organized. Through this mindfulness of space and creating zones designed for specific goals, we can turn any space in the Temple or the Mishkan we need in our lives, allowing for a grounded structure to ensure ourselves a place to commune with that which is outside ourselves. May we create the peace we need in our homes, offices, and synagogues, that it may radiate throughout our lives and follow us wherever we travel. Amen and Shabbat Shalom.