D'rash - parashat Terumah

Exodus 26:31-27:19 (triennial)

Terumah begins the exciting portion where G*d describes the mishkan, or tent of meeting, and all the rules and rituals that we no longer follow, in excruciating detail. This triennial describes the curtains, the altar and the outer courtyard. There’s lot of yarn, linen, copper, silver, acacia wood and implements for animal sacrifices. It is said the tent was used for 440 years before Solomon’s temple replaced it as the dwelling-place of G*d.

Today, we reference some of these things, such as the menorah, but we use candles instead of oil.  The ark holds scrolls rather than tablets, the Ner Tamid is electric, the curtain is blue velvet not purple yarn, we have lions instead of cherubs.  There is no alter or courtyard or Holy of Holies, and thankfully nothing is gilded. Because our methods of worship have changed, it is easy to write this portion off as irrelevant, or at least archaic. 

Rabbi JoEllen, at the 2014 shabbaton, was the first to teach me about PaRDeS, an acronym for the four levels of interpretation:

• Peshat – "surface" or literal meaning
• Remez – "hints" or symbolic meaning
• Derash – the comparative meaning
• And Sod – "secret"  or mystical meaning

So if we move past Peshat and look at the text from a symbolic viewpoint, we can start with the word “Terumah.” which is interpreted as “gifts.”  The first line is “The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Tell the Israelite people to bring Me gifts; you shall accept gifts for Me from every person whose heart so moves him.”

Terumah is a negotiation, a contract. In last week’s portion, Mishpatim, G*d has made promises to drive out Israel’s enemies and give them their land, to remove sickness and make them fruitful. In Terumah, G*d sets out what He wants in return. It was not just money but also labour and skill, worship and fealty. This was a covenant for all generations.

So these symbols we surround ourselves with aren’t to remind us of the specifics of the Tent of Meeting, but our Covenant with G*d, and that it is a two-way street.  We ask for blessings, protection, guidance and peace, and in exchange G*d wants our faith, our time, our talents (and a little bit of our money). He asks us to be moral, to not follow our base instincts, to help others.  Of course, we could do all of this without G*d, but it’s much easier as part of a community, and reminded by everything around us.

[From wikipedia]

Two thousand years ago, Josephus interpreted the Tabernacle and its furnishings to represent the universe. He saw the Tabernacle's two parts accessible to the priests (the Holy and the Courtyard) to denote the land and the sea, the third part (the Holy of Holies) to represent heaven, inaccessible to people. He saw the veils as the four elements: the linen represented earth, purple the sea, blue for the air; and scarlet for fire.

Moving into Derash -- which is related to the word “midrash” -- we compare this portion to other portions.  In the most famous example, the rabbis compared this section of Exodus to Genesis 2: After G*d created the universe, he ceased from working.  In two weeks time, in Ki Tisa, the last instructions for the Tabernacle are immediately followed by a reminder about the importance of the Shabbat. Moreover, the same word -- melakha -- is used in both portions.  It is usually translated as “work” but can also refer to "workmanship", which is defined as “the skill with which something was made or done.” In other words, this work of man was equivalent to God’s work of creation, and thus was what was forbidden on Shabbat.  The rabbis then compiled the 39 melachot which is the basis for Orthodox shabbat.

As for the secret or hidden meaning, if we believe the Torah is of divine origin, that it comes from the infinite and we have to grasp it with our finite brains, then of course there will be hidden details.  If we believe it was written by man, and has been translated and changed throughout the generations, then of course things have been lost or reinterpreted. As the Pirkei Avot says of Torah, “Turn it and turn it again, for all is in it; see through it; grow old and worn in it.”  Each of you can turn this portion and find a different meaning, and I encourage you to do so.

One last interpretation, this one from the website Simchat Torah Beit Midrash: “Terumah teaches us the importance of giving. You may not be building a tabernacle, but you are building a family, a community, a business, relationships.  You always have something to contribute, and you should never underestimate the importance and power of the gift that you have to offer. At the same time, it is just as important to recognize that every person around you has something to offer, too.  Never underestimate the importance of every single person in your life.”

Today’s portion belongs to both Sam and my daughter, Lilly.  She would have read it but, as many of you know, last week she left for Israel. Over the next ten months, she will be making personal connections to all these things we talk about. When she returns, Torah will no longer be just words and stories, but sights, sounds, smells, experiences and memories. It is an amazing opportunity, and I want to thank the community who, directly and indirectly, made it possible through their own gifts.  You have all played a part in who she has become, and you have collectively done a fantastic job. From the bottom of my heart, thank you, and shabbat shalom.