Overview
of the Weekly Reading: Teruma To
be read on 4 Shvat 5766 (March 3-4) Torah:
Exodus 25:1-27:19; Haftorah: Kings I 5:26-6:13 (details of building the
First Temple) Teruma is the 7th Reading out of 11 in Exodus
and 19th overall, and 43rd out of 54 in overall length.
Teruma
primarily concerns the preparations
for building the tabernacle. the Jews were commanded to offer the necessary material
for the tabernacle. Specifications were given for the construction of the ark,
table, showbread, menorah, sacrificial altar, and their accompanying equipment;
the outer and inner curtains, coverings, beams, pillars, and outer encompassing
enclosure of the tabernacle.
FROM
THE MASTERS OF KABBALA (K:1966/Teruma)
From the holy
Zohar, teachings of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai
(Z:1966/Truma)
But an atmosphere of holiness is not like that; it [is acquired] only when
one pays the full price, with much intense effort, purification of one's body
and one's home, and with the will of the heart and the soul. If only [every]one
could earn [the privilege] of having the Holy Blessed One making His dwelling
within him[2]. In this regard it states, "[...have them take Me an offering]
from every man" - from whoever is called "a man" [in Hebrew, "ish"]
- i.e. one who has conquered his inclination to evil.
For
the full article, click to the "Weekly Torah" section on our KabbalaOnline
site. * * * * * From
the holy Ari, Rabbi Yitzchak Luria of Safed
(A:1966/Teruma)
Similarly, when we remove the Torah [scroll]
from the ark [in the synagogue], we are [in effect] removing the Torah, i.e. chochma,
from the ark, i.e. malchut of bina. We then take it to the reader's platform,
i.e. malchut. For
the full article, click to the "Weekly Torah" section on our KabbalaOnline
site. * * * * * From
Rabbi Moshe Alshich (O:1966/Teruma)
A similar concept of man's actions being
matched in celestial spheres, is expressed in Bamidbar Rabba 12:12: We are told
there that when Israel erected the Tabernacle, G-d told the angels to erect a
celestial counterpart. That sanctuary is called the "Tabernacle of the youth
Metatron"; there the souls of the righteous would be offered during the period
Israel is in exile, as atonement for the Jewish nation. For
the full article, click to the "Weekly Torah" section on our KabbalaOnline
site.
FROM
THE CHASSIDIC REBBES (V:1966/Teruma) "They
shall take to Me an offering." (25:2)
Our Sages stated: "Money
is more dear to the righteous than their own bodies." At first glance this
seems wholly inappropriate. How can wealth be so important to a truly righteous
person? However, the Maharam of Lublin explained that only the righteous perceive
the true power of money and the great good that can be done with it. How many
mitzvot can be accomplished, how many poor people fed and Jewish educational institutions
maintained!
(Maayana Shel Torah)
"They shall make
an ark of shittim wood, two-and-a-half cubits its length, one-and-a-half cubits
its breadth, and one-and-a-half cubits its height." (25:10)
The
dimensions of the ark were measured in "halves" to teach us that a Jew
must be humble and "brokenhearted" when learning Torah, as the Talmud
states (Sukka): "Words of Torah endure only in one who makes himself as if
he does not exist."
(Rebbe Moshe Leib of Sasover)
A
MYSTICAL CHASSIDIC DISCOURSE from
the Chabad Master series, produced by Rabbi
Yosef Marcus for www.ascentofsafed.com
and www.kabbalaonline.org
MOSHIACH
THIS WEEK (M:1966/Teruma)
"They should take for me (li) teruma" (Ex. 25:2)
Our sages taught that wherever G-d says "for me", it means that it will
last
forever. It is also written "li" regarding the kingship of
the House of David, the Holy Temple, the altar, the anointing oil, and Teruma.
When Mashiach comes, we will give Teruma in order to build the third Holy Temple. [Adapted
from Discover Moshiach in the Weekly Torah Portion (by Rabbi Berel Bell and the
students of Bais Chaya Mushka Seminary of Montreal), as published on www.mashiach.org]
An
essay from Rabbi Shaul Yosef Leiter, director of Ascent
(for a free weekly email subscription, click
here) (W:1966/Teruma) May
this Torah essay merit the fast and complete recovery of Devorah Gittel bas Baila
This
week's Torah reading is about the commandment to build the Tabernacle, our traveling
Temple and main vehicle for connecting to G-d during the time we were in the desert
(and our first four centuries in Israel). There are three different opinions about
when the commandment to build Tabernacle was given:
1) Zohar (II: 224a):
the commandment (as well as the bringing of the contributions to the Tabernacle)
was immediately after the giving of the Ten Commandments, before the sin of the
Golden Calf (40 days later).
2) Midrash (Tanchuma, Teruma, chapter 8): the
commandment and contributions were at the time of the first Yom Kippur, after
the sin of the Golden Calf, to make it known to all of the nations that we had
been forgiven.
3) Zohar (II:195a): G-d commanded Moses before the Jewish
people sinned with the Golden Calf, but Moses did not give it over until after
Yom Kippur. The Lubavitcher Rebbe explains that each opinion presents us
with a radically different image of the stance of the Jewish nation at the time
of the making of the Tabernacle. According to the first opinion, that the command
was before the sin of the Golden Calf, the Jews were totally righteous, because
the process involved in the escape from Egypt and the giving of the Torah totally
cleansed them from any impurity acquired during their sojourn in Egypt. According
to the second opinion, that it was after Yom Kippur, the Jewish people had atoned
for the sin and were "baalei teshuva", literally "masters
of return"; a baal teshuva is someone who has "tasted the world"
and chosen to return to a greater all-encompassing connection to G-d. The third
opinion, that the giving of the command was before the sin, yet the fulfillment
was after the atonement, means that even during the interim, when the Jews were
in an evil and disgraceful state, the commandment to build a dwelling place for
G-d was in force. Each of these opinions teaches us something unique regarding
our own journey to serve G-d: (1) When a person is on the level of a tzadik,
a totally righteous person (or even someone who simply sees himself well established
in Judaism), it might be presumed that he does not need a Tabernacle, something
to help them serve G-d on this plane. He might assume that one can be divorced
from the physical, involved only in spiritual matters like prayer, contemplation
and Torah study. But think again! The Torah commands, "Make Me a Tabernacle,
so that I can dwell among you." Even a tzadik needs to take the physical
and transform it into a vehicle to serve G-d. (2) On the other hand, a baal
teshuva could think that since the world already tripped him up, it would
be best to disconnect, for some amount of time anyway, throwing oneself totally
into spiritual actions, so as not to fail again. We are told that even a baal
teshuva has to transform the physical into a spiritual environment. In fact,
this makes his return to G-d even more secure and powerful! (3) But what
about the wicked person, someone still grounded in negative behavior. We would
think that certainly he has no place building G-d a sanctuary until after repenting.
For this reason, the third opinion comes to teach us that the command and need
to build a sanctuary was not nullified even at the time of the sin of the Golden
Calf. The obligation and the ability to take the physical and transform it into
something spiritual existed even during the darkest time, before the Jews repented. Is
a person so absolutely distant from G-d still commanded to do the most sublime
divine act, to build a sanctuary for G-d? The answer is that even a Jew enmeshed
in evil, if he or she will turn, even a bit, towards the truth that is accessible
to each of us with just a little effort, G-d helps him or her to complete the
personal transformation.
Shabbat Shalom , Shaul
P.S.
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