The awe, and the trembling and the fire are over in this week’s Torah reading, Teruma (meaning gifts to the sanctuary). The reading, and much of the rest of Exodus are instructions for building a portable tent/sanctuary to take G8d with them. This sanctuary would be made together, from Divine design, from donations given from the hearts of those who were moved and inspired. As I was preparing for this post, I re-read a story I had told from awhile back that moved me and meant something different this time. It’s about a young man in search of G8d, who leaves his parents upon hearing of a wonderful Rebbe to journey and learn the secrets of finding G8d. When he arrives at the Rebbe’s house, the kindly Rebbe tells him “Dovid, you’re not ready yet. First built a house to live in, then return and we shall talk further” He tells his story, makes friends, and together they help him build a house. But, of course, when Dovid returns the wise teacher has another task: get yourself a job, and then another and another. After awhile, Dovid has a new life with friends, a new family, a career. With his advice, Dovid finds G8d, not in the starry heavens, but in the loving, supportive network of the relationships in his life – the sum total of them is sublime and Divine. Don’t get me wrong, G8d is both immanent and transcendent: in the starry heavens as well as in the loving bonds between friends and family and the earth and G8d.
The verse in Terumah that is so inspiring is God’s command to the Israelites: Build me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. It doesn’t say “that I may dwell in it”, rather “in them” The human heart is one place G8d can dwell, or in the relationships among members of the families and communities. But what occurred to me for the first time, is that our lives can be a mishkan, a sanctuary through time: The years of our lives can be the mishkan ! If we are open to letting G8d in, open to the hearts and faces of the people we encounter our very lives can be a holy space. What do you think – How can we accomplish this?
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