Terumah: Creating Space for G‑d
Dear readers,
G‑d orders a house. Not just any house; a very specific house.
Construction begins. Fifteen different materials are needed. The building crew gets to work melting, soldering, sculpting, carving, weaving and dyeing.
The house needs to be functional, but also collapsible, transportable and easy to put back together.
Sounds pretty complicated to me.
Factor in a vast dry desert, no Google, and the year 2448 (1313 BCE), and I’d classify the task as formidable at best.
But they did it. And it only took a few months of hard, diligent and inspired labor.
How did they pull it off? G‑d gave them the tools and wisdom they needed. He knew what He wanted from them, and they knew it too. It shouldn’t have been possible, but it was.
Three thousand years later, we are not privy to direct commands from G‑d. But we have a pretty good idea what he wants of us: To make this world a better place through the lives we live.
Do we have the tools?
We sure do: Studying Torah and living the commandments.
And a pretty good access point to those tools is chabad.org . . .
Miriam Szokovski,
on behalf of the Chabad.org Editorial Team
Fifteen materials—including gold, silver, copper, wood, wool, animal skins and gemstones—are forged into a “dwelling for G‑d.”
I’m not a historian, I am not an architect, and I do not find myself interested in exactly how each fiber of linen was sewn. What can I learn from these teachings?
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?
Through faith, dedication, devotion and love, a person can go beyond his or her ordinary level, making a step which might be exceptional.
the universe is shaped by six mathematical constants which, had they varied by a millionth or trillionth degree, would have resulted in no universe or at least no life.
Why should joy be just a tool, a means to an end? It’s a good thing in its own right, a better way to be. And it’s not that difficult to achieve.
For a joyful person, the toughest tasks are a cinch, the strongest adversaries easily vanquished . . .
What does chewy bread with a hole in the middle have to do with being Jewish? And with Jewish breakfast in particular?
“I emphasized several times that 3:45 does not mean 3:50, or even 3:46. I was not interested in approximations.”
What’s the point of praying from a prayerbook? Why do we pray in Hebrew? Is it better to pray in shul? Learn how to infuse your prayers with real emotion and meaning.
Because synagogues in the Diaspora are considered “miniature sanctuaries,” some of the physical characteristics of the Holy Temple are to be incorporated into their design . . .
He’s a day shy of his thirteenth birthday. He’s been avoiding physical affection for a year now, but it doesn’t get easier for this momma, who just wants to hug and kiss her little boy.
Does the partitioning of household waste in an elaborate classification system have implications for our spiritual lives?
When he entered the Maggid’s room, he was immediately struck by the Maggid’s holy appearance . . .
The Tabernacle was to be built by every man, woman and child. Even a Jew who may appear to be a sinner is still obligated and capable of building a dwelling for G‑d.
There were others who traveled to space, but no one ever carried anything like his kind of baggage. You could say that he took an entire people—3400 years of history included—to the heavens.
"The wax is the body, and the wick the soul. Ignite the soul with the fire of Torah and a person will then fulfill the purpose for which he or she was created. And that is what I try to do -- to ignite the soul of our people with the fire of Torah."
"My candle," I asked, "has the Rebbe lit it?"
"I have given you the match," he said. "Only you can light your candle."
In the beginning, a world of twos was created.
Heaven and Earth. Body and soul. Good and evil. Life and death. Light and darkness.
Those who chose Heaven abandoned the earth. Those who chose the body abandoned the soul. Those who chose evil destroyed life.
Those who chose good believed it would only come with death....
