Weekly Shabbat Parsha Thoughts – Terumah – 2.19.2010

A straight forward thought hit me this week when reading over the portion. We end last week with the crucial “we will do and we will try to understand” – as I said last week one of the central beliefs and concepts of Judaism. So then after that we jump into details for building the sanctuary or Mishkan.

Right away the Torah is telling us actions and building the central structure for worship. Now it clearly talks to us about how the action of worship is important. But I have always thought it also tells us an important lesson about community. The first thing we as a people must try to do to live up to our covenant is build an infrastructure that we can use to support our community. Much like our actions come before our understanding, we need infrastructure to create a community. It is something we should think about as we work and build our community. It is part of the formula for building and supporting our people as taught by our Torah. Just a simple thought that stood out to me this week.

Shabbat Shalom

Parshas Terumah Summary from Torah.org

A list of raw materials necessary for building the Mishkan was presented to the Bnai Yisroel: gold, silver, copper, wool dyed sky-blue, dark red, and crimson, linen, goats wool, ram skins, acacia wood, oil, spices, incense, and precious stones. The Ark is described in detail.

The cover of the Ark and the Cherubim are detailed. The weight of the cover alone, without the Cherubim, is between 150 lb. and 2500 lb. of pure gold! The Shulchan - Table and the Showbread are described.

The Menorah and her utensils are described. Her weight was 1 Talent = 3000 Shekels = 150 lb. of pure gold. The basic structure of the Mishkan, consisting of beams, decorative materials and leather coverings, is outlined.

The Paroches- dividing partition separating the Holy of Holies from the rest of the Mishkan is described.

The ramped, copper, Mizbeach is described. The outer enclosure surrounding the entire Mishkan is described.