Parashat Terumah

I’ve been a baseball fan off and on for most of my life. When my sons started taking more than a passing interest in the game, I began going to Yankee Stadium several times a year for some good father/son bonding, a relaxing night out, and occasionally, an exciting game. I’ve noticed that after the first few innings many people choose to spend more time at the concession stand than in their seats; the intense, drawn out middle innings require much concentration. Everyone enjoys the fireworks of big home runs, daring base running and acrobatic fielding but the intensity of a pitchers dual and a manager driven plan to manufacture runs is often lost on the casual fan. A well played game is a work of art, accessible to those who delve deeper.

Likewise, the interest in the weekly Torah reading, while strong with such diversions as plagues, sea-splitting, open miracles and ironic plot twists, tends to wane in the middle innings as well. The highly detailed instructions on the building and furnishing of the tabernacle (mishkan), and the specifics of the sacrificial rites often leave the casual fan heading for a 7th aliyah stretch.

But, as in baseball, once you are hip to the subtleties, the game unfolds in a calm beauty, and in each corner and behind every shadow lays a door to the inside- an illuminated corridor revealing the majesty of creative energy.

In this hallway things are often not as they first appear. Is this a foreshadowing, a flashback, or are we progressing in an orderly, chronologically accurate fashion?

A careful reading of the text raises many, many questions, and identifying and grappling with these questions brings us one level closer to the playing field.

For example,

Was the commandment to build the mishkan given before or after the tragic events of the Golden Calf? Why is the verse telling us to build it followed immediately by instructions to instead build the Holy Ark (which gets more playing time than any other details of the tabernacle), and why do we need to know all the mishkan’s micro details about intricate measurements, architecture and textile engineering? Can we really derive meaning from minute grammatical inconsistencies? Is the entire mishkan an allegorical reference to creation itself?

Instead of offering any pithy insights this week I dare you to poke around for yourself! Take a casual tour of some major commentators like Rashi, Ramban, Abravanel, Kli Yakar, S.R Hirsch, Nechama Leibowitz. No easy access to Jewish books or source material? Ten or fifteen minutes and an internet connection will give you access to many, many ways to turn the mundane into the magical.

Is it any surprise that the commandment to build the mishkan comes at the same time we welcome in the month of Adar, our most joyous month, calendar home to our festival of physicality, Purim? (actually there are TWO months of Adar this year, Purim is in Adar 2)The verse says, ” They shall build me a sanctuary, and I will dwell IN THEM”- We can indeed have a physical relationship with G-d! In fact, the name of the month, Adar, can be read as A(aleph, the infinite oneness)dar (dwells). During this auspicious month we should strive to connect with the divine spark that is inside each and every one of use. Put the ball in play by learning a little- don’t worry about hitting one out of the park, just get on base. You simply can’t lose…

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Greg

PS

Aren’t you glad I didn’t start this spring training edition of the parasha notes with “In the Big Inning…”