Weekly Parsha

Refuah Sheimah: "May it be Your will, LORD my G-d, and the G-d of my forefathers, that You quickly send refuah sh'lemah (complete healing) from heaven, spiritual healing and physical healing to Aryeh ben Leah and Esther bat Simcha.

Continue praying for: Teddy Welz, Miriam (Mariana) "bat Zulay", Adina (Heidi) "bat Sarah" e Yosefa (Josie) "bat Sharon", Rafael ben Gladis e Esther Bracha "bat Sarah".

Terumah

Exodus 25:1 - 27:19

The word Terumah (תְּרוּמָה‎) is a Hebrew word that means "gift" or "offering".It is also the name of a Torah portion that appears in Exodus 25:1–27:19. 

This week's Torah reading is an architect's or interior designer's dream portion. It begins with the Almighty commanding Moses to tell the Jewish people to donate the materials necessary for the construction of the Mishkan, the portable sanctuary.

The Torah continues with the details for constructing the Ark, the Table, the Menorah, the Tabernacle (the central area of worship containing the Ark, the Menorah, the Incense Altar, and the Table), the Beams composing the walls of the Tabernacle, the Cloth partition (separating the Holy of Holies where the Ark rested from the remaining Sanctuary part of the Tabernacle), the Altar and the Enclosure for the Tabernacle (surrounding curtains forming a rectangle within which was approximately 15x larger than the Tabernacle).

The Torah states regarding the portable Sanctuary that traveled with the Israelites during the 40 years in the desert:

You shall place the Table outside the Partition, and the Menorah opposite the Table on the south side of the Tabernacle, and the Table you shall place on the north side (Exodus 26:35).

It would have been much more concise to say, "Place the Table outside the partition on the north side." What lesson for life is the Torah coming to teach us from the placement of these furnishings?

The Table and the Menorah represent two aspects of life. The Table and the Showbread (which rested on it) represent the physical aspect of life, the food we need for survival; the Menorah represents the spiritual aspect.

When life begins, the infant knows only his physical needs and their gratification. The juvenile mind cannot conceptualize or understand spirituality. We thus begin life with our physical and material drives being dominant. When one reaches the age of reason, the spiritual aspects of life sets in, and should achieve primacy. The physical needs should eventually become subordinate to the spiritual. Inasmuch as one cannot achieve spiritual goals unless one is physically healthy, one must provide the body with all its essential needs. However, this should not be as in childhood, when satisfying one's hunger or resting to overcome weariness were dominant.

This is why the Torah goes out of its way to describe the placement of the Table and the Menorah. The beginning of life is indeed with the Table, but at some later date, the Menorah must be given primacy. After that, the Table is still very much a part of life, but is now subordinate to the Menorah. Maturity is not limited to intellectual progress, but requires that spirituality becomes the goal of life while the physical requirements are only the means.

He who provides for this life, but makes no provision for eternity is wise for a moment, but a fool forever.

Your beliefs become your thoughts. Your thoughts become your words. Your words become your actions. Your actions become your habits. Your habits become your values. Your values become your destiny.

Shabbat Shalom, 

R. Ovadiah Tank

Online Learning 

Rabbi Tank is a professor at the American Jewish College in New York, where he teaches classes on Talmud, Jewish History, and Contemporary Jewish Law. Rabbi Tank is dedicated to finding modern utility and meaning in ancient wisdom texts and is pleased to provide spiritual, cultural, social and educational programming to communities around the world. 

Rabbi Tank was educated at Yeshivas in New York and Miami. He studied Biblical Archeology at Bar Ilan University and Jewish Studies at Harvard University. Rabbi Tank has a Bachelor degree in Business Administration and he is also graduated in International Economic Development from the University of Oxford. 

Rabbi Tank is actively involved in peace negotiations and relief operations. Rabbi Tank is the director of international affairs at the World Jewish Confederation in the United States and He is member of the White House National Religious Leaders , an Executive Office of the President of the United States in Washington, D.C.

Ask Rabbi Tank