This week’s Torah reading, Terumah, focuses on G-d’s command: “Make Me a Sanctuary and I will dwell within.” This is somewhat problematic. There are other religions that place emphasis on a sacred place where one prays and performs ritual acts that bring one close to G-d.
Judaism has a different value system. Citing the verse: “Know G-d in all your ways,” our Sages state: “This is a short verse upon which the entire Torah depends.” For the bulk of Judaism centers not on prayer or worship, but on carrying out our everyday life the way G-d wants.
Know G-d In All Your Ways
This is why the Talmud and subsequent Rabbinic writings devote the bulk of their texts to monetary laws, family relationships, and tilling the land. For rather than placing the emphasis on the rites carried out in holy places, Judaism is a religion of life, inviting G-d into the day-to-day details of our existence, showing how they can be conducted in harmony with His guidelines. Wherever a person is and whatever he is doing, he can be serving G-d.
This is the inner meaning of the words, “G-d is one” in the Shema: not only that there is only one G-d, but that G-d is one with every aspect of existence. Jewish law gives directives that enable us to bring that oneness into expression, living our lives in connection with Him.
Bowing Down
Why then is a Sanctuary necessary? If “the entire earth is filled with His glory” and we can relate to Him in every situation, why must there be a special place designated as His sanctuary? We can answer these questions by focusing on a verse from our liturgy that expresses our regret that we do not have the opportunity to “ascend, appear, and bow down before You.” Now, it’s true we may not be able to ascend and stand before G-d’s revealed presence, but why can’t we bow down?
In truth, however, our prayers are speaking about an entirely different sense of bowing down. When a Jew came to the Temple, he did not decide to bow down in homage to G-d. He bowed down because he had no other choice. His awareness of G-d was so overpowering that it literally knocked him off his feet. He could no longer stand upright. Instead, he prostrated himself, losing all consciousness of his personal identity.
Afterwards, when he returned home. He was no longer the same person. The direct contact with G-d that he experienced in Jerusalem inspired him to bring G-dliness into his everyday life. But the influence did not last forever. That’s why the Torah commands us to make a pilgrimage journey to Jerusalem at least three times a year.
Purpose of Building a Sanctuary
The goal of the Torah is not to stay in the Temple. For the purpose of creation is not that we be overwhelmed by G-dliness. Instead, the purpose is service: to make the world G-dly by involving ourselves in all elements of worldly experience and expressing G-dliness in those realms.
To make that easier, there was one place where G-dliness was plainly evident and from there, a person received his inspiration to bring G-dliness into his ordinary experience. The Torah commands us to build a Sanctuary, not as an ultimate goal, but as a means to developing an all-encompassing awareness of G-d.
Based on the teachings of the Rebbe, from Keeping in Touch, reprinted with perm. from Sichos in English.
From the cover (itself) shall you make the cherubim (Ex. 25:19)
The cherubim were made with the faces of small children, one a boy and one a girl. From this we learn that providing the proper Jewish education for even our tiny children is a basic principle necessary for our keeping the Torah. (Rabbi Yosef Ber of Brisk)
Within and without shall you overlay it (Ex. 25:11)
A true Torah scholar is one whose "inside" matches his "outside." Merely learning the lofty principles contained in the Torah is not enough - its lessons must also be internalized. That is why we say in Psalms (45:14), "All the glory of the king's daughter is within." The splendor and glory of the Torah is the internal purity it leads to. (Kiflayyim L'Toshiya)
Of a talent of pure gold shall it be made (Ex. 25:39)
Man's purpose in life is to illuminate his surroundings with the light of Torah and mitzvot. This responsibility holds true no matter what the individual's circumstances or mood may be. The numerical equivalent of the Hebrew word for talent, "kikar," is 140 - the same as the numerical equivalent of "mar" (bitter), and "ram" (lofty). No matter what our situation, our task remains the same. (the Previous Rebbe)
Two and one-half cubits its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height (Ex. 25:10)
The ark was measured in fractions, not whole numbers, teaching us that to achieve spiritual growth, one must first "break down" and shatter one's negative characteristics and bad habits. (Sefer Hamamarim U'Kuntreisim, the Previous Rebbe)
From our Sages reprinted from LchaimWeekly.org - LYO / NYC
