Parsha Pizzazz - Terumah
A House for HaShem
Now that the Jews had the Torah, their lives would be changed forever. They would be HaShem's holy nation, and their days would be filled with mitzvot!
HaShem wanted the Jews to have a special, holy place - a "house" for HaShem that could be moved and taken along with them as they traveled for 40 years in the desert. This beautiful, portable building was the Mishkan ("tabernacle"), and HaShem's presence was always in it.
Building the Mishkan was going to be one big project!
First, HaShem gave precise instructions for how to make each piece of the Mishkan. All kinds of materials would be needed - pure gold, silver, and copper, wool and linen of all colors, animal skins, wood, and precious stones. Where would all of these beautiful things come from?
From everyone! Whoever had things that were needed could volunteer to donate them toward the building effort. (Don't forget, the Egyptians gave the Jews plenty of gold and other valuables to take with them when the Jews went free!)
The generous, voluntary gifts people gave for the Mishkan were called Terumah offerings (which is where we get the name for this week's Parsha).
Are you wondering where in the world the Jews found huge beams of wood in the barren desert? Well, when Yaakov first went down to Egypt, he knew through Ruach Hakodesh (Divine inspiration) that the Jews would someday build a Mishkan in the desert. So he planted beautiful, majestic sheetim (acacia or cedar) trees there, and instructed his sons to bring the wood from these trees with them when they would leave Egypt.
The Jews did indeed carry the wood from those trees with them into the desert, and it was absolutely perfect for building the Mishkan.
Every Little Bit Helps
The other gifts were voluntary; people gave as much or as little as they wanted. But a second kind of Terumah offering was given by each and every person; everyone gave a half-shekel of silver for the sockets at the base of the wooden beams of the Mishkan. In this way, all of the Jews made a small but valuable contribution.
Once everyone had given their half-shekel, and all of the materials were collected and organized, it was time to start working!
Designed by a Master Architect
When Moshe received the Torah, he was also given instructions for the exact design of the Mishkan by the Master Architect -- HaShem!
The Mishkan would have three sections:
- The kodesh hakadoshim (holy of holies), where the ark containing the Ten Commandments would be kept
- The kodesh (holy), which contained the shulchan (table), menorah (candelabra), and the mizbach haketoret (incense altar).
- The chatzeir (courtyard), where the Jews could bring sacrifices on the mizbeyach (altar).
The Golden Ark
The aron (ark) was a beautiful work of art - but more importantly, it housed the luchot (tablets) on which HaShem had written the Ten Commandments when He gave them to Moshe on Mount Sinai!
The aron was a three-layered box (a layer of wood between two layers of pure gold) with an ornate gold rim, on which stood two golden keruvim - winged angels with childlike faces. (Most of the time the keruvim faced each other, but when HaShem was not pleased with how the Jews were treating each other, the keruvim turned to face in opposite directions!)
Since the aron was so holy, it was the privilege of the Levi'im (Levites) to carry it when the Jews traveled from place to place. It had special poles - wood covered with gold - that were used as carrying handles. With all that gold, it must have been extremely heavy. But even so, miraculously, the Levi'im didn't feel any weight on their shoulders at all. In fact, the aron lifted them up and carried them!
