(On Friday, February 4 we welcomed the newest members of Temple Emanuel at a special service in their honor. These were the words I shared with our congregation that evening.)
Over the entrance to sanctuaries in synagogues the world over, we often find these words, “V’asu li mikdash v’shachanti b’tocham”. Make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.
These are the words of our Torah portion this week, entitled Terumah. Terumah is the first in a series of portions in which instructions are given for the construction of the Tabernacle, the portable sanctuary in the desert, the forerunner to what would become the Temple in Jerusalem.
We have an ark in our sanctuary today because God commanded an ark be built in our Torah portion this week. We have a menorah, a seven branched candelabra in our sanctuary today because God commanded a menorah be built in our Torah portion this week.
Make Me a sanctuary. I guess God could have created his own sanctuary, by some kind of miracle, like the miracle of the manna falling from the heavens, or the miracle of the waters parting the Red Sea. But this was not to be the case.
There would be no miraculous construction project by God. God left the work of building the place in which his spirit would dwell up to the people. It would be the responsibility of the community to get involved, to do the hard work, to collect all the materials necessary, to find the right people to build this Tabernacle, and for everyone who desired a meaningful connection to this place to roll up their sleeves and get involved in the process.
Make Me a sanctuary.
God knew the kind of place in which His presence would be most comfortable. The design for this Tabernacle came from above but the materials would come from below. Our portion this week is filled with instructions by the master architect, for how the furnishings were to be constructed and from what materials they were to be constructed.
God wanted everyone to be involved in the process, but did not want anyone forced into getting involved. There was no tax or no minimum required gift for this sacred project. God only wanted donations from people who were moved to give, people who valued what was being built. God wanted these gifts to come from people who understood that without their gifts God’s presence might not come down. God says it like this to Moses, “You shall accept gifts for Me from every person whose heart so moves him.” And luckily the campaign was successful. In a future Torah portion we read that the people brought more than what was necessary. Imagine that. Materials donated were more than what was required for the project. Involvement exceeded what was necessary.
Tonight we officially welcome our newest members to Temple Emanuel, our 154-year-old Reform congregation in Grand Rapids. We say to each and every one of them that we are honored and delighted that you have chosen to be members of our synagogue. We hope that you will see this place as one of your homes.
But I have a little secret to tell you, “we want something from you”. We want you to do as our ancestors did in the desert all those years ago. We want you to get involved, and be engaged with our community. We ask that you share your gifts with us, roll up your sleeves and help us build our community.
God’s presence dwells amongst us here, but there is no divine miracle that insures our success. Our success is based upon the participation of our membership. Although God did not require a gift from the Israelites to
be involved, we must. We thank you in advance for your dues.
But what we cannot do is force you to be engaged and involved and active members. This is what we hope your hearts will choose to do. We hope that all of our new members will see that to develop a meaningful connection to our Temple requires some work. A meaningful connection to this congregation entails volunteering here, studying here, worshipping here, eating here, celebrating here and caring for others who are in need and part of our community.
Help us build our sanctuary, our synagogue, our Temple. I am sorry to announce that we do not have more involvement than is necessary for us to do all the kinds of projects and programs and events that we would like to do. What this means is that we are not turning anyone away whose heart so moves him or her to give of themselves. We value everyone, and all the contributions of all of our members matter to us.
God had a definitive plan for what the Tabernacle should look like and how it should be built. We are far more flexible here. We seek the input of our members. We ask for your opinions. We welcome your suggestions and comments. I would simply ask that you direct all positive comments to me and all less than positive comments to our president, David Fishman.
As we look a bit closer at our Torah portion, we find that some of the measurements of the ark that was to be built, the place that would house the Ten Commandments were given to our ancestors in fractions. The text reads, “They shall make an ark of acacia wood, two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high. Why the fractions? Wouldn’t it have been easier to make the dimensions without them? The rabbis teach us a lesson about these fractions. They remind us that we can only comprehend a small fraction of knowledge in life. What we need to do is to share our knowledge with others and to learn from their knowledge. We cannot do it alone.
This is who we are as a Temple community. Each of us knows something, a fraction of what can be learned, and we need all of our members, as we build our congregation, to teach each other. To our newest members of Temple we tell you that we look forward not only in getting to know you, to welcoming you as part of this extended family, but also learning from you. Please participate in our congregation and become active members of our Temple.
From The Rabbi,