Dear TBZ Community,
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart
Be acceptable to you, Yah,
My Rock and My Redeemer.
Oh Lord prepare me
to be a sanctuary
Pure and holy, tried and true
And in thanksgiving, I’ll be a living sanctuary for You.
וְעָ֥שׂוּ לִ֖י מִקְדָּ֑שׁ וְשָׁכַנְתִּ֖י בְּתוֹכָֽם׃
וַאֲנַ֤חְנוּ ׀ נְבָ֘רֵ֤ךְ יָ֗הּ מֵעַתָּ֥ה וְעַד־עוֹלָ֗ם הַֽלְלוּ־יָֽהּ׃
Ve-asu li mikdash
Ve-shachanti be-tocham
Ve-a-nach-nu ne-var-ech Yah,
May-atah ve-ad o-lam.
We sing these words often at TBZ. Based on a hymn called Sanctuary by John Thompson and Randy Scruggs, the adaptation we sing begins and ends with words of Psalms and includes a verse from this week’s Torah reading, Parshat Terumah.
The beginning of this parsha (portion) invites each Israelite to bring a gift, so we can build a mishkan, a tabernacle, in which the presence of the Divine can dwell.
Shemot (Exodus) 25:1-8 reads:
וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יְהוָ֖ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying:
דַּבֵּר֙ אֶל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל וְיִקְחוּ־לִ֖י תְּרוּמָ֑ה מֵאֵ֤ת כָּל־אִישׁ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר יִדְּבֶ֣נּוּ לִבּ֔וֹ תִּקְח֖וּ אֶת־תְּרוּמָתִֽי
Tell the Israelite people to bring Me gifts; you shall accept gifts for Me from every person whose heart so moves him.
וְזֹאת֙ הַתְּרוּמָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר תִּקְח֖וּ מֵאִתָּ֑ם זָהָ֥ב וָכֶ֖סֶף וּנְחֹֽשֶׁת
And these are the gifts that you shall accept from them: gold, silver, and copper;
וּתְכֵ֧לֶת וְאַרְגָּמָ֛ן וְתוֹלַ֥עַת שָׁנִ֖י וְשֵׁ֥שׁ וְעִזִּֽים
blue, purple, and crimson yarns, fine linen, goats’ hair;
וְעֹרֹ֨ת אֵילִ֧ם מְאָדָּמִ֛ים וְעֹרֹ֥ת תְּחָשִׁ֖ים וַעֲצֵ֥י שִׁטִּֽים
tanned ram skins, dolphin skins, and acacia wood;
שֶׁ֖מֶן לַמָּאֹ֑ר בְּשָׂמִים֙ לְשֶׁ֣מֶן הַמִּשְׁחָ֔ה וְלִקְטֹ֖רֶת הַסַּמִּֽים
oil for lighting, spices for the anointing oil and for the aromatic incense;
אַבְנֵי־שֹׁ֕הַם וְאַבְנֵ֖י מִלֻּאִ֑ים לָאֵפֹ֖ד וְלַחֹֽשֶׁן
lapis lazuli and other stones for setting, for the ephod and for the breastpiece.
וְעָ֥שׂוּ לִ֖י מִקְדָּ֑שׁ וְשָׁכַנְתִּ֖י בְּתוֹכָֽם
And let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.
In this request for gifts, the expectation is to bring a contribution, “each person according to how their heart moves them.” By bringing these gifts, the building of the Tabernacle would be possible.
The Kedushat Levi, Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, understood these puskim (verses) as the link between intention and action: Our heart moves us to give a contribution, but the mitzvah (commandment) is to give this tangible gift and not just rely on the intention or the feelings of the heart. In the words of the Kedushat Levi:
Every person serving the Lord, must do so also by something tangible in addition to the lofty thoughts that he entertains while doing so. Allegorically speaking, the performance of a tangible mitzvah מצוה, commandment, is considered as if one helps the Presence of the Lord to arise from the dust on earth.
When keeping this in mind we can answer the enigma posed by the words כל איש אשר ידבנו לבו, “each person according to how his heart moves him.” These words form the link between the generous thought and the generous deed. By making a voluntary contribution, i.e. the size of the contribution is completely voluntary, it is not a tax as the half shekel in Exodus 30:13, the Presence of G’d on earth will become so much more manifest.
The words: וזאת התרומה (“vzoat ha’terumah” – “these are the gifts”) may be understood as if the Torah had written: וזאת ההתרוממות (v’zoat hitromemut” – “and this will constitute the exaltation, elevation”). The examples of the materials that were to be denoted are symbolic of how lofty and generous thoughts are to be translated into “lofty” and generous deeds.
(See below for the Hebrew text.)
One way to understand this teaching is that intentions without actions can not build the Mishkan. To build a sanctuary, and a world, where the presence of the Divine can reside, we need tangible, real actions – or as Kedushat Levi says, generous deeds.
Generous thoughts or intentions are important as a starting point toward a commitment to action. The Kedushat Levi says that when our intentions and our actions come together we are brought to a higher place. That is the meaning of terumah and hitromemut: the capacity to go higher and higher.
I am also thinking about these concepts in the context of self-care: when we concretely care for ourselves, we can then show up with concrete generosity for others. Last week, at the launch event of TBZ’s new Dismantling Racism From The Inside Out course, led by Rabbi David Jaffe and Rav Tiferet, Rav Tiferet spoke beautifully and powerfully about the importance of concrete acts of care for ourselves, for others, and for people who think differently than us, to help us become a more antiracist community and to be more aware of our own ways of showing up in the world. When we are able to concretely receive and give care, and not just “feel care” then we can relate better to others.
It is not surprising nor coincidental that I write this while feeling very taken care of. I am on a short getaway (with Rav Tiferet and our daughters) in New Hampshire. For a few years now, I have visited a family farm each winter. As soon as I arrive, I feel like they know what it means to concretely help families have a real break. Everything is prepared, from activities to meals and more, in such a way that we receive concrete actions that foster a real break and time for self-care. (Admittedly, this time we are including a little bit of TBZ work!)
Feelings are important in our lives, being able to articulate them too. But at times it seems that we forget to bring those feelings – towards ourselves, towards others – into real manifestations of action.
In our song, we begin with “May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart.” Are our prayers and meditations, our songs and praises, part of building a sanctuary and a world filled with God’s presence? Can prayer stand alone? Is prayer an intention for the sake of itself?
Rabbi Abrham Joshua Heschel spoke to this when explaining the meaning of prayer:
Prayer is meaningless unless it is subversive, unless it seeks to overthrow and to ruin the pyramids of callousness, hatred, opportunism and falsehood. The liturgical movement must become a revolutionary movement, seeking to overthrow the forces that continue to destroy the promise, the hope, the vision (Abraham Joshua Heschel, “On Prayer” in Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity: Essays, ed. Susannah Heschel, page 263).
When we come together in community to pray and to sing, we hope to be moved and transformed from within so that our hearts can guide us to share our gifts, to bring our best selves to the world, and to bring actionable commitment to heal this broken world.
Our avodah, our work, is to continuously transform our generous thoughts into generous gifts. In many ways, this is the essence of what we are trying to do at TBZ.
May this Shabbat bring renewal and blessings to all of you and your loved ones.
May we find strength, courage, and patience, and open our hearts with generosity.
May all those who are ill find healing. And may we have a joyful, sweet, and peaceful Shabbat.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rav Claudia
P.S: Singing “Sanctuary” with our community has always been such an uplifting moment in our services. Here is a recording I made back in February 2020, here is a recording that our dear Ron White and I made for the pandemic High Holidays in 2020, and here you can find a beautiful recording by Melita which I love.
This is the text of the Kedushat Levi on Parshat Terumah in Hebrew:
ויקחו לי תרומה מאת כל איש אשר ידבנו לבו תקחו את תרומתי וזאת התרומה אשר תקחו מאתם זהב וכסף ונחושת (שמות כ, הב-ג)
דהנה כל האדם מחויב לעבוד את הבורא ברוך הוא במעשה ובמחשבה שעל ידי הכוונה והמחשבה קדושה אזי בזה מקים לשכינתא מעפרא והמעשה הוא בכדי שיתרומם האדם ולהטיב לעצמו
ובזה מיושב הכתוב כל איש אשר ידבנו לבו, דהוא מרומז על המחשבה על ידי זה תקחו את תרומתי, רצה לומר שבזה יתרומם השכינה כביכו”ל
וזאת התרומה אשר תקחו מאתם, רצה לומר זה התרוממות אשר האדם לוקח לעצמו זה הוא בא על ידי המעשה דהוא זהב וכסף ונחושת, רצה לומר על ידי העובדא ודו”ק