(Originally published in 2021)
O Lord
To You
I raise it all
Up
Terum – ah
Ah Ah Up
I lift it all up in Your name
The joys and the laughter
And the lilting songs
And most of all the
Sorrows
The aching pit in my belly
Long and narrow
Throbbing with
Some Inexplicable rawness
The tender heart of loneliness
Grief, a hole
Someone
Something always
Missing
And the dancing whirling dervish
who hides the pain
In restlessness
To You, O Lord
I raise these all up
I take them in for you
Veyikhu li
For Your sake
I welcome them
Shelter them
And do not
Dismiss
Deny
Diminish
Though sometimes I
Do
But today For You
I take them in
Say: I consent
Recieve them as gifts
And in so receiving
I give them
Back
Still in me
But Elevated
Terumah
A gift from you, for you.
I lift them
Along with my eyes
To the mountains
Whence my help comes
And
Now
See some joy comes out of this sorrow:
From the mountaintop
The pit and the dervish are
Flying, Soaring
— Teroooomaaaaah —
On the wings of the two cherubs
That cover the Ark.
The space between those angelic creatures
Where You said You would meet me
Forms a heart
My heart
Broken and Open
To You.
I meet You there.
From the peak i see colors.
I see now
Through Your eyes
That my pit
is filled with
Gold,
Silver and
Copper.
Blue,
Purple and
Crimson yarns.
Fine linen
Goats’ hair
Dolphin skins
Acacia wood and
Aromatic incense.
Lapis lazuli
Sapphire
Amethyst
Emerald
Jacinth
And agate.
Precious stones all.
Gifts from You and for You.
And also
Oil for lighting and for
Anointing
My own head
Dishanta bashemen roshi.
I feel it dripping down me
Through me
I am made of Your
Glory
Your bright
Shining
Beautiful
Sparkling
Light.
Out of these materials —
The sorrows
(and also the joys but they know they can do it) —
We build a home for
You to
Dwell
Inside us.
Ve’asu li mikdash veShakhanti
Betokham.
This song is the house
I built for You
Out of Your gifts.
Thank you for dwelling
In it
In me.
There is nothing missing now.
Some Notes of Explanation:
- Terumah is the word used for the gifts given by the Israelites for the Tabernacle construction. It is related to the word rum, meaning “to raise or lift up.”
- Veyikhu li — “They should take for Me” the Terumah, the gifts for the Tabernacle (Ex 25:2). Note the strangeness of the word “take” with reference to a gift; “give” would have made more sense. The “take” verb implies that we are both taking/accepting gifts from God and giving to Him at the same time.
- Mountains — a reference to Ps 121: “I lift up my eyes to the mountains whence my help comes.”
- Cherubs — this week’s parsha gives instructions for constructing the Tabernacle, beginning with its heart — the aron, the ark, which housed the Tablets. Above this ark was a cover with two keruvim, angelic creatures, leaning toward each other with their wings outstretched. The Torah tells us that it was in the space between those two figures that God’s voice could be heard. God says of this space: veno’aditi likha sham, “I will meet you there” (Exod 25:22).
- Gold, silver, . . . — these are the materials the Torah lists as being brought as gifts for the Tabernacle. See Exod 25:3-7 and 28: 17-20).
- Oil for anointing – one of the gifts listed. Dishanta bashemen roshi, “You have anointed my head with oil” from Mizmor Ledavid, Psalm 23.
- Ve’asu li mikdash veshakhanti betokham, “Let them make Me a sanctuary and I will dwell inside them” (Exod 25:8). Traditional commentaries note the shift in number from the singular “sanctuary” to the plural betokham, “in them.” It should have said “in it,” meaning “in the sanctuary that you build.” One interpretation is that God intends to dwell not so much inside the physical building as inside all of us, that we each are to construct a sanctuary in our own hearts for God to dwell in.
