Terumah, תְּרוּמָה Donation 25:1-27:19
God is looking for a residence on earth, always looking for a residence in each of us, knocking on our door, saying – can I live inside you? The instruction to construct the mishkan, the tabernacle, in our parsha is phrased in this way: Ve’asu li mikdash veshakhanti betokham (Exodus 25:8). They should make for […]
ESSAY: Becoming a Sanctuary for the Divine Presence (Parashat Terumah) Read More »
“They should make for Me a sanctuary and I will dwell in their midst” (Exodus 25:8). “In their midst” [betokham] — inside each one of us. We interpret this as an instruction to each of us to create an internal sanctuary — God desires to reside inside us. In this meditation, we explore how to
MEDITATION: Becoming a Sanctuary for the Divine Presence (Parashat Terumah) Read More »
“I will meet you there,” God says. But are we open to it? What about those angels of destruction standing in the way? (Click image to read more)
ESSAY: From Swords to Angel Wings: Learning to Open Our Hearts (Parashat Terumah) Read More »
In this meditation, we look closely at the keruvim, the child-like angel figures that stood on top of the ark in the Tabernacle. It is from between these keruvim that God is said to speak and meet us. Finding this place in our own heart space, we explore what blocks us from this open access
MEDITATION: From Swords to Angel Wings: Learning to Open Our Hearts (Parashat Terumah) Read More »
We are given a chance to retrieve what we lost in the Garden of Eden by entering through the keruvim, through our childhood selves with all their woundedness and innocence. (Click image to read more)
In this meditation, we focus on the Aron, the ark, as the meeting place for Divine Presence in the Mishkan, and we find that meeting place inside ourselves in our hearts, and specifically in the hole (like the open space above the Aron between the angels where God spoke) of our vulnerability. We find in
MEDITATION: Becoming a Mishkan, a Dwelling Place for Divine Presence (Parashat Terumah) Read More »
(Originally published in 2021) O Lord, to You, I raise it all up, the joys and the laughter and the lilting songs and most of all the sorrows. (Click image to read more)
POEM: Terumah: Raise it Up! (Parashat Terumah) Read More »
In this week’s parsha, we read about the mishkan, the building of a dwelling place for God on this earth. And we feel a twinge of envy – they had access to God; God dwelled in their midst; we are left alone to wander the world, searching for His Presence. But certain features of the mishkan give me
SHORT ESSAY: Hevruta: Where We can Still Hear God’s Voice (Parashat Terumah) Read More »
This week’s parsha details the creation of a mishkan, a holy space for God to dwell on this earth. Ve’asu li mikdash veshahanti betokham. They should make for Me a sanctuary and I will dwell in their midst. How can we draw down God’s Presence to this earth? In the Mishkan God’s voice would come from between
SHORT ESSAY: God Dwells where We Turn Towards Each Other (Parashat Terumah) Read More »
My youngest son Asher, upon being asked what materials he thought would be necessary for the building of the Tabernacle described in this week’s parsha, replied: “Cement.” It’s true. One would have expected the building of a house of God to require cement, something to hold the pieces together in a permanent way. But no,
SHORT ESSAY: God’s Mobile Home (Parashat Terumah) Read More »