Terumah in depth

Speak to the children of Israel, that they should take to Me a terumah (“uplifting”) (Exodus 25:2)

Every created entity has a spark of G‑dliness within it, a pinpoint of divinity that constitutes its “soul,” its spiritual function and design. When we utilize something to serve the Creator, we penetrate its shell of mundanity, revealing and realizing its divine essence. Thus we elevate these “sparks,” reuniting them with their Source.

(The Chassidic Masters)

Listening, speaking, and acting

Rabba Sara Hurwitz from Yeshivat Maharat,

The image of one bell, one mouth, surrounded by two eyes, or two pomegranates is what the Gemara (Megillah 18a) means when it says, “A word is worth one sela (coin). Silence is worth two.” Perhaps the Gemara alludes to the speak-half-as-much-as-you-know rule that the Alshich finds in the double pomegranates and the two-eyes-one-mouth; for every word you speak, make sure it is accompanied by two measures of silence. Only half of what we think in our heads, should actually be articulated.

So, sometimes, we must be called upon to ring clearly, and make our views known, like a bell. But other times, silence must reign. We must hold back the thoughts that could be potentially hurtful or unhelpful. There is tremendous power in silence.

From the tension of speaking and silence, emerges action.

This triad of speaking, silence and action is a methodology that we must each employ when advocating for change. For righting wrongs, and bringing justice to our world. When we try to better our world, and continue God’s creative work, we must know when to speak out. We must know when not to talk, to remain silent, and control the anger, and frustration within us. And then, we must know when to act. To turn the sounds and silences into action.

There is a time to talk out; a time to remain silent; a time to act.

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Terumah "uplifting"

They shall make for Me a sanctuary, and I will dwell within them (25:8)

The verse does not say “and I will dwell within it,” but “and I will dwell within them” — within each and every one of them.

(Shaloh)

Terumah, a donation, to the Mishkan, the container in which the Ark of the Covenant was kept. This parasha consists of detailed instructions on the building of the Mishkan for the Jewish people.

This is a call to build a place for G-d's presence on this plane of existence. It is the same call that we hear today. For that is what we still need to do.

This mishkan is not made from brick and mortar, but from specific materials, and defined by cloth. It can be carried around - thus saying that G-d is not necessarily in need of a static place. That is, its location is not the criterion for His residence on earth, but its qualities - the manner in which it is built and the manner in which the ceremonies of sacrifice and attendance are carried out.

Thus, in the desert it was a tent. In Jerusalem, it was a temple, from which it morphed into synagogues - allowing Jews in exile to continue our special relationship with G-d. Perhaps there is another iteration that is possible.

There is much to point to this in the writings regarding the temple of the Messianic age. For that is the time when the Upper Temple will be manifest in the lower worlds.

There are many projections of an upper (4th) dimensional object into the present (3rd) dimension we experience our lives in. This is how it will be, defined by spirit, and not by material. For that is the shift.

We need to build a temple for G-d to reside in. We need to make/create space in our lives where the Divine resides.

The Name

G-d (etc) is the name of everything that is NOT man-made. This includes nature, and the so-called "Laws of Science", which are actually G-d's laws that science has discovered. Or, more accurately, a language, which we call science, that expresses the "natural/empirical" laws, making them accessible to anyone who is willing to learn the language that deals with that particulate. Thus making them accessible to a far larger segment of the population

אַמָּה (Ammah) "a cubit"

Derived from אם - mother.

This word we have rendered as a cubit has a strange derivation. I realise it would be bending the accepted meaning, but what if it did mean something else. Perhaps there is other information we can receive from this word - not just 17.5 inches long...

It derives from mother, as in a parent, as well as in something like a mother-city. The word, without vowels, can mean nation as well. It is almost always used in the singular, and in 15 cubit long, though there is a plural. There is also one rendition in (Is or Job?) that no one knows its meaning. It is used once to refer to the foundation of the tent. What if it is not a linear measurement?

Even if it was, and there were men like Goliath (who was supposed to be about 9 feet tall) and his ancestors who once walked the earth (perhaps referred to as the Annakim in the bible), and they, being much larger, could have first used an Ammah to measure. Even if this was the length of a forearm, perhaps it was a much larger one...

Israel vs. Jew

The name Jew derives from Yehuda, the eldest son of Jacob, and is often used to refer to the Jewish people, as a nation. However, often the nation is referred to as the sons of Israel, or the nation of Israel - not his son, Judas.

This is the question I ask, in light of the previous, is whether we are accurate assessing the meaning of the word "cubit".

Practical Man

Many times have I struggled over these parochial pieces in the Torah. Lists of names, countless counting, and here, the exact measurements of the Mishkan, in an extremely detailed description of every piece that was to be in it, its materials and its form. {How come no one has reproduced it since - even in movies? Perhaps because we are not yet ready to?} This will appeal to the literal man's mind. The man of action, a builder, not a dreamer.

Here is the classic divide between the "simple" man, the man who lives his life according to what is in front of him, and the "dreamer", the mystic whose focus is on the other world. The split between Halacha and Kabbalah, between Confuciusism and Taoism. This is the part of the Torah that he can relate to, and thus engage in discussion about. Though if we try to fit this literal version into reality, it soon begins to show strain. For instance, how could the whole nation come together in such a small space, if there were two-million or so souls in the desert? How could one sacrifice that amount of animals during the festival on an alter that was only Xcubits long by Ycubits wide? How long would this take? Think of the immense amount of blood that must have been shed.

How long was an Ammah anyway, if it was a measurement....

Some items

• שׁולחן (shulchan) - Table
• workbench/altar (with sacred objects on it, different from the altar where the sacrifices took place. The first is a "static" altar, a place in time, whereas the second is moving/dynamic/functional altar, where sacrifices occur.
  מנורה (menora) - Candelabra
• calls to the upper light to illuminate the darkness for us.
  ארון (aron) - Altar
• empty, unless HaShem fills it.
• blood services and sacrifices take place.