Building a Holy Place

Rabbi Joel Fleekop

Saturday, February 24, 2007

You, You, You. After hearing the divine instructions recorded in this week’s Torah portion, the word “You” or more precisely the Hebrew word “va’asitah -- you shall make” must have been ringing in Moses’ ears and haunting his thoughts. After all, the precise and exacting instructions for the construction of the tabernacle’s gold cover, table of acacia wood, menorah, roof, goat hair cloths, planks, support bars, multi-colored yarn curtains, entrance screen, the altar, and the enclosure which was to surround everything all begin with the phrase, “you shall make.”

The weight of these commands was such that, as I mentioned last night, Rashi imagines Moses becoming so flustered and overwhelmed during the giving of instructions for the menorah that God tells him to simply place a block of gold into the furnace and God will make sure it turns out the way it is supposed to.

Moses may have received divine assistance in the manufacturing of the menorah, but the choice of verbs in Parshat Terumah makes it very clear that Moses was the one charged with making sure that it and the other elements of the tabernacle were created as instructed.

There was, however, one object in the tabernacle that Moses was not responsible for, an objects whose instructions for construction did not include a 2nd person singular verb. Exodus 25:10 states, “V’a-su A-ron, Etzei shitim, they shall make an ark of acacia wood.” The use of the 3rd person plural verb form with regards to the ark has drawn the attention of the great rabbinic commentators.

The grammarian Ibn Ezra explains the verb form as simply a continuation of the previous section where the Israelites are commanded to bring gifts to Moses so that they can make a sanctuary for God.

Other rabbis, however, find deeper meaning in the fact that unlike all the other parts of the tabernacle, the construction of the ark was to be done not by Moses but the people Israel.

One midrash asks, “Why is the third person plural—they shall make—used here instead of the usual second person singular: you? Rabbi Judah stated in the name of Rabbi Shalom: Let all come and occupy themselves with the ark so that they should all qualify for the Torah”

Similarly, Or Ha-hayyim offers, “The change in the wording from the second person singular to the third person plural is to illustrate that the essence of the Torah can only be fulfilled by Israel as a whole. No single individual can perform all the precepts of the Torah. For instance, a priest cannot fulfill the bestowing of the 24 priestly gifts, the redemption of the firstborn, and other commandments directed at the non-priests, while an Israelite cannot fulfill the positive commands of the sacrifices and the same applies to the Levites. But as a whole, the Israelite people can keep all the Jewish observances. For this reason, the Torah states, “they shall make the ark.”

Taken together, these two texts convey the message that offering a contribution to the building of the community is what justifies ones inclusion and that the membership of all is what allows the community to fulfill its covenantal responsibilities.

This idea is expressed beautifully in a hassidic tale about two men who contribute to their community in very different ways.

One man, the richest in the community, had a bad habit of falling asleep during services. One Shabbat, as he did almost every week he dozed off, waking up only long enough to hear the verse from Leviticus commanding the Israelites to bring twelve loafs of bread to the sanctuary. When he finally woke up, long after everyone had gone home, he thought that the verse of Torah was God speaking to him. And so he went home and baked twelve loafs of bread, returning that afternoon and placing them in the ark.

That evening the poorest man in the community came to the sanctuary to straighten up as he did every week after havdallah. Before he started, he stood before the ark and explained to God that even though he worked as hard as he could, he and his family did not have enough. Without a miracle, they would go hungry this week. Having offered his prayer the man swept the floor, rearranged the chairs, and finally went to make sure the Torah was put away properly. As he opened the ark he saw the twelve loafs of bread. It was surely a miracle.

Around midnight, the wealthy man went to synagogue and thinking that what he did earlier was silly, opened the ark to remove the loaves of bread. Needless to say he was shocked to see them gone. He too assumed it was a miracle and resolved to bring twelve more the next week.

And so on the next Shabbat the wealthy man placed bread in the ark, and again, the poor man prayed to God for assistance and was thankful to find the twelve loaves. This went on for many weeks until one Shabbat the rabbi, quietly studying in the back of the sanctuary, saw the rich man place the loaves in the ark and the poor man take them home.

The next morning he brought the two men together and explained what was going on. Both the rich man and the poor man were disappointed. They explained to the rabbi how they thought what was going on was a miracle caused by the hands of God.

Hearing this, the rabbi asked the wealthy man to hold up his hands. He explained to him that his were in fact the hands of God that bringing food to those in need.

The rabbi then asked the poor man to hold up his hands and explained to him that his too were the hands of God, accepting gifts from the wealthy. So you see, he told the two of them, you should continue doing what you are doing because what you bring to the community is a holy act that makes this congregation a holy community.

We live in a community where I know no one would ever fall asleep during services; and a community where hopefully no one feels the need to rely on miracles in order to receive the assistance that they need. But like the two men in the story and like the ancient Israelite community imagined by the midrash and Or Ha-hayyiim, it is the contribution and participation of all in this congregation that make this a holy community.

The ark described in Parshat Terumah was completed long ago. But the command for its construction continues to teach us an important lesson. It teaches us that through the involvement and contributions of you, you, you, and all of you, our community becomes, like the ancient ark, a place preserving the words and teachings of Torah for this generation and generations to come. --- Shabbat Shalom.