Torah Portion "Terumah" - Finding Our Gifts

What is Our Unique “Terumah” –

Our Gift Toward Building the Mishkan?

Rabbi Alicia Magal, Jewish Community of Sedona and the Verde Valley, Northern Arizona

Oh, how much easier it would be if someone could tell us exactly what was needed from each of us when our heart is moved to contribute to our community…  like the directions we read in this week’s Torah portion, Terumah, Exodus 25:1 – 27:19 (February 10-16, 2013).  Moses receives the Divine message that the Israelites should bring gifts: gold, silver, copper, blue, purple, crimson yarns, fine linen, goats’ hair, tanned ram skins, dolphin skins, acacia wood, oil for lighting, spices for the anointing oil and for the aromatic incense, lapis lazuli and other stones for setting, for the ephod and for the breastpiece.  This requested list contains both required amounts and also includes the voluntary nature of the gifts as given by those “whose heart is so moved.”

 

Thus, the Children of Israel were to designate a portion of their own resources for a higher purpose. The raw materials were needed to build God’s Tabernacle. Rashi suggests that these raw materials were combined for sacred use by the intention behind the offering. Beyond the command to give, these offerings were to be a gift to God, given out of a real desire to help build God’s sanctuary and invite the Shekhina, God’s presence, to dwell in the holy space created. It was not enough to gather the required building materials. Without the willing heart element, that sacred mishkan space could not be built for God to dwell there, or within the builders’ very beings.  

Today when we want to help “build our Mishkan”and sustain our holy communities, we are not so sure how to do that.  Certainly there are membership dues as well as fundraising efforts, raffles and dinners, inscribed leaves on the wall-mounted tree of life, mitzvah funds for the needy in our congregations and the wider community, scholarship opportunities to assist families with religious school tuition, and voluntary contributions linked to yahrzeits or in honor of simchas.  We realize that our monetary funds are vitally necessary for the ongoing, vibrant growth of our synagogues, schools, centers, and other religious institutions.  

But I wonder how we find out what our particular, unique “terumah” is.  Terumah contains the Hebrew root letters ROM which connote lifting up, elevating, making our offering special, holy, a gift set aside for a higher purpose.  So there is something extremely personal and soulful connected to the contributions offered by each person.  What is your “gold” – shining, pure, enthusiastic assistance in visiting ill people for Bikkur Holim?  What is your “crimson yarn” – passionate, life-giving social action projects that strengthen connections among people? What are your “ram or dolphin skins” – warm, protective coverings for those without shelter, blankets, or warm coats? What is your “spice for anointing oil” – luscious, fragrant baked goods for shared holiday meals? What are your “precious stones” – sharing your gems of knowledge and experience to teach, tutor, advise, or lead in your area of expertise?  How do you manifest those stirrings of your heart to build and sustain the structure and fabric of our Jewish organizations?

We all have moments when our “hearts are moved” to contribute, but often we don’t know exactly how.  Each of us is called upon to fulfill the commandment to build the mishkan in our own moment in time by contributing some of our precious and unique resources. Each donation adds to the beautiful whole of the communal sacred space.  “V’asu li mikdash, v’shachanti b’tocham – and Make for me a sanctuary, and I will dwell in them.” And when we give from that place in our hearts, and offer up our precious stores of skills, qualities, resources, and efforts, then truly the promise will be fulfilled that the Holy One will “dwell within us.”