{"id":2171,"date":"2018-02-12T15:03:22","date_gmt":"2018-02-12T15:03:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/batkol.info\/?p=2171"},"modified":"2018-02-12T15:03:22","modified_gmt":"2018-02-12T15:03:22","slug":"parashat-terumah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/2018\/02\/12\/parashat-terumah\/","title":{"rendered":"Parashat Terumah"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Shabbat Table Talk<\/p>\n

Parashah Terumah Erev Shabbat, 17th February 2018<\/p>\n

Week of 10th -18th February<\/p>\n

Torah portion: Exodus 25:1-27:19 Haftarah: 1Kgs 5:26-6:13<\/p>\n

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Download<\/a><\/p>\n

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I was reminded of Harambee days in Kenya as I read the Torah portion for this week. Harambee means \u201call pulling together\u201d in Swahili and it encompasses two activities; donations – both animals and money, channeled towards a building project. The energy generated by the act of freely given donations and the purpose wherein those were used on behalf of the community, was very palpable. A glimpse of the energy released to build a visible structure to house the Divine presence can be glimpsed in the fact that a halt had to be put on the flow of gifts that flowed so generously from the people. \u201cThe people are bringing more than is needed for the work G-d has ordered to be done\u201d (Ex.36:5). Donations, sanctuary and tabernacle (mishkan) – are at the heart of parashah Terumah. \u201cThe Eternal One spoke to Moses, saying, \u2018Tell the Israelite people to bring Me gifts, you shall accept gifts for Me from every person whose heart is so moved\u2026.and let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them\u2019 (Ex 25:1, 8). The stress is on G-d\u2019s dwelling among the people not on the building. The Terumah Commentary 177, reads not \u201cI will dwell in it\u201d, but rather, \u201cI will dwell in them\u201d. Terumah can be translated as \u2018a contribution\u2019 but Rabbi Jonathan Sacks points out that it has a subtly different meaning for which there is no English equivalent. It means \u2018something you lift up\u2019 by dedicating it to a sacred cause. I glimpsed a moment like that at a Harambee day for building a church, when a young boy came up with his contribution, which was one copper coin. He lifted it up in front of the crowd and announced that this was for God. His statement met with awed silence by those present.<\/p>\n

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The description of the building of Solomon\u2019s Temple in the Haftarah brings out the contrast between what is freely given from the heart and what is coerced. \u201cKing Solomon raised a levy throughout Israel for forced labor: the levy numbered thirty thousand men. He sent these to Lebanon in relays, ten thousand a month; they spent one month in Lebanon and two months at home\u201d(1Kgs 5:27-28). In an unnerving way the building smacks something of the tyranny of the building programs of Egypt during the exile there.<\/p>\n

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The gifts necessary for the building are named beginning with gold, silver and copper. It is interesting that the copper is given the name \u201csnake metal\u201d from the Hebrew nachash. It \u201cis a substance that recalls the stubborn impudence of the primordial snake\u2019s denial of God.\u201d (181) Is there a hint there that what we resist in our contributions can through integration into the fabric and structure of the sanctuary be open to transformation, not by exclusion but by inclusion into the whole?<\/p>\n

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Reflection: \u201cThe very act of giving flows from, or leads to, the understanding that what we give is part of what we were given. It is a way of giving thanks, an act of gratitude\u201d (Rabbi Sacks). How is gratitude built into our lives? How do we \u2018each build a tabernacle in our own hearts for G-d to dwell in\u2019? (Malbim in Plaut, 557)<\/p>\n

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Bibliography: Commentary on Terumah, www.chabad.org.media; Fox, The Five Books of Moses (New York, 1995); Plaut (ed), The Torah, A Modern Commentary (New York, 1981); http:\/\/rabbisacks.org\/parsha\/Terumah – The Gift of Giving (Terumah 5776) 8th Feb 2016.<\/p>\n

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~~~~~~~~~<\/p>\n

This week’s teaching commentary was prepared by<\/p>\n

Moya Hegarty osu; moyaosu@eircom.net<\/a>, Sligo, Ireland.<\/p>\n

Bat Kol Alum, 2007\/2015<\/p>\n

[Copyright 2018]<\/p>\n

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PLEASE NOTE: The weekly Parashah commentaries represent the research and creative thought of their authors, and are meant to stimulate deeper thinking about the meaning of the Scriptures. While they draw upon the study methods and sources employed by the Bat Kol Institute, the views and conclusions expressed in these commentaries are solely those of their authors, and do not necessarily represent the views of Bat Kol. The commentaries, along with all materials published on the Bat Kol website, are copyrighted by the writers, and are made available for personal and group study, and local church purposes. Permission needed for other purposes. Questions, comments and feedback are always welcome.<\/p>\n

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Bat Kol Institute for Jewish Studies, Jerusalem<\/p>\n

1983-2018<\/p>\n

\u201cChristians Studying the Bible within its Jewish milieu, using Jewish Sources.\u201d<\/p>\n

Website: www.batkol.info; Parashah Admin: gill@batkol.info<\/p>\n

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Shabbat Table Talk Parashah Terumah Erev Shabbat, 17th February 2018 Week of 10th -18th February Torah portion: Exodus 25:1-27:19 Haftarah: 1Kgs 5:26-6:13 \u00a0 Download \u00a0 I was reminded of Harambee days in Kenya as I read the Torah portion for this week. Harambee means \u201call pulling together\u201d in Swahili and it encompasses two activities; donations…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":2175,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ghostkit_customizer_options":"","ghostkit_custom_css":"","ghostkit_custom_js_head":"","ghostkit_custom_js_foot":"","ghostkit_typography":"","_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2171"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2171"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2171\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}