Parashat Terumah: God’s “House” o fI, C h T b f J u J S e n h k UG¬ g u “Build me a sanctuary and I will dwell among them.”
A question comes up every year in every grade, when the Lower School students consider this week’s parasha:
“If God is everywhere, why does God need the Israelites to build a house for God?”
The same question can be inferred from many of the commentaries on the verse above. Here is Rashi:
There is no chronological order in the Torah. The story of the Golden Calf took place many days before the command to make the Tabernacle.
Rashi asserts that the events of Parashat Ki Tissa, which we will read next week, tells the story of the building of the Golden Calf. This actually precedes this week’s parasha even though this week’s parasha appears first in the Torah. Citing the rabbinic hermeneutic principle, “there is no chronological order in the Torah.” Why does Rashi make this point? Perhaps it is to answer the question, “If God is everywhere, why does God need the Israelites to build a house for God?” If one reverses the placement of Parashat Terumah and Parashat Ki Tissa in the Torah, a different motivation emerges for God’s command to build the Tabernacle. First, the Israelites built an idol of gold in their need to have a concrete manifestation of the Divine. It is only after this incident that God commands them to build a holy place, using the same precious materials that were used in building the Golden Calf, thus channeling their energies towards a sacred pursuit. The Tabernacle is a necessary accommodation to human frailty.
A beautiful and touching midrash on Parashat Terumah offers a similar rationale; that the Tabernacle was built in response to a human need. This offers a more complimentary perspective on the character of the Jewish people:
The erection of the sanctuary was begun in answer to a direct appeal from the people, who said to God, “Lord of the world! The kings of the nations have palaces in which are set a table, candlesticks, and other royal insignia, that their king may be recognized as such. God replied, “I do not need any of these things. But if you insist, do it in the way I command you. It is customary in the world that whoever has a son cares for him, washes him, feeds him, and carries him, but as soon as the son is come of age, the son provides for his father. So when you were young, I provided for you, washed you, fed you with bread and meat, gave you water to drink and bore you on eagles’ wings, but now that you are come of age, I wish you to build a house for Me. (Midrash Aggadah)
In this midrash, the building of the Tabernacle is not a gift to God, it is a gift from God in recognition and celebration of their growth. This is akin to entrusting an older child with an important responsibility in order to demonstrate confidence in that child’s abilities. My favorite explanation of why the people are asked to build a Tabernacle comes from a grammatical inconsistency in the verse: o fI, C h T b f J u J S e n h k UG¬ g u
The verse is usually translated: “build me a holy place and I will dwell among them,” which camouflages the grammatical problem. A literal translation would be “build me a holy place and I will dwell inside of them.” Why “btokham,” inside of them , not “btokho,” inside of it , i.e. the holy place the people are building? A story answers:
When the Haffetz Hayyim wished to construct a building for his community to pray and study and gather in, a certain Jew came to him and said, “Rabbi! God has blessed me with wealth and I would like to be allowed the privilege of constructing the building with my money. The Haffetz Hayyim replied: Your intention is indeed good but I cannot accept your offer. I want everyone in our community to contribute to this building so that everyone can have the ennobling experience of participating in building a holy place (Torah Gems on Parashat Terumah).
It is in the act of building holy places, whether literally or metaphorically, and engaging in actions and mitzvot that bring goodness and holiness into the world, that we discover God’s presence dwelling inside of us. It is for this reason that God commands the Jewish people to build a sanctuary.