If You Find The Secret, Tell Me How To Build A Mold (Ron 'Pigpen' McKernan - "Chinatown Shuffle")

Despite the most recent blast of winter during this final week of February, I was reminded that that winter is nearing its cold dreary conclusion. My son and I were reminded of the inevitable conclusion of winter the other evening. With my son sitting and studying downstairs, I happened to be watching my news show. During the commercial, I did a bit of channel surfing and landed upon the Major League Baseball network.  My son looked up from his studies and we gave each other knowing smiles. There it was, a beautiful sunny day in Florida, two teams that neither of us actually care about, and yet we sat there on the sofa watching mesmerized. We were watching baseball! Yes, it is only spring training. It was meaningless. Yet we couldn’t move. The grass was green, the field was well manicured, the fans and the players were having a relaxed wonderful time. My son and I understood immediately that the baseball season was nearing its start and with it the end of winter and the eternal home of spring. We watched a few innings and listened to the announcers talk baseball. The players interacted with the “snowbird” fans. The interviews with the players were more relaxed. The fans were much closer to the field than in a typical major league baseball park. The relaxed atmosphere of the game made it more approachable, and pure. Young draft picks were trying hard to make the team, and grizzled veterans were trying hard to remain on the team. This is where the Baseball Gods dwell, in the simplicity of the spring training facility, in the spring air, and the eternal hope and optimism of a new season.

            This week’s Parshah is Terumah. Terumah means “a portion”. In the context of this week’s Parsha, the portion in question is the portion of wealth that B’nai Yisroel would dedicate to the construction of the Aron, the ark that would hold the Luchot Habrit (the stone tablets upon which the Ten Commandments were written), the lamp, the table, and the material for the Ohel Moed (the tent of the meeting). All of which comprised the Mishkan or the Tabernacle. If you are in construction, interior design, or architecture, the details in Parsha Terumah are fascinating. If you’re not in any of those occupations then all the details might seem, shall we say, a bit dry. Whether a fan or not, whether an architect or not, there are certain things that we can all appreciate, and there are certain concepts that increase our appreciation and perspective for the Mishkan as well as the ballpark. Moshe was told: V’Asu Li Mikdash v’Shachanti B’tocham- “They shall make a sanctuary for Me so that I may dwell among them” (Ex.25:8). What follows is the details and decor of a place where the people were able to approach God. If they build according to plan, then God will reside there. If they behave according to G-d’s Torah then G-d will dwell among them.

 I know what you’re thinking. “ Isn’t G-d everywhere?” “If so, how can G-d only reside in the Mishkan?” One way to understand the verse is in terms of our needs, the community’s needs. If B’nai Yisroel builds it, he will dwell among them. Certainly, G-d resides everywhere. However, the verse is incomplete. If they build it, yes, G-d will dwell among them. If G-d dwells among them, that is the entire community, then the entire community must have a central gathering place, the Ohel Moed (the tent of the meeting). The difference, of course, is that the Mishkan was built so that G-d could be among the people in the present. The spring training stadiums are frequently sold out because baseball fans yearn for a  place for people to go that reminds them of something simpler and more romantic – their childhoods.

As I have grown older and I watch my children grow, I have started to appreciate that God dwells in some fascinating places. God dwells in the imaginations of small children and the wonder with which they see the world. God dwells in the questions that our children ask, or the concern they express when they see suffering or injustice in the world. God dwells with the family that has been struck by the loss of a loved one but has rallied together to offer support and sustenance to each other. No wonder my kids think I am crazy. They want to grow up already, speed up the process. I want to return to the carefree days of my childhood, playing catch with my friends without a care in the world because God dwells in our ability to return to the more innocent and pure days of springtime.

Peace,

Rav Yitz

Put Your Gold Money Where Your Love Is Baby; Before You Let My Deal Go Down (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia - "Loser")

            Earlier this week, my wife and I brought our fifteen-year-old daughter to the airport bound for Israel. She joined approximately sixty-five classmates to form “Team Shalva” a participating non- profit sponsor organization for the Jerusalem Marathon. In order to be on the “team” and run in the Jerusalem Marathon, each “team member” committed to raising more than $3000 USD for Shalva, an Israeli non-profit that provides support, education, and training for special needs children and their families.  For the past several months, our daughter asked our family and friends for donations, she babysat, and she ran a winter break camp for little children. She also put in her own birthday gift money that she received from family and friends over the course of the year.  I was curious what her rationale was for contributing her own money. She explained that she did not feel comfortable raising money for a cause if she wasn’t willing to contribute more than just her time. Smiling, she reminded me that I am always telling our children about authenticity and integrity “putting your money where your mouth is” and “being able to walk the walk if you are going to talk the talk”.        

This week we combine the final two Parshiot, Vayakahel-Pekudie, and complete the Book of Exodus. Following the sin of the Golden Calf and Teshuvah (repentance), B’nai Yisroel begins executing God’s instructions for the Mishkan, the Ark, and the Tent of the Meeting. You will recall that when God gave these instructions to Moshe, God started from the middle of the Mishkan – the Aron and worked out to the walls of the Tent of the Meeting.  When B’nai Yisroel begins the building process, it begins with walls of the Tent, and then concludes with the altar and finally the Ark. After the destructive behavior of worshipping the Golden Calf, B’nai Yisroel comes together and shares a common constructive experience bound by a common goal.

 Their goal is to complete the construction of the Mishkan. The common experience is their contributions of raw materials. V’Yavo’u  Kol Ish Asher Nasahu Libo V’chol Asher Nadvah Rucho- Every man whose heart inspired him came; and everyone whose spirit motivated him brought the portion of God for the work of the Tent of the Meeting, for all its labor and for the sacred clothing (Ex.35:21). The Or HaChaim explains that there were types of givers: those whose “spirit motivated them” to give what they could afford, voluntarily and wholeheartedly. However, there was a second category and perhaps an even nobler category of people whose “heart inspired” them to do more than they could afford since their desire to share in the building of the Mishkan was so incredibly powerful. Their desire to undo the damage of the Golden Calf was so strong they were inspired to an even greater degree. Whether part of the first or second category of donors, everyone who gave was considered to have participated in this constructive process. Everyone had an opportunity to repent for the sin of the Golden Calf and for their lack of faith. If viewed as a process, B’nai Yisroel began on the outside of its relationship with God, struggling to connect to God by means of idolatrous behavior.  After its repentance and with the completion of each aspect of the Mishkan and the Ohel Moed; Bnai Yisroel began moving towards the Holy of Holies. They started with the walls of the Tent of the Meeting and finished with the ark. They started where they were capable of starting. However their goal was to be spiritually worthy enough to approach the Aron, and the Ark of the Covenant.

 When a group, a team, a community bound by a common goal, a common purpose or a common desire to experience that which is authentic; then something very special happens. Our people build a Mishkan. They experience a closeness to God that they were unable to experience either as individuals or at a lower level of spiritual development. Our children raise money for a worthwhile cause, participate in a spiritual and physical deed that tests them. They share the experience together and something special happens. They learn not only something about themselves but what it means to be part of something more than just themselves. They understand the importance of not only their personal relationship to God but the community’s relationship to God. The result, of course, is that God will dwell among the community that built the Mishkan and God will dwell among those teenagers who raise the money and run in a marathon for the sake and welfare of others.

Peace,

Rav Yitz

You Get So Far Away From How It Feels Inside (Robert Hunter& Jerry Garcia - "Comes a Time")

One of the more fascinating aspects of parenthood is the parent-teacher conference. For about 90% of the time they are all quite mundane and very repetitive. The teachers speak nuanced complement. “She is very social,” does not mean she has lots of friends. Rather it means that she talks a lot. “He is very creative” does not mean that he will write a then next great spy-thriller. Instead it means that he struggles to focus upon the mundane tasks that have been assigned. So, after we get past all the double-speak, the curriculum, and perhaps any concerns my wife and I may have; we ask the teacher about our children in terms of behavior. Do they listen? Do they answer back? Are they respectful? Are they put forth an effort in the classroom? Do they get along with the other children? Do they bully any one? Do they demonstrate empathy to the kid who is always being left out? When the teachers begin answering these questions, I always begin incredulously smiling. Certainly, I am proud to hear such positive answers to these questions. They listen? Even after the first request? I can’t believe it? They don’t answer back? “Unbelievable” I say to myself and the incredulous smile begins. They act respectfully? “My kids? Go figure,” I say to myself, and my smile spreads. “They get along with other children? Amazing, the teacher should have heard them fighting this morning”, I say to myself. My response contains none of these sarcastic thoughts, or the utter surprise that I feel. Rather I look at the teacher and ask if there was a way to take 2% of these “wonderful children” and give her 2% of the typical children that are in my home. I figure that we would then have a little more of the “sweet terrific” kids that they are in school, and less of the other stuff which they seem to save for me and my wife! My wife reminds me that as long as they are terrific in public, home is where they can “let their hair down”. Soothingly she reminds me that as they grow up, eventually there will be more consistency between how terrific they are in public and private. We just have to get through adolescence.

This Shabbat, we read from Parsha Terumah. In it, Moshe has re-ascended the mountain in order to receive the laws, and the blueprint, if you will, for the construction of the Mishkan, the portable tabernacle that will eventually permit B’nai Yisroel to gather, to make offerings to God and to provide a physical dwelling for God. If you are an architect, or if you are an interior decorator, this Parsha goes into tremendous detail about Mishkan’s construction and decoration. Before all the detail are presented for construction and decoration, God commands Moshe to tell B’nai Yisroel that the funding for this vital public works project will come from each individual V’Yikchu Li Terumah Mei’eit Kol Ish Asher Yidvenu Libo Tikechu et Terumati – They shall take for me a portion, from every man whose heart motivates him, you shall take my portion (Ex. 25:2). The holiest spot within the community, the most sacred area is based upon each and every individual apportioning a percentage of their assets to the construction of, decoration of, and maintenance of the Mishkan. How incredibly equitable! Everyone is involved and everyone has a stake in the outcome.

There were no “dues” per se. Rather each individual had to look within him/herself and be brutally honest. Each individual would give as they saw fit. This was a sacred moment between the individual and God. The object was not to give due to social pressure but rather for the holiest of reasons. However such a process requires tremendous honesty. Such a process requires us to be sure that our outside matches our inside. Such a process forces the individual to “mean what you say and say what you mean”. Such a process forces the individual to not only “talk the talk” but walk the walk”. This message is subliminally hinted at when we read about the design of the Aron, the Ark that is to hold the Shnei Luchot Ha’Brit – the Two Stone Tablets upon which are written the Ten Commandments. V’Asu Aron Atzei Shitim – they shall make an Ark of acacia wood (Ex.25:10). V’Tzipitah Oto Zahav tahor Mibayit U’Michutz T’Tzapenu V’Asita Alav Zeir Zahav Saviv – You shall cover it with pure gold, from within and from without shall you cover it, and you shall make on it a gold crown all around (Ex. 25:11). It makes sense that the outside of the Ark is covered with gold since that will be viewed by the people. However what is the reason for lining the arc with pure gold from the inside? Rabeinu Chananel, the 11^th century North African Talmudist, comments that this arrangement symbolized the Talmudic dictum that a Torah scholar must be consistent; his inner character must match his public demeanor, his actions must conform to his professed beliefs. However there is no reason to limit such sentiment to Torah scholars. Kol Ish Asher Yidvenuy Libo Tikechu et Terumati – every man whose heart motivates him you shall take my portion. Every man should be motivated to be consistent. Every person’s actions should conform to his/her professed beliefs, and his or her beliefs should be expressed by behavior.

Everyday, we have an opportunity to be consistent to our beliefs and our values. Everyday we have an opportunity to demonstrate to our children that our behavior matches our beliefs and values. Everyday we face the struggle to keep the pure gold that exists within our insides the same as the pure gold that exists on the outside. The object is to never tarnish that which lies within nor that which lies with out. So every opportunity we have to express holiness, whether Mitzvot l’Ben Adam L’Chavero – Mitzvot that pertains between people or Mitzvot L’Hashem – Mitzvot that pertain to God, must be taken advantage of. For in our neglect to do so, we tarnish the most precious aspect, our souls’ purity and holiness.

Peace,

Rav Yitz