Building the World from Love (Shabbat Terumah)

Recently, a chaplain from HSL’s hospice asked me to help her run a blessing circle – an opportunity for a resident’s family to share fond memories with her while she was still conscious. I gathered the family into a room, and joined rest of her family and the hospice chaplain on Zoom. Despite the physical discomfort of mask, goggles, gown, and face-shield, tears welled in my eyes as I heard the hopes and memories the resident’s family shared with her.

This week’s parasha is named for its opening words, in which God instructs Moses to build the Mishkan, a portable dwelling for God’s presence. It begins:

Daber el b’nai yisrael v’yikchu li truma / Tell the Israelite people to bring Me gifts;

me-et kol ish asher idvenu libo tikchu et trumati / you shall accept gifts for Me from every person whose heart so moves him (25:2).

Now, any good architect would focus first on the type and quality of materials needed to complete her project. Torah, instead, emphasis the spirit in which the materials should be given: they can only be offered voluntarily, by those whose hearts move them.

I witnessed this spirit of generosity on Skilled Nursing as I prepared for the blessing circle: in the music therapist who set up the link for our meeting; in the community life manager who brought me an iPad to use, then directed me to a nurse, who gave me a face shield. And after I cut my finger opening its packaging, in the nurse who disinfected my cut, and gave me a band aid. By the time we started the meeting, the room was filled to overflowing, not just with the love of the family for this resident, but with the generosity of heart of so many others.

Why does Torah emphasize the spirit in which the materials for the Mishkan should be gathered above the kind and quality of the materials? Because, it’s not the wool or dye or metals, but rather the act of giving gifts, of connecting with others to create something special – that ultimately makes the Mishkan a holy place. A few verses after our opening, Torah describes what happens when we build something in this way. God says:

V’asu li mikdash v’shechanti betocham / [If they] make Me a sanctuary…I will dwell among them. (25:8)

When we approach a task with generosity of heart, more powerful that the product of our labor is the tangible sense of sacred presence we bring to it, resulting in a monument to love we can see and touch.

Though we no longer have a Mishkan, we have moments like the one I had on Skilled Nursing, what I’ll call, “Mishkan moments.” I look forward to this Mishkan moment – with gratitude to those who generously offer time and energy to create it with me and Beth – to Jean, Elsie, Rudy, Herb, and others, who have helped with set up and breakdown at various times since we began to meet again in May; to the manager on duty who sets up the chairs for us; to all of you who make time to be with us – remotely or in person, to build this Mishkan of song and prayer, of hopes and dreams, of tears and laughter.

May we all come to recognize, maybe even create, a few of our own Mishkan moments in the days and weeks ahead.