The Eternal One spoke to Moses, saying: "Tell the Israelite people to bring Me gifts; you shall accept gifts for Me from every person whose heart is so moved." - Exodus 25:1-2
D'var Torah By: Rabbi Peter S. Knobel; Reprinted from ReformJudaism.org
Sacred Space Is Where God Dwells and Hearts Are Moved
Parashat T'rumah begins, "The Eternal One spoke to Moses, saying: Tell the Israelite people to bring Me gifts; you shall accept gifts for Me from every person whose heart is so moved. . . . And let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them" (Exodus 25:1-8). And eleven chapters later we read, " 'The people are bringing more than is needed for the tasks entailed in the work that the Eternal has commanded to be done.' Moses thereupon had this proclamation made throughout the camp: 'Let no man or woman make further effort toward gifts for the sanctuary!' So the people stopped bringing: their efforts had been more than enough for all the tasks to be done" (36:5-7). The standard joke is that this was the first and last Jewish building project that was oversubscribed.
Two themes are central to this Torah portion:
building of the Mikdash (the Holy Place), which is ultimately understood as the Temple in Jerusalem and a place where God will dwell among the people
contributions that come from people whose hearts have been moved to give, that is, voluntary gifts
As we read about the building of the Mikdash, we also consider our modern sanctuaries – our synagogues – and their relationship with our present-day Jewish communities. Today, our community is consumed with analyses of the recent Pew Research Center study on Jewish Americans and concerned about some of its findings, such as this:
The percentage of U.S. adults who say they are Jewish when asked about their religion has declined by about half since the late 1950s. Meanwhile, the number of Americans with direct Jewish ancestry or upbringing who consider themselves Jewish, yet describe themselves as atheist, agnostic or having no particular religion, appears to be rising.1
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