Parshat Terumah: Holy Space: Altered

BY: Mordy Labaton

The Mishkan is the earliest task of Jewish nationhood.  It is the first response to the challenge of creating a physical space to reflect the presence of G-d in the world. In Parashat Terumah, G-d introduces the idea of “holy space” to the Jewish people with a very specific blueprint of the Mishkan.  The notion of “holy space” in the form of a Mikdash will remain central to the Jewish people throughout history. As the nation grows and evolves, the role of the Mikdash is refashioned to respond to new spiritual realities.

The Haftara for Parashat Terumah, from The Book of Kings I: 5-6, is an opportunity to explore this process. It describes the building of Solomon’s Temple at a time when the nation is at its most powerful. In choosing this Haftara for Parashat Terumah, the Rabbis focus on the evolving role of the Mikdash. The juxtaposition of the two readings draws attention to the continuity of certain themes, as well as, the changes which occur as the Jewish nation develops.

The Mishkan created in the wilderness is an intimate space reflecting a young, vulnerable nation which has just entered into a covenant with G-d. G-d's presence among the people is expressed as an eloquent, yet simple equation.

                                           

                                                 וְעָשׂוּ לִי מִקְדָּשׁ  וְשָׁכַנְתִּי בְּתוֹכָם .

               “And let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.” 

(Exodus 25:8)[1]

At the infancy of the nation, for a people just learning how to relate to G-d, the presence of G-d must be constant and guaranteed.  The Mishkan symbolizes the presence of G-d among the Jewish people in the wilderness and as such, it parallels the unconditional nature of the relationship.

In the Haftara, this equation becomes more complicated. G-d speaks to King Solomon about the meaning of this great building project and sets forth conditions for G-d’s presence at this time.

           

     וַיְהִי, דְּבַר-יְהוָה אֶל-שְׁלֹמֹה לֵאמֹר. הַבַּיִת הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר-אַתָּה בֹנֶה, אִם-תֵּלֵךְ בְּחֻקֹּתַי וְאֶת-מִשְׁפָּטַי תַּעֲשֶׂה, וְשָׁמַרְתָּ אֶת-כָּל-מִצְו‍ֹתַי, לָלֶכֶת בָּהֶם--וַהֲקִמֹתִי אֶת-דְּבָרִי אִתָּךְ, אֲשֶׁר דִּבַּרְתִּי אֶל-דָּוִד אָבִיך י וְשָׁכַנְתִּי, בְּתוֹךְ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל; וְלֹא אֶעֱזֹב, אֶת-עַמִּי יִשְׂרָאֵל. 

“This house you are building, if you follow My laws, and observe My rules and faithfully keep My commandments...then I will abide among the children of Israel and I will never forsake my people Israel.” (Kings I, 6:12)

                                         

 G-d makes clear to Solomon that His presence among the people is now conditioned upon their obedience to His word.  Since the early days of the Mishkan, the nation has grown. They are no longer a group of newly liberated slaves carried by G-d through the wilderness. The people have developed into a nation and they now have the power and responsibility to ensure G-d’s presence by fulfilling the terms of the G-d's law.

There have been misunderstandings regarding the very purpose of a sanctuary.  Solomon’s father David attempts to build a house for G-d to match his own palace.

רְאֵה נָא אָנֹכִי יוֹשֵׁב בְּבֵית אֲרָזִים וַאֲרוֹן הָאֱלֹהִים יֹשֵׁב בְּתוֹךְ

הַיְרִיעָה

“Here, I am dwelling in a house of cedar, while the Ark of the Lord abides in a tent” (Samuel II, 7:2)

He is rebuffed by G-d who reminds him that a Mikdash is not needed as a dwelling place for G-d. Solomon is taught similarly in our Haftara that the ultimate goal of his elaborate building project is for G-d to dwell among the people and that the Mikdash will be a reflection of His relationship with them.

G-d’s presence is conditional upon the nation’s upholding the Mizvot of the Torah.  The behavior of the people and the quality of the society which they establish will bring G-d into their midst.

In the desert, G-d initiates the project and the people respond from their hearts:

דַּבֵּר אֶל-בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, וְיִקְחוּ-לִי תְּרוּמָה:  מֵאֵת כָּל-אִישׁ אֲשֶׁר יִדְּבֶנּוּ לִבּוֹ, תִּקְחוּ אֶת-תְּרוּמָתִי.

“Tell the people to bring for me gifts, you shall accept gifts for me from every person whose heart so moves him” (Exodus, 25:2)

The donations flow until Moshe must ask the people to stop. (Exodus 36:6) The process is village-like. Participation is unanimous and enthusiastic. G-d is the architect and the director of all details of the construction.

Under Solomon, the accumulation of resources and labor is drastically different. The nation has grown into an empire. It has international status and an enormous bureaucracy. Cedar is imported from Lebanon, foreign craftsman are enlisted and the people of Israel are taxed for labor. This is a far cry from the voluntary and intimate nature of the Mishkan. The king himself is the director of this project whose dimensions are vast compared to the simple Mishkan of the desert years. What role will this magnificent structure play in the religious life of the nation?

The answer comes seven years later as we read further in The Book of Kings at the culmination of King Solomon’s building, during the dedication of the Mikdash. Yes, the building is grand and the process is public and elaborate. Yet when the powerful king turns to the people of Israel, assembled before the Temple he has created, he proclaims before G-d,

                                        

הִנֵּה הַשָּׁמַיִם וּשְׁמֵי הַשָּׁמַיִם, לֹא יְכַלְכְּלוּךָ--אַף, כִּי-הַבַּיִת הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר  בָּנִיתִי

“But will G-d really dwell on earth? The heavens to their uttermost reaches cannot contain You, how much less this house that I have built!” (Kings I, 8:27).

He understands the message that we heard in Terumah, וְשָׁכַנְתִּי בְּתוֹכָם. The purpose of the sanctuary is to reflect and sustain the relationship between G-d and His people. He describes the Temple as the place toward which the people will direct their prayers (Kings I, 8: 30) and he asks G-d to watch and to listen toward this place where the people will pour their hearts. He continues to list the situations in which Israel will turn toward the Mikdash to pray. There will be occasions which need judgment and repentance. There will be times of famine and times of war. The nation has grown and its needs have become complex. Solomon’s Mikdash will be the focal point of a mature Jewish society which has learned to reach toward G-d in prayer and to utilize holy space in their religious life.

The Jewish people under Solomon are no longer isolated in the desert. They are part of an empire and have expanded to be members of the world community. Solomon extends the impact of the Mikdash to the non-Jews from afar who “will hear about Your great name” (Kings I, 8:41-42). Unlike the Mishkan, which was closed to all but those of priestly descent, the Mikdash is potentially a religious focal point for all mankind.  Solomon's invitation to all peoples expresses yet another role for the People of Israel and for the Mikdash.  As a recognized nation on the world stage, the Jewish people are not only responsible for their own relationship to G-d but can be a medium through which the entire world reaches G-d. The Mikdash will be the center of that ideal.

The holy space of the Jewish people is an expression of the social and spiritual stages in their evolution. Recently emancipated from slavery, the Jews of the Mishkan stage are fragile. The desert is an incubator for a nation just beginning to reach out to G-d. The Mishkan reflects this need. It is an unconditional guarantee of G-d's Shekhina dwelling among them. As the Jewish people progresses and becomes a nation, their relationship to holy space necessarily evolves. The Mikdash of King Solomon reflects the religious mission of a mature people.  The Beit Hamikdash becomes the spiritual area through which man meets G-d and also the magnificent structure through which the values of Israel are represented to the world. 

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[1] All English translations are from the New JPS Translation 2003.