February 18, 2021 / 6 Adar, 5781 • 6 Adar, 5781
Issue 654
Dedicated in loving memory of Mrs. Miriam Friedman

Terumah
The Tabernacle

Exodus 25:1-27:19


The seventh portion of the Book of Exodus opens with G-d’s command for the Jewish people to contribute (Terumah in Hebrew) toward the construction of this Tabernacle.

Infusing Divinity

לְכֹל כְּלֵי הַמִּשְׁכָּן בְּכֹל עֲבֹדָתוֹ וְכָל יְתֵדֹתָיו וְכָל יִתְדֹת הֶחָצֵר נְחשֶׁת
All the implements of the Tabernacle in the work of it shall be made of copper all the stakes and all the stakes for the Courtyard shall be made of copper.

Exodus 27:19


All the stakes of the Courtyard must be made of copper: The stakes were hammered into the earth, indicating that the holiness of the Tabernacle actually penetrated the ground. By building the Tabernacle in the desert, and by “building” our personal, inner Tabernacles, we infuse Divinity even into those places that appear to be, like the ground, inanimate and lifeless.

—from Daily Wisdom #1