PARASHAT Terumah

This week's Torah Gems were prepared by

Francine Aaron

PARASHAT Terumah
Parshat Terumah teaches us the importance of willingly contributing to the construction and maintenance of a place of worship - today it is the synagogue. In sentence 2 of chapter 25 the Torah says specifically that it should be a donation from the heart ("libo" - his heart). The word "terumah" means a contribution and it has in it a smaller word "ram" which means "high" because when one donates, one is raised to a higher level.

In this parsha we are given extremely great details of the dimensions and materials to be used in constructing the sanctuary, the ark, the menorah and all the instruments to be used in performing the various tasks. It is true that the Israelites had to build the items because God commanded them to do so, just as we must obey all of God's commandments simply because we were told to do so, but very often there is a beneficial by-product which we can understand, and in this case the by-product is the very useful one of learning skills which would be necessary when the people would enter Israel. The generation who learned these skills would pass on the knowledge to their children. Carpenters, weavers, embroiderers, goldsmiths, silversmiths, jewelers, artists, sculptors, bakers, furriers, dyers, engravers, tailors, potters, perfumers - these are all arts of a very advanced society, and would give the Israelites a good head start in settling the land. They might also use these skills during their sojourn in the desert to trade with other desert peoples.

And from the detailed instructions which God gives to Moses we can learn a lesson for our lives - that if we must pay such close attention to tangible items - how much more so should we be careful and pay close attention to the actions of our lives - and connect our acts and thoughts to the teachings of the Torah.