T'rumah

[cellio]

I was asked to lead the evening minyan on Thursday, where it's traditional to give a brief d'var torah. I knew that most of the attendees would be members of the executive committee, which I didn't consciously take into account, but it clearly shaped my thinking somewhat. Here's approximately what I said:

For the last two weeks we've read about the giving of the torah, first the broad strokes like "honor your parents" and "don't murder" given to everyone, and then many more details given just to Moshe covering criminal law, torts, holidays, and more. And now this week we get to T'rumah, the first of four parshiyot dedicated to building the mishkan, the portable sanctuary where the Israelites will worship.

It seems somewhat out of balance, as if building the mishkan is the important set of commandments for the Israelites. Other commentaries have asked "does God need all this?", and that's not what I'm going to talk about. I see something that sets these commandments apart from the rest.

The other commandments we've been given so far are mostly given to us as individuals -- about how we relate to God and to each other. True, there are society-level commandments about how to run a justice system, but there too, the average person does not so much share in these commandments as live in a society affected by them. With the mishkan, on the other hand, every single (adult) Jew is involved -- as a donor at least, and possibly as a craftsman, custodian, or staff. The mishkan is, in turn, there for everyone; any Jew can (and sometimes must) bring offerings there.

I don't think it's that God needs a dwelling-place. I'm not even sure it's that the people need a structure, though arguably they do. I think the mishkan is not so much about the building (noun) as the building (verb). It's the first and biggest activity that everyone participates in together. What better way to build commitment to the community?

Would that we could bring our community together so. We don't have the mishkan or temple; the service conducted there was replaced by our modern prayer services. (That's why they're structured the way they are.) But look at our services today in the Reform movement; rarely does everyone come together. We have sub-communities within the broader community. Sometimes that's necessary; it can be hard to have one service that speaks to the young child, the scholar, the confused teen, the person who wants to participate, and the person who wistfully remembers the decorum of "classical Reform". Sometimes it's necessary to have a tot shabbat, or a learner's minyan, or services at different times. But sometimes, as Rabbi Yoffie spoke about at the biennial in December, we get other fragmentation, such as the bar-mitzvah service that's a private affair for one family. Wouldn't it be great if we could encourage families to celebrate s'machot with the community, as we already do for baby namings and pre-nuptual blessings? And wouldn't it be great if the community could be open to adding such events to regular services, finding a balance point between honoring individuals and serving the needs of the whole congregation?

When we try to be a big tent it seems inevitable that some interior walls get hung up. Sometimes we need to, and I'm not suggesting that we try to throw everyone together all the time. But just as our ancestors built the mishkan for all, may we be open to the possibility of building our mishkan as openly as we can.

Comments

[gingicat]

I like this.

[cellio]

Thank you.

[dr-zrfq.livejournal.com]

I like this a lot. One analogy that sticks in my mind is to the barn-raisings seen in agricultural communities, one example of which can be seen in the movie Witness (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090329/). Everyone participates in some fashion, though not all are involved in putting up the physical structure. It's about building a community, something that much of modern society seems to have lost sight of.

[cellio]

I hadn't thought of that, but yes, that seems similar. Thanks for pointing it out.