TERUMAH 1988

The Torah portion that we read today was Terumah.  In this Torah portion we learn how the Tabernacle was constructed.  We learn how all the furniture that went into the Holy of Holies, the holy part of the Tabernacle, was constructed.  We learn about the ark and how the Ten Commandments were placed in the ark, and the ark cover, the table, the menorah.  We learn about all the appurtenances of the Tabernacle.  The rabbis teach us that the Tabernacle was a symbol of G‑d's presence among the Jewish people.  However, the Jewish people were commanded to build the Tabernacle not so G‑d should dwell within the Tabernacle, but so that G‑d should dwell in them.  It says specifically in the Torah, "And they shall make for die a sanctuary and I will dwell amongst them."  The essence of Judaism is to feel G‑d's presence, to feel the meaning of life.  Unfortunately, there are many people, especially in the last hundred years or so, who feel that Judaism is a desiccated religion, that Judaism is a fossilized religion, that Judaism is dry, is grey on grey, that in Judaism you cannot feel the spark of G‑d, the meaning of life.  This, of course, is not true.  Many people have said that Judaism is nothing more than ethics, nothing more than morality.  It is true that in order to feel G‑d's presence in Judaism we must be moral.  Unless we are moral we cannot feel G‑d's presence.  Franz Rosenzweig, the great Jewish philosopher of the 20th century, has reclaimed for many Jews the idea that Judaism is a way of life that brings you into contact with G‑d.  It allows you feel the meaning of life and allows you to feel the Divine sparks in life.  It allows you to get in touch with who you really are and what your purpose in this world really is, that Judaism is filled with enthusiasm for life, that if you are a believing Jew you will not be overcome by depression, by boredom, by ennui, that you will realize that you are special and unique and that you have a special mission to perform in the world.

The rabbis teach us that the structure of the Tabernacle, itself, teaches us how we are to live a life in which we feel meaning and purpose.  In this Torah portion we learn about the menorah, the symbol of spiritualism in Judaism.  We also learn about the table, the symbol of materialism in this world.  The rabbis tell us that the spiritual and material are intertwined, that it is impossible to lead a spiritual life unless you have a material base, that poverty grinds people down and makes them act many times in an immoral fashion.  On the other hand, if you are just concerned about materialism then you will lead a gross life lacking any spirituality and will many times lead an immoral life trying to buy yourself justice and buy yourself out of all types of responsibility.  The construction of the Tabernacle, itself, teaches us that the spiritual and material are intertwined.  The first thing, of course, we learn about is the Ten Commandments, that everything has to be based on morality.

There are many misconceptions about Judaism.  One of them, especially that you read about in all the books written about Judaism especially by non-Jews, is that Jews are against art.  That is not true.  It is true that the Jewish people were punished for worshipping the golden calf, but in the Holy of Holies there was an image of the cherubim.  These were two children wrapped in a warm embrace, who had wings soaring to heaven.  These cherubim had the faces of children.  The rabbis explain that this was to teach us something.  Just as in the temple there were statues actually of lions outside the temple and on the curtains there were embroidered the images of lions and of griffins, but, yet, all these things were to teach us something.  They were not worshipped themselves and, therefore, they were allowed.  The cherubim who had the faces of children with their wings soaring up to heaven was to teach us that the way we can feel G‑d's presence, which, of course, is the essence of Judaism, is by raising children, that children are the greatest blessing we can gain from G‑d.  Judaism says that we can feel G‑d and feel His presence in the world, but there is a catch, a hook.  We first have to be moral.  Unless we are moral then we cannot feel G‑d's presence.  Therefore, the cherubim were placed on top of the ark which contained the Ten Commandments.  The Ten Commandments are the basis of Judaism.  We believe you cannot separate Judaism from morality.  If you ever separate religion from morality, then you have paganism.  You do not have Judaism.  Judaism teaches us that we can reach G‑d.  We can feel the Divine in life, but we can only do this if we are grounded on the Ten Commandments.  The Ten Commandments of morality is not the end but the beginning.  We must be moral if we are to feel G‑d's presence in the world.  How is the greatest way to feel G‑d's presence in the world?  That is through having children.  Children are the greatest blessing G‑d can bestow on man because we become almost godlike ourselves.  We get to mold and shape children and their values and how they are to live.  Of course, when they grow up they do what they want, but we have a way to shape the future generations, and, by shaping the future generations, we connect ourselves to past generations and, so to speak, even to G‑d.

That is why the fourth commandment, which is honor thy father and mother, is listed among the commandments between man and G‑d, not between man and man, because parents are performing a godlike function, and, therefore, it is placed among those commandments.  If we raise our children in the right spirit, if we give to them the love and compassion and joy that we should, we should be able to feel G‑d's presence.  That is why, too, that if all the other pieces of furniture that were in the Tabernacle were lost or destroyed, they could be remade.  The menorah, if it was lost or destroyed, could be remade.  If the table was lost or destroyed another could be made.  However, if the Ten Commandments were lost we were not allowed to build an ark and put an empty ark in the Holy of Holies and have an ark cover with cherubim with faces of children with wings soaring to heaven.  Why was that?  The answer is that you cannot raise children unless you give them values.  Idis, when he destroyed the second temple, was amazed because when he ran into the Holy of Holies and flung open the curtain there was nothing.  He said the dews worship nothing, because in the second Temple we did not have the ark.  We did not have the ark because we did not have the Ten Commandments, the stones upon which the Ten Commandments were engraved.  If you are to raise good children you must teach them values.  You must teach them there is a right and there is a wrong.  In life things that you can and cannot do are not dependent upon whether you feel like it, whether it feels good.  We have to teach children that there is a definite right and a definite wrong in the world.  If we do that, then we, ourselves, get closer to feel the Divine sparks in the world.  It is important that all of us realize that we cannot feel the Divine presence in the world unless we are moral and base ourselves on the Ten Commandments and balance the spiritual and material.  The rabbis say there are two tests in the world.  One is the material test of great poverty.  In extreme poverty it is hard to act moral or even think in a religious perspective.  Saints can, but not the average person.  Grinding poverty is a terrible test.  The second test is that of wealth because a person who has great wealth feels he is all-powerful and can do anything he wants and can buy justice and buy himself out of all sorts of responsibilities.  That is a terrible test, too.  The rabbis say we always must combine the spiritual and the material if we are to achieve G‑d's presence.  The best way we do that is by raising children, by teaching a child a trade as well as teaching him values.  Therefore, we must never let the ark remain empty.  It must contain the Ten Commandments.  We hope and pray in our generation especially where so many people feel there is a shortcut to spirituality through drugs and alcohol that they will realize that the only you can achieve a spiritual life is through giving, through the compassion that is necessary and the love to raise good children, and that all of this must be based upon the Ten Commandments.

I am reminded of the story they tell of a brother and sister talking to each other.  They just had a new baby brother.  The girl said, "You know, we have a new baby brother."  The brother said, "So what?" The sister said, "Do you know that Daddy said the new baby brother cost $2,000?" The brother said, "So what?  Look how long it lasts."  If we will raise children in the proper way then we can assure that G‑d's presence will be felt in the world not only now but in the future.  Let us all hope and pray that we will all be given the opportunity to raise children, to see grandchildren, and to raise them based upon the Ten Commandments.