Parshas Terumah: Welcome Home

“They shall make a Sanctuary for Me, then I will dwell in their midst” (Exodus 25:8)

Every traveler is well aware that the Jewish sights in many countries are the barren synagogues that once flourished with great vitally, yet today are relegated to the dustbins of history. I personally have visited many such synagogues across the globe including synagogues in the United States, Egypt, India, Japan, Bosnia, Croatia, Germany, the Czeck Republic, and throughout the former Soviet Union, just to name a few. These synagogues bear witness to our rich history, and our two thousand year exile. In fact, one of my travel highlights was delivering the sermon in a stunningly restored synagogue in Krakow, Poland. The experience was one of mixed emotions. On the one hand, here I was preaching to several hundred visitors among whom were many practicing Jews; yet on the other hand, nearly one hundred synagogues flourished in Krakow prior to World War II, and today only one synagogue serves as an active house of worship. All of the other synagogues were either destroyed or were transformed into museums. These synagogues were once the central focus of untold numbers of Jews. Today, they are the focus of tour books and historians. The significance of a synagogue is the important role which it plays in Jewish life. What is that role?

The Torah commands us to build a sanctuary for G-d. Maimonides explains that the term used for sanctuary is “Mikdash” as opposed to “Mishkan.” Mikdash connotes a permanent dwelling place, which implies that the command to build a sanctuary is one for all generations. Interestingly, the Torah does not write to build the sanctuary so that G-d can dwell in the sanctuary, the wording of the verse states “then I will dwell in their midst.” The purpose of the Temple is to bring the Divine Spirit to each and every one of us. There is no point of G-d’s confinement to an edifice of sticks and a stone, rather that structure serves as a satellite transmission of G-d’s presence to us, provided we tune in!

Nachmanides takes it a step further. What is the purpose of the Temple? He explains that the Temple took the inspiration of Sinai and channeled it by way of the Holy of Holies. That was the abode of the Ark for the Tablets of the Ten Commandments, and the original Torah Scroll. This means that the Divine Spirit was manifest as a result of the daily sacrifices and services which took place in the Temple, yet there was a special Divine Spirit due to the showcasing and dissemination of the Torah from the Temple. As such, the Sanhedrin/ Supreme Court, adjudicated on the Temple Mount, as Isaiah put it, “"From Zion Torah will go out, and the word of God from Jerusalem." The Temple therefore serves as a continuation of the transmission of Torah from Mount Sinai.

Although we no longer have a Temple, we do have the commandment to build a Temple. How do we fulfill that commandment today? We are commanded to build synagogues as the abode for the Divine Spirit in the exile. Those synagogues fulfill a dual purpose: they are houses of prayer, thereby substituting for the sacrifices and services in the Temple; and they serve as houses of study, to substitute for the concatenation from Sinai, via the Holy of Holies, to our very own synagogue.

One of the greatest celebrations for a Jewish community is the building of a new Synagogue. To clarify, the building alone is not the cause for celebration; only when the synagogue serves as a house of worship and study for all does the celebration truly become solidified. This could take many years. Once the synagogue is built, the real test begins: Will this edifice rise to the status of a house and worship for all of our brothers and sisters who have yet to choose their affiliation? The only one to answer this question is you. You must decide whether this will become your home, or it will be the synagogue you belong to and only frequent when there is a social event, or the High Holidays. In order for the celebration to truly take place, we must make this our primary home away from home. Let us also invite our friends and family to partake in our celebration. Let us showcase our personal Holy of Holies. Rabbis are there to teach and inspire, you are there to get inspired and share that inspiration with others. If you don’t do it, who will? No matter how long ago the synagogue was built, this question must be answered.

Let’s fulfill the command of making a sanctuary for G-d, and truly build our synagogues into the most successful houses of prayer and study for all.