Parsha Talk Teruma 5784 2024

Kol Ramah

Parsha Talk - with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat T’rumah [Exodus 25:1-27:18] is the first of three successive parashiyot which take up the plans for building the Tabernacle and its furnishings. Given the details I think it fair to say that the content is an acquired taste and not everyone gets that far! There is the well-known verse [25:8] וְעָשׂוּ לִי מִקְדָּשׁ וְשָׁכַנְתִּי בְּתוֹכָם “And let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them”. In the JPS Torah Commentary on Exodus, Nahum Sarna draws attention to the unusual locution which suggests that the purpose of the sanctuary is to enable God to dwell among the people. In our conversation, we talk about this verse, and more generally about how we construct holy space and holy time, and how these bear on our religious experience. We hope you enjoy it! Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the hostages, may they be returned to their homes safely, and the soldiers defending Israel, may they be removed from harm’s way. Shabbat Shalom.