Rabbi Roodyn

The Sinai experience was never meant to be a permanent one. The revelation was a one off to establish Moshe’s credibility as the lawgiver, but they were never meant to stay at the mountain. Moshe has to descend from the mountain top and the Jewish people need to move on. The rest of the book of shemos is therefore essentially a narrative of how to keep maintain the clarity that they had achieved and how to create heaven on earth.

This takes place in two very distinct ways. In last week’s sedra we are introduced to the concept of mishpatim, social laws. These laws and principles govern our everyday interaction in the home, the workplace and in the street. They teach us how to interact with each other and solve our disputes in an ethical and mature fashion. They bring Hashem into the mundane areas of live and in doing so, elevate it. Perhaps this is the meaning of the Gemara’s statement that any judge who renders a true judgement, according to Torah law, is considered as being a partner with the Almighty in the act of creation.

Parshas Teruma on the other hand creates a sacred space for Hashem. Of course His presence fills the world, but dedicated spaces give us the opportunity and ability to focus solely on Him. Whereas the mishpatim teach us how to create holiness in the mundane, the mishkan teaches us how to create a holy space. The mishkan and later the beis hamikdash are places where a person can come to be inspired, a place where the physical and spiritual worlds meet, a place that has the capacity to transform nature and lives. The mishkan teaches us that we need to make that space and without if we don’t make it, it simply won’t exist.

Although we do not have a mishkan or a beis hamikdash today, this idea is as relevant as it has ever been. In a fast paced world, where people are interacting on the level of mishpatim on a daily basis, there is an ever increasing need and even desire for ‘sacred space’. A space where we can be free to focus on what life is really about, on what really matters, on the meaning of life rather than just how to stay in the ring for another round.

It is therefore not surprising at all that the vehicle that the Torah uses to teach us the laws of Shabbos is the process of the building and maintaining of the mishkan. The mishkan is a sacred space in location and Shabbos fulfils the exact same function in time. On Shabbos we exist in a very different dimension, all the creative labours that provide the context for the laws of mishpatim are complete, there is nothing else to do, we just need to be.

The other sacred space that we have, the beis haknesses is also modelled on the mishkan. The layout of the shul, with the Aron and the Ner Tamid at the front and the Bimah (corresponding to the mizbeach) in the middle, is as close as we can get to the real thing. The shul too is a place where we can pause, reflect and  connect to Hashem through tefilla. Davening in a sacred space helps us to rise above the mundane and to put it into perspective. We emerge from tefilla elevated and able to re-engage with our ‘mundane’ lives with renewed meaning and commitment.

The most important sacred space of all, is the space that we make for Hashem in our hearts and souls. This stems from a sense of humility that comes from an awareness of being constantly in the presence of Hashem. This expresses itself in a lack of ego and arrogance that is the antithesis of a truly religious person. It is this space that we make in the heart and diminishment of ego that really enables Hashem’s presence to fill our being.

Perhaps these ideas can be best summed up with the answer that the Kotzker Rebbe famously gave to the question, ‘where is G-d to be found?’ to which he retorted, ‘wherever you let Him in!’

May we all be merit a peaceful Shabbos that enables us to feel Hashem’s presence in the home, in the shul and within ourselves.

Good Shabbos.