Rabbi Diana's Weekly Message

Va'asu li mikdash, v'shochanti b'tocham: Let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. Exodus 25:8

Dear Chevre, 

As we mature into adults [a process which hopefully continues throughout our lifetime!], we need to untangle ourselves from narrow places and habits, we need to make ourselves open to hearing wisdom from others, carving out enough space to take it into ourselves so that our self-talk, our auto suggestion* doesn’t continually drag us down. Finally, we need to build a life in this physical world that is filled with holiness and meaning. 

In the last few Torah readings, the Israelites have gone from being enslaved, to crossing the Sea of Reeds, to receiving the Torah and continue their desert wanderings. In this week’s Torah portion, parshat Terumah, God invites the Israelites to build a space where the Divine Presence can dwell among them as they continue their journey through the wilderness. In order to secure the materials for this mishkan, or portable sanctuary, God says to Moses: “Tell the Israelite people to bring me gifts; you shall accept gifts for me from every person whose heart so moves him.”

There’s a long list describing some of these possible gifts, including gold, silver, copper, blue, purple and crimson yarns, fine linen, goats’ hair, tanned ram skins, acacia wood, lapis lazuli, you get the idea…there are countless ways to give! 

In our Little Shul, we have those who give money for speakers, those who help trim the trees, those who call and check on others, those who cook for others, people who give to social justice causes as a member of our Jewish community, people who teach, people who organize others to teach, those who help with tech….you get the idea! It takes all kinds of people and all kinds of gifts to create a holy place. Our hearts are moved to give in unique ways. Sometimes we don’t even know at first what gifts we have and what we can offer our community. 

Rabbi Nicole Auerbach teaches, “To identify our most precious, hidden gifts we need to spend some time face to face with our fellow community builders, to listen deeply and with curiosity, open to the possibility we will find a unicorn hiding in the pocket of the person across from us. And when we find one, to reflect back what we see. Because nothing feels better than someone else pointing out a gift that you didn’t know you had.

This, ultimately, is the recipe for building a community - to see one another and allow ourselves to be seen. In this way we can help one another find the hidden gifts we each hold, and then share them with open and generous hearts, allowing God's presence to shine through and fill the space between us."  [https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/parashat-terumah-hidden-gifts/]

May each of us continue to bring our special gifts to our community, and in so doing create a space for the Divine Presence to dwell. And, may we continually witness and encourage the talents we see in each other so that hidden part of ourselves may emerge.

Shabbat shalom, 

Rabbi Diana

See you this evening on Zoom at 7:00 pm:

See you tomorrow morning at Shabbat Zimra at 10:00 am: 

*a term I learned from Rammurti S. Mishra M.D., Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati