Terumah
What is the only gift we can truly offer?
Reflection by Ariel Dominique Hendelman, the Or HaLev Team:
“In this week’s Torah portion of Terumah, which means `offering,` the people are given instructions concerning the building of the Mishkan, the movable sanctuary that they will carry throughout their wilderness journey.
According to Rabbi Shefa Gold, `Spiritual practice is about making our lives into a Mishkan, a dwelling place for Divine Presence. About one third of the book of Shemot consists of the detailed instructions for building the Mishkan. As we build our spiritual practice, the details are important.` In meditation practice, the details consist of posture & stillness. These are the building blocks from which the Mishkan will take shape.
Terumah has a secondary meaning – gift. Ultimately, the only gift we can truly offer the Creator is our own heart, our full presence, meeting this moment for whatever it may have & whatever it may ask of us. This means making ourselves completely available for the experience of being alive; of coming home. The Hebrew word for house, bayit, begins with the letter bet, which has a numerical equivalent of two. As Shefa goes on to write, `It is, after all, a two-way invitation being offered.` We make a Divine dwelling place within, and, in turn, the entire world becomes the house of the Infinite.
May we enter it completely & wholly.”