Our Father in Heaven and On Earth

In this week’s Torah portion, Terumah, G-d commands Israel to build a sanctuary for Him to dwell among them.

To begin with, if you think about it, what an amazing concept that G-d of the universe wants to be close to His people. As King David proclaimed (Psalms 144:3-4):

L-rd what is man that You are mindful of him or the son of man that You should make account of him? Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.

And despite our mortality and lowliness compared to the Almighty, G-d loves his people and wants to be close to them.

But why is there a special relationship between G-d and the Jewish people?

I remember learning this rhyme from British writer, Cecile Brown:

How odd of G-d to choose the Jews? But it’s not so odd, because the Jews chose G-d.

In other words, the Jewish people, first through Abraham recognized monotheism in the world, and later through G-d’s giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, accepted G-d’s commandments. Thus, G-d loves all people, but the Jewish people serve a unique role in spreading awareness and knowledge of Him as it says (Exodus 19:6):

You will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

And this designation of Israel is a dual-edged sword. If Israel follows G-d’s commands then all will be well with them, but if they do not, then they suffer the consequences of persecution and expulsion.

Thus, even though Israel built the sanctuary in the Sinai Desert, when they rebelled against G-d, they were punished severely whether it was by plague or even their having to wander in the desert for 40 years before being able to enter the Promised Land.

Similarly, throughout the ages, we saw that even when the First and later, Second Temple were built on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem, G-d saw to destroy it and send Israel into exile, the last time for 2,000 years ending and culminating in the Holocaust when one-third of the entire world Jewry was exterminated.

The rabbi in synagogue today told an interesting parable about G-d commanding Israel that in addition to the half-shekel that everyone was to give, they were also to donate willingly from their heart for the building, and in fact, the people brought overwhelmingly so much that Moshe had to tell them to stop (Exodus 25:2).

The people understood that the sanctuary was not just G-d’s dwelling among them, but their dwelling with Him. And so he compared it to the construction manager who notified his boss that he was ready to retire. But the owner told him that they have so much work and he asked him to stay on for just one more job. The worker grudgingly agrees and gets to work on building a final house, but his heart is not in it and he skimps on the quality of the materials as well as the construction. When he finally returns to his boss to tell him that the house is done and he is now finally going to retire, the boss surprises him with a big celebration and says that in honor of his retirement, he is awarding him the house he just built.

The point is that if we understand that the building of the sanctuary and temple is our home for being close to and worshipping G-d then we naturally will give it our all!

Please G-d with our return to Holy Land of Israel and the ingathering of the exiles, we should soon merit the rebuilding of the third and final temple, and it should be the best one yet ushering in not only our eternal redemption, but also the loving union with our Father in Heaven and on Earth.