Terumah: The First Synagogue

ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם

Let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. (Ex.25:8)

Filled with intricate detail, Terumah introduces us to the Mishkan or the Tabernacle, the precursor to the Bet HaMikdash in which the nomadic Israelites could serve G-d in a more formal way through sacrifices. As Moshe stands on Mt. Sinai, G-d lays out a blueprint for this space of holiness, using the biblical measurement of the cubit to detail its parameters, as well as listing colours and fabrics and materials for its drapings and surfaces. Each space within its walls is delineated, right down to the curtain before the Holy of Holies and what is held within: הארן את העדת, ‘the ark of the pact’ (Ex.25:16) containing the tablets with the Ten Commandments. No detail is spared, yet it is not an immobile construct tied down to one place as one would expect. We learn later that the Mishkan is created in such a way that it can be dismantled, transported and rebuilt countless times as the Jewish people wander the desert.

This is the first time in biblical and Jewish history that we see a collective place of worship, a physical space into which the Israelites could direct their commitment to G-d and enact the covenant. They could offer sacrifices via the priests who represented them, Aharon being the only person who could enter the Holy of Holies, though he was only allowed to do so once a year. Situated within the camp, the Mishkan offered the opportunity for more people to partake in serving G-d. Until this moment, only a few characters had been able to directly interact with G-d, aside from the moments of revelation at Mt. Sinai, yet through the Mishkan’s ability to house collective worship, the average Israelite could interact with Him, wherever they were on their journey through the wilderness. The detail with which it is constructed suggests that, despite the impermanence of travel, the Mishkan remained a permanent sanctuary, the purpose of which was unchanging, its contents and significance remaining the same, even when it later developed into the Bet HaMikdash.

Following the destruction of the Second Bet HaMikdash in 70CE, the practice of giving sacrifices which had been characteristic of collective worship until this point was lost, replaced by the rabbis with the act of prayer, an action which can be both individual and collective. This is certainly the case within the space of the synagogue, in which individuals often read prayers like the Amidah silently, individually, before partaking in a collective repetition. Indeed, Nachmanides saw prayer as ‘the collective worship of the Jewish people, a continuation of the pattern set by the Temple service’ and by the practices of the Mishkan which preceded it, the synagogue as it then developed providing the perfect space in which to partake in this evolving practice.[1] Though the literal practice of sacrifice was gone, its purpose and significance lived on through prayer and the space in which people could participate in it together.

Even though the Mishkan no longer exists, its permanence and portability are echoed in the modern-day synagogue. Of course, most synagogues today are established buildings and are not physically portable in the same way, yet this portability has been transferred to those who attend synagogue, participating in its services and collective acts of prayer. Human beings have become transient, often moving from place to place; we travel between towns, between countries, sometimes across the world, finding ourselves in unfamiliar places with unfamiliar people. Like the Mishkan, however, synagogues around the world offer the same permanence, the same anchoring, wherever they are and whomever attends them. They almost always contain the same things – Torah scrolls, prayer books, a tevah or amud and a bimah, among other things – in the same way that the Mishkan’s contents always remained the same, wherever it was in the desert. Synagogues offer the same space for individual and collective prayer and connection, whatever the country or culture in which they are situated. Whether it be a small synagogue in the rural corners of America’s Midwest, a large and bustling community in London or one of the many synagogues which can be found along Jerusalem’s streets, the core of the synagogue remains the same. Like the Jewish people who roamed the desert, people have become portable. Yet wherever one goes in the world, wherever one settles, within the synagogue waits a piece of the Mishkan, a place for collectivity and connection with G-d.

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[1] Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, Covenant and Conversation, <https://rabbisacks.org/covenant-conversation/tetzaveh/whose-footsteps-do-we-follow-when-we-pray/> (accessed 05.03.25), (2009)