Volume
2
© 2015 – D.v.D.
#22
><>
SHABBAT Y MUSINGS <><
. Thought for the Weekend of Adar
1 & 2, 5775 .
.
By Rev. Dirk J. van Dalen, Ph.D. [February, 20, 2015] – Dr.vandalen@gmail.com
The Torah
Portion for this Shabbat is תרומָה (T’rumah), Exodus 25:1 – 27: 19
“Speak to the children of Israel, that
they bring Me an offering. From everyone who gives it willingly with his heart
you shall take My offering.”
--
Exodus 22: 2 –
That’s what T’rumah is all
about; giving willingly and with a glad heart. It was the mother of all
free-will offerings and the people were so enthusiastically involved that they
had to be asked to stop contributing. According to the Sages, in contributing
to Godly causes, the personal benefits of generosity are far greater than its
cost.
“And let them make Me a sanctuary, that
I may dwell among them.”
--
Exodus 25: 8 --
Can you imagine your
congregation embarking on a building program where the people give so
abundantly that the building committee becomes overwhelmed with the amount of
funds that are coming in, that the people had to be restrained from bringing in
offerings (Ex. 36:3- 6)? And giving is not all they did. Every member was
assigned a task and everyone involved became endowed by the Ruach HaKodesh,
with the needed skills to fulfill the assigned tasks (Ex.28:3). Here we also
see that, when the LORD
calls you
to a task He will equip you
with what’s needed to perform that assignment.
The rest of the Parashas
deals with the miracle of a generation of people who have no knowledge beyond of
what was needed to tend to a small vegetable garden, a few animals, and the
making of bricks. Suddenly they were thrust into the roles of artisans and
craftsmen as they set out on a united, multi-facetted, and major project in
which braiders, carpenters, casters (in silver and gold), curtain makers, cutters,
engravers, erectors, fabricators, fabric dyers, forgers, furniture makers,
incense makers, inspectors, jewelers, levelers, mold makers, oil pressers,
perfumers, polishers, production managers, quality control managers, sheet
metal workers (in bronze and gold), stone carvers, tailors, tanners, tool
makers, weavers and wood carvers, etc. All worked toward one objective: “…The making of a Sanctuary, wherein He
may dwell among them.” (Ex. 25:8).
We
count more than forty times “you
shall make” in the Parashas. And they did make all what
was ordered by no One less than the Creator of the universe. And they made
everything from scratch and per specification provided by Adonai. They saw to
it that, “…it was made according to
the pattern which was shown Moshe on the mountain”
(Ex.25: 40). The
area at the foot of Mount Horeb often
(erroneously?)
referred to as Mt. Sinai) was swarming with people as they went about their
assigned tasks. Consider that not only land was to be cleared for the
Tabernacle, production areas were to be created also. Furnaces and forges were
needed to melt the metal for the castings and heat the metal for the forgings. The
terrain around the alleged Mt. Sinai in the Sinai Peninsula could not have
accommodated these activities. Besides, Mt. Sinai was still in Egyptian
territory and the LORD had clearly told Moshe
to come back to the mountain where Moshe had his first experience with Elohim
during the “burning” bush episode which took place in the Land of Midian in
north-west Arabia. That mountain is referred to as Mt. Sinai by Shaul,
according to Galatians 4:25. By the locals, the mountain is known as Jabal al
Lawz.
When Moshe met Adonai
there to receive the Decalogue and the ‘blueprints’ for the Tabernacle and its
furnishings, the mountain had quaked while its summit had been engulfed in fire
and smoke (Ex. 19: 18). Today, if you could visit this mountain and were
allowed (by the Saudi Government) to see its summit, you would find a scorched
mountain top as if the entire surface has been exposed to an extremely high
temperature fire and the rocks are glazed as glass. The mountain is surrounded with
a chain link and barbed wire security fence, installed by the Saudi Arabian
Government, and signs, in Arabic and English, warning would-be ‘explorers’ not
to venture beyond the fence on risk of death.
Mt. Sinai in the Sinai
Peninsula is a tourist attraction with a chapel on its summit that is
maintained by the members of St. Catherine’s Monastery at the foot of the
mountain.
Our Bible translations
present us with two options: The Ten Commandments are indeed given on Mt. Sinai
but it is located in the wrong country. Or, the Ten Commandments are indeed
given on Mt. Horeb but the name of the mountain has been confused. Whatever its
name, Moshe received the Decalogue on the mountain of which Adonai had said, “…When you have brought the people out
of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”
(Ex. 3:12b) “This mountain”
is located in the Land of Midian which is in Arabia and NOT in the Sinai Peninsula which is and was Egypt. And
guess what; both mountains are still there today and the Ten Commandments are
still in force also, for all of us. It is not where they were given but who
gave them that is important to us.
><> Y
<><
Think
About It, Shabbat Shalom!
