MHA-FYOS Dean's Blog

This week’s parasha , Parashat Terumah, presents the plans for the building of the mishkan – the Tabernacle – and its vessels. The first vessel described in the parasha is the aron – the ark. Once the mishkan was completed, the aron held the sh’ne luchot habrit – the two tablets of the covenant – and was placed in the kodesh hakodashim – the holy of holies. The Torah (Exodus 25:10) writes, “And make an ark of sheetim wood; two-and-a-half cubits in length and half a cubit in width and one-and-a-half cubits in height. And you will cover it in pure gold – you will cover it inside and outside; and you will make on it a gold crown around.” In these verses, the Torah describes four qualities of the ark – its material ( sheetim wood), its dimensions (2.5 x 0.5 x 1.5 cubits), the requirement to cover it in gold on the inside and outside and its gold crown. Many of our chachamim offer remazim – lessons hinted to by the verses – derived from the Torah’s descriptions of the vessels of the T...

We read a double parasha this week – Parashat Vayakhel-Pekude. Each of these parashiyot describe the building of the mishkan and the construction of the vessels that were housed and used within it. Betzalel was charged with overseeing the construction of the mishkan and its vessels. Parashat Pekude opens with the statement, “And Betzalel the son of Uri the son of Chur of the tribe of Yehudah did everything that Hashem commanded Moshe.” Rashi explains that we would have expected the Torah to say that Betzalel did what Moshe commanded him to do. Instead, the Torah tells us that that Betzalel did everything that Hashem commanded him to do. Based on a passage from Masechet Berachot, Rashi explains that Betzalel did things that did not make sense to Moshe, his teacher. Specifically, Moshe told Betzalel to make the vessels first and then to make the mishkan. Betzalel argued that the way of the world is to first make a house and then to place the vessels inside. Moshe was won over by Betzalel...

The parshiyot of this and next week, Parashat Terumah and Parashat Tetzave, introduce Hashem’s command regarding the plans for the mishkan and its vessels, including the clothing were worn by the kohanim . One of the vessels that Hashem commands to be built is the menorah – the candelabra. The description of the plans for the menorah are described this week and the description of its service is described next week. In Parashat Tetzave, next week, the Torah says, “and you will take to yourself pure olive oil pressed to be lit to raise an everlasting candle.” The phrase, “to yourself” (אליך) is seemingly extraneous. Certainly all of the mitzvot are for us – Hashem commanded them to the Jewish people, not to angels. Certainly the mitzvot are for our benefit and for the benefit of mankind. In this light, “to yourself” is difficult – this quality would seem to apply equally to all of the mitzvot ! What is the message of bnei yisrael taking oil to themselves? Our chachamim present a num...

This Shabbat we read the first of four special parshiyot that are read over the next five weeks – Parashat Shekalim. Parashat Shekalim describes the one-half shekel contribution that each member of b’nei yisrael was commanded to give to the operation of the mishkan . For the purposes of this contribution, individuals were not permitted to contribute more or less – irrelevant of their financial capability. Each member of b’nei yisrael gave exactly one-half shekel. By taking the sum of the total contribution and dividing by two, this half-shekel was used to calculate the population of b’nei yisrael – it served as the mechanism of conducting a census. The Torah cautions us not to create a plague – a negef – on b’nei yisrael through the census. Our commentators struggle to explain the reason for this drastic outcome. Rabbi Yitzchak Arama – the author of Akedat Yitzchak – suggests that there is a danger in a census. Counting people – one, two, three, etc. – conveys the sense t...

Parashat Terumah introduces the laws related to building the mishkan – the Tabernacle. Each element of the mishkan is guided by a high level of precision in the laws that direct how to build it. The Torah defines the size of each object that is placed in the mishkan – the shulchan (table), the menorah (candelabra), the aron (ark). The length, width and height of each item is explicated. The particulars of the construction of each item is defined and delimited by the halacha – G-d’s command. The level of precision that the Torah describes in reference to the mishkan is noteworthy. Even a synagogue, a mikdash me’at – a miniature Temple – does not require such precision. What message can we glean from the Torah’s rich description of the parameters of the mishkan ? Let us consider this question in relation to a dispute among our Sages. Although the Torah places the command to build the mishkan prior to the incident of the Golden Calf, there is actually a dispute between our chac...