Tell the Israelite people to bring Me gifts; you shall accept gifts for Me from every person whose heart is so moved.
Rabbi Menachem Creditor says it this way: “V’yikchu li terumah”—”Take for Me a gift. (Ex. 25:1)” Interesting phrasing. Not “give Me a gift,” but “take for Me a gift.” Every person was asked to bring an offering from their own willing heart. This isn’t about transaction; it’s about transformation. We have to decide—every day, especially today—that our hearts will be willing.”
ְעָ֥שׂוּ לִ֖י מִקְדָּ֑שׁ וְשָׁכַנְתִּ֖י בְּתוֹכָֽם׃ו
And let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.
That I might dwell among them, not that I might dwell in it. The presence of G-d is with us.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2W_XxCh2b30
But why does G-d need gifts? Why does G-d need a place to dwell. Isn’t G-d everywhere? Perhaps it is us. We need those gifts. We need a place to meet G-d where G-d can dwell among us.
My mug this morning says “Dream big.”
Theodore Herzl said “Im tirtzu ain zo agadah. If you will it, it is no dream.” He was talking about the return of the Jewish people to the land of Israel.
This congregation was the dream of people who came before. They gave gifts from their hearts.
Look around you. It is filled with blues and purples and reds the same colors that were specified in our text, golds and silvers, and bronzes,
We have a vision statement, that this is a place that creates meaningful observance, lifelong learning, that embraces diversity, which we discussed last night in terms of accessibility, and builds community.
That is the dream of this congregation, building community. The original Vision Committee powerpoint which was just presented at the last board meeting again after 15 years underscores the desire for community. Then. And now. Particularly coming out of the pandemic where people were so isolated, there is an absolute need for community. We have spent a lot of time this year talking about community. It’s about connections. It’s about showing up.
My parents were impressed when i was a freshman in college. I think it was parents weekend and we went to a Hillel service. Their comment was that those students were there because they wanted to be there, not because they had to be. No one was compelling them. No one was making them. That is true of each of you sitting here or on Zoom. There is much that competes for your time and your energy. No one compels you to be here. But each of you gain something. And each of you contribute.
Each of you sitting here do exactly that. You give gifts from your heart. Such heart, such love.
Whether it is the gift of music like Stew and Shira, leading a part of the service, chanting Torah or Haftarah, giving a new freezer or installing it, sponsoring a kiddush or an oneg, baking (and decorating!) cookies and hamantaschem.
More importantly than the gifts that you bring, each of you is a gift.
Today is Rosh Hodesh Adar, the Talmud teaches that when Adar comes in joy increases. It is hard sometimes to feel that joy, to rise to that level. There is so much that is painful and even scary. Yet we will pause to celebrate Purim, a joyous holiday celebrating our very survival. Rosh Hodesh is a half holiday given to women precisely because they die not give up their gold for the golden calf. And yet, they were able to give gifts from their heart to build the mishkan. Today is also the first of the month of March. March is often seen as Women’s History Month. March 8th this year is International Women’s Day. We will mark that here at CKI in two ways. Next Friday night is Hadassah Shabbat.
Next Saturday morning we will study the book of Esther, the whole megilah with our friends from Frist Presbyterian who are bringing us a gift. They have an Esther scroll that they acquired from Jerusalem in the 1800s. They are returning it to the Jewish community.
Esther has always been for me an important, meaningful text. Sure, it is farcical. But the idea that Esther finds her voice as is able to rise to save her people feels particularly important this year. Perhaps each of us are in this time and place for exactly this reason, just like Esther.
This has been a hard year for many on many different levels.It is important to acknowlege that. It is real. But there is room in hearts for both joy and sadness. When the mishkan was built, the Israelites carried around the ark of the covenant which held the Luchot, the Tablets of the 10 Commandments, the 10 Sayings. But not just the whole ones, the second set. Also, that first set of tablets that Moses smashed when he came back down the mountain and found the Israelites dancing around the Golden Calf.
Estelle Frankel in her book Sacred Therapy comments that the original tablets may reflect many of the dreams and hopes, and even spiritual structure of our youth. Then we live our life. Reality sets in and we learn. This story “teaches us that it is important to hold on to the beauty and essence of dreams that we once held dear, for our initial visions contain the seed of our purest essence. Gathering up the broken pieces suggests that we must salvage the essential elements of our youthful dreams and ideals and carry them forward on our journeys so that we can find a way to realize them in a more grounded fashion. For ultimately the whole and the broken live side by side in us all, as our broken dreams and shattered visions exist alongside our actual lives” ( “Sacred Therapy” p. 43)
We have a dream, a vision of what this place can be, a sacred, safe, non-judgmental place where we build community for all. Where we support one another with kindness and compassion through hard times as well as joy. Where we enjoy the sounds of the children at play and learning. Where we applaud one another’s accomplishments as we build this sacred space for the divine. That is how G-d will dwell among us. That is the gift we bring. Creating sacred space.
Rabbi Creditor reminds us that Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel said, “Happiness is the certainty of being necessary.” “You are needed. All of you. Every part of you—the whole and the broken. As we enter Adar, let us find joy. Let us be light. Let us raise it all up.”