Parashat Tetzaveh / פרשת תצוה
Torah Portion: Exodus 27:20 – 30:10

Beginning with last week’s Torah reading and most of the rest of the Book of Exodus generally deals with establishing the central religious structure and leadership of biblical Israel, that is the mishkan (Tabernacle) and its accoutrements and the priesthood with its garb and ritual ordination. The mishkan itself was viewed by our ancestors as the dwelling place of God on earth, the Ark of the Covenant at its center representing God’s footstool. Yet, the raison d’etre of the mishkan was not as a hermitage for God but as a meeting place for God and Israel. In this sense, then, the mishkan served the needs of the Israelites every bit as much as it was deemed to serve God’s. This was where God could be known to Israel and where Israel could relate God.

In Parashat Terumah, which we read last week, God instructs Moses to “take for me freewill offerings” (Exodus 25:2) that will be used in the construction of the mishkan. As I mentioned in my discussion of Terumah, God asked the people for very specific things, but expected that they would offer them with open hearts. We thus imagine that every Israelite who was able to contribute had some emotional stake in creating God’s dwelling place. The idea that it is incumbent upon all of Israel to make our world hospitable for the Divine Presence is a powerful one that ought to motivate all of humanity today in everything from environmental conservation to just, compassionate governance.

At the same time, however, neither Israel’s largesse toward God nor humanity’s ongoing efforts to prepare the world for God’s indwelling presence are entirely without ulterior motive. Indeed, a counterpoint to “take for me freewill offerings” can be found in the command “take for yourself oil of beaten olives to light the flame (of the menorah) eternally” (Exodus 27:20). In essence, God is saying in these two commands “Do this for me, but do this for yourselves as well. “Mi casa es su casa,” if you will.

Reconstructionist Judaism defines God as “the power that makes for salvation.” I like to interpret that classic phrase of Mordecai Kaplan’s as suggesting that God is present in the goodness, compassion and beauty we human beings experience in this world. To make God manifest, then, we mustn’t expect miracles from on high, but rather work here and now to build our own mishkan out of goodness, compassion and beauty. If we build it, God will come.

When we build a world worthy of God’s inhabitance, we build a world where all beings can be in relation to God. When we build a dwelling place for God, we benefit from knowing that God is present in all that we do, that God is near, that God is real. We are not alone and our acts of lovingkindness and righteousness are not empty. We build a mishkan today not just for God, but for us, too.

I am moved by the complementary language of these two recent Torah portions: “take for me” and “take for you,” do this for my sake AND do this for your sake. In this pre-election cycle, I pray that candidates will emerge victorious who see as their mission not to build a nation and a world out of their own sense of self-importance but to create a space where the Divine can dwell and the lives of all people can be infused with the Holy. It’s best not to take chances, though: let us all now resolve to build the mishkan for God and for all God’s creation.