Jewish Thought Special Contributor: Lori Skope
If God Is Anything Like Me: A Layman’s Look at Building the Mishkan
In Parashat Terumah, God instructs Moses to work with the Israelites to create a Mishkan, a sacred space for God to dwell among them. To date, it was only Moses who was able to be with God, so this was a BIG step in the relationship between God and the Jewish community as a whole. As I first learned the story of Terumah, I thought it was wonderful that God suggested a space where more than just Moses could get to know God one on one.
Within the Torah portion, God didn’t just suggest the idea of a Mishkan, God provided Moses an uber-specific list of materials to be used and how to use them, so the Israelites could build the Mishkan how God envisioned. Things like: “The Ark must be a precise blend of acacia wood, two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high. Overlay this Tabernacle with pure gold and golden rings and poles to carry the Ark. You shall make a cover of pure gold with two gold Cherubim on both ends of the cover.” This was definitely going to be God’s Mishkan, with no wiggle room for Israelite design input. And, honestly, I was kind of taken aback at the specificity of direction, as if should they not make it exactly how God wanted, they’d be dwelling there all alone in their sub-par shack of a Mishkan.
I saw this level of instruction as rather controlling and one-sided and wondered if any of the Israelites thought, “Is this the type of relationship into which I want to step deeper? Am I really about to build a house for us to share, and I’m not even allowed to pick the kind of wood for the table?” If this was a significant other, that might be the time I decide to press pause on the decision to take the relationship to the next level. I know this is the Divine we are talking about, and throughout the Torah, we have learned that faith in God’s plan has a strong chance of working out in our favor in the end. But faith alone does not make a relationship last. Understanding also helps. So, I dug deeper into God’s motivations, as I might do when a significant other does something to put me off. Relationships are relationships…
I started by putting myself in God’s shoes (Let’s pretend God wears shoes…or at least some sandals), and asked myself this: “Have I ever bothered about exactly how the table was arranged, if I was using everyday forks and knives vs my nice silver, or whether the sheets for my guest were made of a fine, soft material when I didn’t care immensely about the person I was entertaining?” Definitely not! There is a level of intensity I save for the people and occasions that truly matter to me. And, let me tell you, God’s list was intense. It had dolphin skins on it! While the Israelites were in the middle of the dessert!! I can relate to the desire to impress with the best (I’m assuming dolphin skin was “the best” in Moses-times). Perhaps God wasn’t being a bridezilla after all. This vantage point made me begin to think that God simply wanted the setting to be ideal out of care for God’s relationship with the Israelites.
Within God’s instructions, there is another bit of detail that supported my newly forming theory that, while the Israelites were definitely doing all of the heavy lifting, the desire for a deeper connection was a two-way street. In setting the stage for their meetups in the Mishkan, God said, “In this sanctuary, the Israelites are to bring me gifts. The gifts can be of any kind from any person whose heart moves them in a giving way.” Again, my first impression of this demand was “What?! First, they build you your dream Mishkan, and now they are to bring gifts when they come to see you there too?” If a friend demanded I bring gifts whenever I popped over to spend some quality time, I’d be miffed that my friendship would not be enough. However, again, we are talking about God, so the rules of engagement are a bit different. At this point, I put myself back in God’s rustic sandals. When I did so, I thought about how, until now, God has not had a direct relationship with the entire community before. God generally opted to trust in one or two humans at one time to get close and to spread Divine message. Now, God was about to dwell among ALL of the Israelites…some of which had spurned God in the past with lack of faith. Remember those false idols? That alone could cause some serious trust issues. I imagine that God can doubt us, in the same way that uncertainty and struggle can make us wonder if God is really there for us too. This was a big step in the relationship. I can understand that God would want a small physical token of the Israelites’ sincere appreciation to demonstrate, and remind them, of their own bond. We all want to know we are not being taken for granted, right?
Taking an even closer look at the ask, I find that God’s gift request looks similar to how I personally appreciate the gifts I receive for birthdays and whatnot. “The gifts can be of any kind from any person whose heart moves them in a giving way.” In this, I think God is saying, “Please don’t give me a gift just because of the occasion. I want you to want to give me a gift because I matter to you, and because you are driven to give me something that has meaning to our relationship.” And, I get it. When my birthday rolls around, I am always grateful for any gift I receive and fully know that all gifts are given so I know I matter to that person. But, that said…I have noticed that I respond differently to various manners of gift giving; there are certain ones that make me feel extra loved and understood and deepen or affirm the bond of our relationship. Those are the ones that spawn from a memory, that could only be picked out because that person knows something unique about me, that is something sentimental of “yours” being passed to me, or that someone took the time to create or hunt down themselves. The ones with meaning that were selected because someone’s “heart moved them” to it. Like God said. Those are the types of gifts I try to give to others, as well.
If God is anything like me (I guess if we are all created in God’s image, that’s a possibility), I do believe that the building of the Mishkan and the chance to dwell together mattered as much to God as it did to the Israelites. As my knowledge of Torah continues to grow, I am repeatedly amazed at how these stories of patriarchal times long ago, filled with angels, parted seas, and other fantastical miracles that seem hard to digest in today’s world, can have so much relevance to my daily life if I take the time to really think about it. Sometimes a deeper dive into the Torah can result in a stronger understanding or connection to the Divine (like our similar take on how to make meaningful relationships), or a lesson on not taking someone’s actions at initial face value and choosing to step into their shoes, or sandals, for a better look around.
by Lori Skope
Communications Director
