This week’s parsha describes how the Children of Israel create a space for God. They construct a Mishkan, a Tabernacle or portable temple. The word Mishkan means residence. But God doesn’t need a house; in the words of King Solomon as he dedicates the Temple in Jerusalem: “Does God truly dwell on earth? Even the heavens to their uttermost reaches cannot contain You, how much less this House that I have built!” (I Kings 8:27)
If this is not God’s “residence” in the plain sense of the word, what is the purpose of the Mishkan?
Click here to read more from Rabbi Alex Israel in this week’s Parsha Discussion: Teruma: Meeting God.
Alex teaches Bible at Pardes and is the Director of the Community Education Program and the Summer Program. Alex was born and raised in London. He holds degrees from London School of Economics, the Institute of Education London and Bar-Ilan University. Alex studied at Yeshivat Har Etzion under Rav Aharon Lichtenstein and Rav Yehudah Amital, and gained Rabbinic ordination from the Israeli Rabbinate. Click here to read more. You can find books written by Alex by clicking here
