Common Sense Teachings in Terumah

The idea established by Jewish ancestors to read the entire Pentateuch yearly and derive benefits from it is very sensible. But very few people take advantage of this gift. They pay scant attention to the Torah reading in the synagogue, do not bother to read it at home, and get as much out of the portion as people who never open the Bible and mock people who read it.

This terrible situation is similar to the treatment of most Jews, even many pious Jews when they recite prayers. They rush through the reading and do not take time to see and understand what they are reading.

Most people think the prayers contain the basic teachings of Judaism. This is not true.

The prayer books are a collection of ancient writings that present many strikingly different ideas. There are mystical and rational ideas, ideas contrary to Judaism, such as Psalm 96, which states that other gods bow to our God, and statements that, when taken literally, are stupid, such as thanking God for not making us women.

Why are these ancient ideas contained in the prayer book? They are collected to prompt readers to think, decide whether to accept or dismiss them, and learn by thinking about what is said.

This is why the verb used to describe reading the prayer book is lihitpallel, which means to “judge oneself.” Prayer is not a time to beg for help. It is a time to read our ancestors’ many different, often conflicting ideas, consider whether you agree, ask yourself why you are reacting as you are, and think about improving yourself and all God gifted us.

But, as with wasting precious time and ignoring the lessons of the Pentateuch, even pious worshipers rush through the reading as if it is like a vaccination that improves the mental and physical reader while it provides no benefit at all.

Shouldn’t sensible people realize that they are destroying themselves with their rush-reading and that their behavior does not lead to a reasonable, wise, and healthy life? Is it sensible to think that God is pleased with the babel that is as meaningful as the chatter of an eleventh-month-old baby?

The discussion of the Torah and prayer at home and in the synagogue suggests that since they are misused, they are no longer useful.

What is the history of the temples?

The portion of Terumah contains a positive command to make a temple. However, the house of God built by Moses was only temporary. When Joshua, his successor, brought the Israelites into Canaan, he established a tabernacle in Gilgal, which was used for the 14 years that the Israelites fought to conquer the land. A house of stones followed this tabernacle in Gilgal in Shilo. It had no roof but was used for 369 years. The last high priest at Shilo was Eli. It was destroyed when Eli died. The Israelites built a temple at Nob and Gibeon, where the prophet Samuel functioned. It lasted in these two cities for 57 years. Then, the temple was built in Jerusalem by King Solomon, and the rule was established that no temple could be built elsewhere except in Jerusalem.

The first Jerusalem temple was destroyed in 586 BCE, rebuilt around 516 BCE, and destroyed by Rome in 70 CE. It was the last temple, replaced by synagogues.

The Talmudic rabbis tell us that the last temple was destroyed because of sinat chinam, “baseless hatred” of some Jews of other Jews. If the Jews had gotten along with one another, they could have worked out their problems with the Romans.

This leads to two conclusions. (1) Ever since the beginning of time, Jews have been unable to get along with other Jews. (2) It seems reasonable to say that the worst antisemite is a Jew.

Clearly, most Jews learned insufficient lessons from the Torah, prayers, temples, and synagogues. The 19th-century Hasidic Rebbe Menachem Mendel of Kottzk answered the question, “Where does God exist?” by saying, “God exists wherever humans let Him in.” The problem is that Jews do not let God or His teachings in.

The number seven reappears frequently in this portion.

Seventy elders were appointed to help Moses. Why seventy and not 20 or a variable number?

Seven categories of material were used in Moses’s tabernacle.

The star of David is not the symbol of the State of Israel. In the days of the temples and today, it was and is the seven-branch menorah, the candelabrum. It is not the eight-branch menorah of Chanukah. There were seven menorahs with seven branches each in the temple.

Both the Star of David and the Chanukah Menorah remind us of wars. But the Book of Maccabees, written near the time that the Maccabees fought to preserve Judaism, explains that when the battle was won, the warriors recalled that they were unable to celebrate the eight-day holiday of Succot during that time, so they established an eight-day holiday of Chanukah to commemorate the event. The story of the oil miracle, which could only last one day and lasted eight days, was a later invention.

The number seven is repeated in Judaism more than a hundred times. It reminds us of the Shabbat.

The ancients recognized seven as an essential number but assigned it superstitious ideas. They saw seven planets, seven openings in the head (two eyes, ears, nostrils, and a mouth), and seven parts of the body (head, two arms, upper body, lower part, and two feet) and supposed that all of life revolved around the number seven.

Jews also considered seven crucial. However, they associated seven with the existence of God, who created the world and placed in it the laws of nature that people should learn to understand to improve themselves and all God gifted us. God also gave or inspired the Torah as a present that does the same.

Seven is associated in Judaism with the Shabbat, another gift.

As my father stressed to me some seven decades ago when he drove me to the airport to report for Army Active Duty, “Israel, be sure to observe the Shabbat. For more than you keeping the Shabbat, the Shabbat will keep you.”

People mistakenly think they only need to pay attention to the Shabbat on Saturday.

The Decalogue, wrongly called the Ten Commandments, appears in Exodus and Deuteronomy. In Exodus, the law is to “remember” the Sabbath Day and treat it as something holy. In Deuteronomy, the law is to “observe” the Sabbath.

The rabbis wrote in the Talmud that God said both. They emphasized that while the Deuteronomy language addressed the need to observe the special Sabbath rules on Shabbat, the Exodus language required Jews to think about and prepare for Saturday during each of the six prior days.

My brilliant Dad and the ancient rabbis were correct.

If Jews would only pay attention to what God gifted humanity, it would inaugurate the Messianic Age.

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Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin is a retired brigadier general in the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps and the author of more than 50 books.