Terumah - 1st Portion

Join as we learn Kush together. Today we begin the new Torah reading of Paras Truma Sunday. Paras Truma chapter 25 verse one. Today we begin as the Torah tells us about the donations that were collected to build the tabernacle. Verse 1, chapter 25. And God said to Moshe, saying, "Speak to the Jewish people, and they should take for me a contribution from every person, from every man, whose heart prompts him to give. They should take his contribution." They will take from me a donation. Does God need donations for my sake and for my honor? What is the word to set aside? They should set aside from their money to give a donation to me. The word whose heart prompts him comes from the word to give a donation that he has a desire to do it as an old French. The rabbi said, if you look in this verse, the word is mentioned three times. Three of these are mentioned here. One of these are through there was a donation that each person had to give one coin a half a shekel for every person. What did they do with this half a coin? They made the sockets that would hold the pillars as we're going to explain and is explained later on and in the tow reading of pic then you have one was for the altar beal also another coin for each individual and that was used to buy the sacrifices that went to a place that they would use it to be able to help fix things that were needed in the holy temple to buy the public uh the communal sacrifices that were brought daily shabas ordish and holidays And the other one is talking about the contributions of the tabernacle. This was not a set amount. Every single person can give as much as they want. And that's the 13 things that are going to be enumerated. The gold, the silver, the copper. All the things that are enumerated were used for the building of the tabernacle or for the close of the kohanim. When you would look and you analyze and you see the detail of it, you'll notice how all these things are going to be used. Torah now continues verse three. This is the uh donations that you should be taking from them. They should constitute the following. Gold, silver, and copper. Verse three, the 13 things that they were going to bring. They all came with the donation. Each person whatever they wished besides silver it had to give. There was an equal amount that everybody gave which was a half a shekel. If you look through the building of the tabernacle you'll notice that silver is not used for anything else other than the half a coin that they used and that it was used for as we mentioned. It says later on you'll find in the enumeration and the track in the Torah reading of pudday the last one of the book of Exodus where enumerates all the different items and the amount that was donated towards the tabernacle. It says that the silver that came was only one poor one per person. Any other silver that came they would use for any tools and um items that were needed in the holy temple. Verse four and other things that were donated. And now we're going to enumerate the next items which was kas which was wool dyed turquoise or dyed purple shi linen which was uh shi there was scarlet I'm sorry wool dyed scarlet color linen and goats here rashi explains what I'm sorry for this is talking about wool that was dyed in the blood of the the was a type of fish that comes up in the sea and there's many different opinions of what it is and especially today's day and age but let's just assume that it was a turquoise color and it was like a bluish green. Many explain that it's the same color as the sky and that's why there's a debate of what actually this fish or snail may actually be purple. It was a wool that was dyed with the color which is called our g which we would call today purple that's linen from the here of the goat. Therefore the translated from the goats it came from goats but not the goat themselves. The Aramaic translation of goat itself would be but it says from the goats which means from the hear of the goats. Verse five, the adim and red dyed ramkin and skins of woodim. These were dyed red after working on them. What is this mean? It's a type of animal. but only survived temporarily and it was very colorful. That's what the translates that it would show off. It would pride itself by the multiple colors that it had and where they have growing in the desert says our forefathers saw with divine inspiration. that the Jewish people are going to need to build a tabernacle in the desert and therefore he brought this down to Egypt and planted them and he told his children to take them at when they leave Egypt. Why did Yakov have to do this? Why couldn't they just buy it from the merchants? We know that many stuff they bought for merchants and the Reb explains that over here Yakov knew that the Jewish people would go through a terrible time in the slavery of Egypt and he wanted that there should be something that they should know that they're going to go out of Egypt when they would look at the wood and they would look at these trees and it's a case when he said why did our grandfather want us to plant it because there's going to come a time that we're going to go out of Egypt and we're going to cut down this wood and we're going to build a tabernacle that gave them the belief the faith and the ability to get through those difficult times of exile. knowing that the redemption is near. The Torah then continues verse six. They needed oil for illumination. And then they also needed spices for the anointing oil as well for the offering. Olive oil that they would use to be able to kindle the manura. spices. They would use this to be able to anoint the vessels of the Mishkan of the tabernacle and the tabernacle itself to sanctify it. They needed some commission of footage but like it's enumerated in the reading of that they had to have oil mixed with this incense what they used for the anointing oil for the incense every morning and evening as described later on in the holy temple as it's said in the Torah reading of the word comes that smoke would come up from it there pillars of smoke that would come because of burning these incense. These were onx stones and incense inset stones. These were going to be used for the aphod and for the for the breastplate. These were very important and expensive stones. They needed two of them. They needed because they were placed on the shoulders of the aphot. The tav has explained in the Torah reading of inset stones because since they made a gold incense around it and they would place them inside they would put the stone to fill that empty spot. They were called and the place where it would set are called squares as we're going to learn later on. for the for the breastplate. What is the you're going to have to wait for next week's Torah reading in par to find out the details of those garments. Verse eight, and you should make for me a sanctuary so that I should dwell in their midst. Rashi says what does it mean? You should make you should make for my for my sake for my honor a place of holiness. As we know God is telling every single one of us that God wants to dwell within us and we have to make within ourselves a dwelling place for God. Make ourselves a sanctuary for God. How are you going to know what to do and how to make it? So therefore, God continues and the Torah says verse 9, whatever according to whatever I'm going to show you, the uh the form of the tabernacle in the form of all its furnishings. So you shall do where am I showing it to you over here? I'm showing you the form of the tabernacle. This verse is connected to the verse before it. She will make a sanctuary. H you going to know what kind of sanctuary you got to make? Whatever I'm going to show you, this is the way you shall make it. Not only for now, but for future generations, God forbid one of the vessels get lost. Or when you going to make the vessels for the holy temple which is going to be permanent then when you gonna make the tables candalabbras washing basins and the mechanisms for these uh washing basins like we find it make them look the same as it was made in the tabernacle. But if this would not be connected to the one previously then the Torah shouldn't have written. So you should make and being that he's talking about the verse if it was only talking about the actual sanctuary now the temporary for that generation would have said do it like this. Why does it say with the V connecting to previously to tell me that this is also for future generations? Now he's going to start with the first item on the list that will be made for the tabernacle. The first item, one of the holiest items, which is the ark. You shall make an ark made of a wood. Its measurements are going to be two and a half cubits long and one and a half cubits wide and one and a half cubits high. What does it mean? An a box. You should make it like those boxes that do not have legs. They're made like a box of it sits on its bottom. It does not have any legs that's holding it up. Verse 11. You then have an overlay of it. You'll coat it pure gold. You'll have it on inside on the outside. The tapen will coat it and you'll make a gold trim around the top. Now over here we're going to see explain what does this mean that there was gold on the inside and on the outside. And over here the sages tell us what happened actually made three different boxes. Two of one of wood. Each one of them had four walls and the bottom was open on top. He made a big one of gold and he put the wooden one in that. Then in the wooden one, he made another one. He put a gold a smaller gold one into the wood one and then he covered it on top with gold. The wood is covered with gold and on the inside and on the outside. What does it mean? Like a crown was around the top edge. Now, where did this crown go? He made the outside wall of the outside gold box higher than the rest of them. This way, it went to the thickness of the top. Just a drop more. So when you had the cover of the of the ark would sit what you had then was it would sit on the thickness of the wall. So you had the outside box had this wall which was higher than the walls on the inside. The box that had then the cover that had the crew beam coming from it would sit on the walls on the inside which is the wooden and the smaller gold box. And then you had the crown going around it in which this was the respect for the Torah that was given the crown of the Torah that was higher than the most of than all of them. And because the Torah was in the ark which this is symbolic of what you talk about you have the outside one which the crown was on it was higher and above all the rest of them. Now the Torah continues to tell us about how this ark continued to look. Now verse 12. And you shall cast for it four rings. Then put those four rings on the four corners. Two rings on one side and two rings on the other side. meaning you should pour it, you should shape it, form it means sides like the says in the corners. They would put on the corners but more close to the top top of the corners closer to the cap to the cover two on each side to the width of the ark. They would put then the poles in them into these rings and the length of the ark would be a divider between the two of them. So you take the measurement there should have been at least two and a half hand breaths between each pole. The reason for this is because the people that would carry the ark would be on the inside of the poles. This is the way it's explained in the tractor of these are the four rings that we explained in the beginning of the verse just explain to where they were technically should is extra he's coming to explain it's just like he said before two rings he's telling you about the two rings there were two rings on one side and about the other two rings On the other side, the word sal means side. Verse 13. What are these poles going to be made out of? And you will then coat them with coals with gold says poles. Verse 14. And then you shall insert the poles through the rings which will then be on the sides of the ark. They are going to be used to carry the ark. Verse 15. Verse 15. In the rings of the uh in the rings of the ark, the poles shall remain. They shall never be removed from it forever. In fact, this is one of the 365 negative commandments. One is not allowed to remove the poles from the ark. Many explain that actually at the end of the poles, they made them wider so they should not be able to be removed. Then you will place the ark and in the ark you will place I'm sorry the tablets of testimony that I will give you and you will place it in the ark the testimony. What does it mean testimony? The Torah that we are talking about today, the Torah which I will give you is a testimony between me and you, between me and the Jewish people that I taught you and I gave you and I commanded you of these commandments that are in the Torah. This concludes the first Torah reading of Parases Truma.