SO, WHAT’S NU?
RANDY SCHOCH
The Torah portions we have covered for the past several Shabbats were about the building and maintaining of the Holy Tabernacle that was used as the center of worship and community as we traveled through the desert of Sinai for 40 years.
The structure itself was a collapsible, portable tent (think circus tent for those of you old enough to remember the circus coming to town) only much more beautiful and elaborate. The wood support beams were covered with gold and silver, the curtains were silk and very beautifully colored, etc. The Tabernacle contained everything needed for our worship. There was an altar, ark (more recently referred to as The Lost Ark), wash basin, religious implements, etc.
Why, you might wonder, have I chosen this topic as my theme for this month’s article? The reason being our little shul in the hinterlands of Southern Maryland is on a quest to beautify and furnish our new Tabernacle (a.k.a. Congregation Sha’are Shalom). There is enough activity going on to make your head spin. For example:
1)
The Women’s Group is doing fundraising with din-ners, programs, etc. to complete the furnishing in the kitchen.
2) The Knitting/Sewing Circle is making wall hangings, etc. to make our shul look and feel more like home.
3) The Men’s Group was recently reorganized to get me and a few other men off the couch to do a little work about the building.
How does this relate in a personal way for our own spiri-tual quest? Each of us is made up of three parts – body – mind – and spirit. When we commit ourselves to working with our body and mind to a project larger than ourselves the spirit will naturally grow along with it. As my mother used to say: “Johnny is as Johnny does.”
A little bit of Kabbalah from the Rebbe, obm before clos-ing: People imagine that since G-d is not physical, therefore He must be in heaven. But the heavens — and all things spiri-tual — are just as much creations as the earth.
Less dissonant, more harmonious, more lucid — but finite realms nonetheless.
G-d is not found due to the capacity of a place, but by His desire to be there. And what He desires most is to be found in the work of our hands, fixing up His world.
In the heavens is G-d’s light. In the work of our hands dwells G-d Himself, the source of all light.
ב׳שלום,
R. Schoch, PRF Emeritus
Disclaimer – Anything written in this column is only my own impres-sion of events, the way that I interpret them, and not meant to be factual and true. If confronted by a challenge, I will immediately claim senility and deny writing whatever is being challenged.