When in the mind space of ultimate awareness from our own place, we can sometimes sense the level on which our soul is moving through the world. When we perceive our surroundings with the right light pervading our consciousness, we experience on the level of the deepest teachings in our tradition, the teachings that circumscribe the spiritual dimensions of everyday life. Awareness (zehirut) goes hand in hand with Brightness (behirut). The Ba'al ha Tania writes how great is the mitzvah of tzedaka, how much human effort, energy and time is spent in earning money, which is then raised up into the kedusha (holiness) of Divine Will. How often do we place a coin into an outstretched hand or box and see it as a site of yichud (unification) between the Creator and His creation? On a symbolic, but ultimately infinite level, all of our actions in this world are the meeting ground where we bring our own lives -- from our breakfast cereal, childhoods and family history -- either into tikun (repair) or into further disrepair (chas v'shalom). We are constantly in relationship, impacting all and everyone around us, with literally every breath an exchange between ourselves and Other. And all expansions of self affect the environs on all levels: familial, national, social and human. We have been given creative license through our opposable thumbs, our systems of memory and communication, our vision of change. It is incumbent upon us to raise these gifts up to the Divine.
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"Lift up your hands in the sanctuary."
In Parashat Teruma we see the consecration of our nation's creative process: "And you will take for Me…and raise up from within every man whose heart is given to give." Am Yisrael's first acts of changing the world, of taking minerals, plants and animals and actively transforming, are at the roots of Einsteinian relativity, and are the spiritual blueprint for how to go about in this world relating, creating and elevating.
We learn that giving is only required from those whose hearts want to give. It stems from the site of our two human tendencies, the yetzer hatov (urge toward good) and the yetzer hara.(urge toward evil). What will be formed in our interactions with the world is a result of whatever is in our heart: this is what will determine what will be brought to the world by our people in science, art, music, and technology. In our tradition, we know that every action in this world either raises things up or keeps them down. This absolute principle is sometimes very hidden in this world, but is discerned most tangibly on the level of heart. That is the real place that matters -- the intentions, perspective and awareness of the world we are moving in.
This parasha, understood from the perspectives of both halacha and kabbala , is begging us to learn from the mishkan and apply what we've learned to our world. Our first acts were of building Hashem's sanctuary, and so is every act today. This world is a finite system, it is a vessel filled with the glory of its Creator. Our ability to act in it is deeply connected to its future. "Lift up your hands in the Sanctuary …and Bless the ONE."
In our times, the scope, ability and consequence of our tools and technologies are ever greater, yet the connections can seem even more hidden: from mutual funds to "virtual reality" to multi-nationals, the challenge of maintaining da'at, (consciousness and conscience) for what we affect is tremendous. We have never been able to do as much good or bad with our tools, yet our society's morals and sense of partnership with the world around us are in upheaval, or perhaps even decay. We can see the rise of a need for environmental awareness, as we see the rise of child abuse, in the same era. Both are directly related to our way of engaging in modern life. The pace at which technology has scarred its own home is inextricably connected to that perspective. We face a great challenge to harness those energies with our Torah's wisdom and awareness. The opening lines of Parashat Teruma show us that a check to where our heart is tilting can expose the motivation behind our own applications of wisdom and power. We must strive to bring awareness and morality to all the permitted paths of action, "to make oneself holy in the permissible." Shopping, investing, education and politics are all parts of life waiting to be seen as elements of G-d's sanctuary.
May the Light of Torah guide our path, and the Candle of the mitzot brighten our days. Gut Shabbes.
Shaul David Judelman
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Shaul David Judelman currently resides in Jerusalem. After growing up amongst the Douglas Firs of Seattle, Washington, he came to Israel on a quest for Judaism alive in its land. He spent six years in the Bat Ayin Yeshiva Rabbinical program and now teaches at Yeshivat Simchat Shlomo while working on several different environmental initiatives in Jerusalem. He is the founder and coordinator of Simchat Shlomo’s Eco-Activist Beit Midrash, a program offering holistic in-depth Torah study around issues of ecology. |