Shabbat Shalom from Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow
Shabbat Terumah
Torah:
Exodus 25:1 - 27:19 Haftarah: I Kings
5:26 - 6:13
“Holy Places”
Dear Friends,
This week’s Torah portion gives instruction for the
construction of the mishkan, the portable shrine that the Children of Israel would
use for worship during their journey from Egypt to the Holy Land. Our ancestors brought donations to fashion
the mishkan from the finest materials possible.
In essence, our ancestors were creating a holy place – their center of
Jewish spirituality and national identity. They were demonstrating their faith
in the future.
We do that, too, when we build our synagogues, Jewish
community centers, summer camps, and even our cemeteries. They are our touch points of Jewish culture,
heritage, and identity. So, it is with a heavy heart and great concern that I
take note of the wanton destruction of gravestones in Jewish cemeteries,
anti-Semitic graffiti on synagogues, and the more than 100 bomb threats that
have been called into Jewish community centers and synagogues across North
America. This is more than vandalism.
They are attacks on our holy places.
We Jews are a people of justice, kindness,
tolerance, coexistence, and love. We are also a people of self-respect,
dignity, pride, and strength. As we deal
with the troubling events of recent weeks, let us find support and reassurance
from our ancestors in the desert.
Despite the obstacles laid out before them, they kept on moving towards
the Promised Land. Despite worry and doubt, they remained steadfast in pursuing
their dream of freedom for all. Despite
fear and terror, they remained joyful and maintained their belief in the
ultimate justice of their cause.
Shabbat Shalom,
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