Learning is a vital part of our ethos and vision and we would like to respond to our members needs and requirements. Initially the Dayan has established a programme offering weekly sessions for both men and women but please do let us know if you would like any additional learning sessions and we will do our best to find you a suitable chavruta.
Shiurim & Adult Education
THOUGHTS ON TERUMAH BY MIRIAM PALMER
(Based on Rabbi Frand on the Weekly Parsha)
This Sedra was my father’s z”l Bar Mitzvah Sedra and there are several messages in this Sedra which relate to him. One of these is the way he instilled a love of Torah into his family (and others who met him) and the other is the way he gave Tzedaka.
The Parsha says “Speak to the Children of Israel and let them take for Me a portion, from every man whose heart motivates him, you shall take My portion” (25:2)
Rashi quotes Chazal’s teaching that there were three collections for the building of the Mishkan. One collection was used to make the adanim (sockets) that supported the kerashim (planks) of the Mishkan. The second collection was for the “operating budget” of the Mishkan. The money was used to purchase birds, animals and flour to be brought as korbanot (offerings) and to buy the wine for the Temple. The third collection was a general collection of items and money used to build the actual structure – a ‘building campaign in today’s language.
The adanim were obviously part of the structure of the Mishkan. Why did Hashem command Moshe to take up a separate collection for the adanim and why couldn’t the funds raised in the building campaign cover the cost of the adanim?
The Beis Av explains that the adanim were obviously one of the less glorious parts of the Mishkan. The adanim rested on the dirt floor of the encampment. The kerashim were covered in gold and the adanim were made of silver. When asked to donate to the Mishkan, people would feel that the adanim bore very little significance and they would not readily donate funds for them.
However, contrary to their lack of physical value, the adanim served one of the most important functions in the Mishkan. If the maxim, “a building is only as strong as its foundation” is true of physical structures, then more so for a spiritual structure. The strength of the foundation determines the viability of the building built on it. Similarly, the purity and feeling with which people donate to the foundation of a spiritual structure determines the spiritual viability of the structure erected on that foundation.
Hashem ordered Moshe to take up a special collection for the adanim to make it clear that only a building constructed with pure intentions from the very foundation can eventually house the Shechinah (Divine Presence.)
The importance of building a firm spiritual foundation is particularly important in raising children.
The Talmud (Chagigah 15a) tells us a tragic story about the Tanna Elisha ben Avuya, who was one of the greatest Torah leaders of his time, but who eventually became a heretic. Elisha ben Avuya’s behaviour went from bad to worse, to the degree that a bas kol (Heavenly voice) referred to him as “Acher (the other one”,) rather than mention his name.
What led to the downfall of such a great man? In Talmud Yerushalmi (Chagigah 2:1,) Acher explains his own failure. Acher’s father, Avuyah, was one of the most honoured men in Jerusalem. Avuyah invited all the Rabbanim of Jerusalem to join the seudah at Elisha’s Brit Milah. He seated all the Rabbanim in one room, and Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua in a separate room. While the Rabbanim in the main hall were singing and enjoying the feast, Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua decided to review the Torah they had learned. As they were reviewing, a fire descended from Heaven and surrounded them.
`Avuya ran over to them and asked “what are you doing? Did you come to burn down my house?”
“We are reviewing our learning,” they explained, and as we advanced from one area of Torah to another, the words gladdened us as they did on the day that the Jews received them at Sinai. Just as Mount Sinai was surrounded with fire when the Jews received the Torah, we were surrounded with fire as we reviewed it.”
“If this is the power of the Torah,” declared Avuyah, “then I will raise my son to study Torah.”
“Since my father did not have pure intentions in raising me to study Torah, for his motive was not that l learn for the sake of Torah but rather for the glory of learning,” concluded Acher, “I did not end up staying true to the Torah.”
Acher’s explanation for his failure is the message of the adanim. If a spiritual endeavour is to succeed, then the foundation must be pure. If we want our children to succeed in Torah study, and eventually in building fine Jewish homes, we must raise them with firm, pure foundations. If the values with which we raised our children when they are young are not true Torah values, then we cannot be sure that their homes – the buildings they build on those foundational values – will succeed.
Shabbat shalom
Learning Opportunities