Parashat Terumah - Contribution

This week's Torah Reading is Parashat Terumah which means "Contribution." Typically the names of the weekly readings come from the first or second line of the passage, sometimes the first word.

Blessing before Torah study: Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, Who has made us holy through His commandments, and commanded us to actively study Torah.

This week's Torah portion begins in Exodus 25: 1 - "And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying: 'Speak unto the children of Israel, that they take for Me an offering; of every man whose heart maketh him willing ye shall take My offering.'" (JPS) So "terumah" means offering or contribution. It's important to realize that Adonai only wants offerings from those who are willing, who are giving with freedom and joy.

Be prepared, this section of Scripture is one you might call boring and so you'd be apt to skim or skip it completely because it contains an abundance of measurements and materials for building the tabernacle, also called mishkahn, that would be God's dwelling place with the people.

But if the scales of "the Torah isn't for me" mentality have fallen from our eyes, this portion of Scripture will be fascinating because we now realize that every detail that God has included in His Word has significance on many levels. And believe it or not every detail has significance in our lives today.

Caution: I would recommend reading 1 chapter per sitting and rereading it. (Actually in any book of the Bible, to really know His Word we should read 1 verse at a time and let that sink in before moving on.)

However you read it, let your heart absorb the details of the tabernacle because now...that tabernacle is you!

Torah portion: Exodus 25-27 (JPS-Jewish Publication Society version-you have to move from chapter to chapter)
Summary of Parashat Terumah

The next part of the weekly reading is the Haftarah which is a passage from Nevi'im which is the section of the Tanakh referred to as the Prophets, e.g. Isaiah, Kings 1. More about Haftarah and Haftarah blessings.

Haftarah portion: 1Kings 5:12-6:13

Brit Chadashah: 2Cor 9:1-15; Matt 5:33-37

Blessing after Torah study: Blessed art thou, Lord our G-d, King of the universe, who
gave us the Torah of truth and set everlasting life in our midst.
Blessed art thou, O Lord, Giver of the Torah.

Why bother?