Dear Friends and Family,
I am back! I did not get many takers for people offering to write for me soooo I had no choice….Just a little update: B”H Esti came home this week on monday and is doing B”H great. Thank you to everyone for your tefillot, support and for all calls, texts and emails of love. Thank you to Hashem for being there for us and putting into our life the most beautiful and special parents, family and friends who were able to help us.
In this week’s parsha, Teruma, G-d commands the Jewish people to build the Mishkan( the Tabernacle), a resting place for G-d’s presence. With the exception of the tragic incident of the sin of the Golden Calf, the rest of Sefer Shemos is devoted to the preparations for and the construction of the Mishkan. The Sfrono comments that this commandment comes right after last because the Mishkan would not have been needed had the Jewish people not sinned with the Golden Calf. He maintains that ideally no “Temple” should have been needed after the Jewish people’s revolution at Sinai. The entire nation achieved the level of prophecy and every Jew was worthy of the Shechina resting on him, as it later did on the Tabernacle and Temple. Only after the Jewish people toppled from that high level of spirituality, as a result of the worship of the Golden Calf, did it become necessary for it to have a “central” Sanctuary.
Ramban differs with his opinion. Ramban explains that the redemption from Egypt was not complete with the physical departure from the land of Egypt, nor was it complete even with the giving of the ten commandments, even though the revelation at Sinai was the goal of the exodus. The Exodus had not achieved its purpose until the heights that the Jewish people reached at Sinai were made a permanent part of existence by the means of the Tabernacle.
In this light, the Tabernacle was intended to be the central rallying point of the nation, ringed by the tribes and topped by the cloud of G-d’s presence, and the place to which every Jew would go with the offerings through which he hoped to elevate himself spiritually. The function of the Tabernacle in the Desert was carried forward by the Temple in Jerusalem. Throughout the long and bitter exile the centrality of G-d’s presence is represented by “miniature sanctuaries” of synagogues and study halls, for it is in them and through them that Jews hark back sounds of Sinai and the radiance of the Temple.
We live on a physical earth, and our goal is to bring G-d and spirituality into the physical. We all experience moments of high’s and moments of low. Yet it is not just about those moments of intensity, but in the aftermath how we make it a permanent part of our life. Our emotions range of different situations and our life situations bring new experiences, challenges and rewards. On a personal note, as Daniel and I were going back and forth from the hospital, we had some time to talk on the long drives through traffic to South Miami. There were many realizations we had through it all and when our baby was coming home, we asked each other: What are we going to take from this all? What have we learned from our experience? How can we help others? What are we going to do to make this experience not just a passing challenge, but a part of us?
We came up with some ideas and I know that we will try our hardest to follow through.
On this Rosh Chodesh Adar, May this new month bring Mazal, Happiness, success and Refuah to the entire Klal Yisroel and May we merit to see the redemption soon.
Have a beautiful and uplifting Shabbas!
Rebbetzen: Work In Progress 