“Today, I Am a Mishkan!”

A Bar Mitzvah begins constructing his Sanctuary with the materials he accumulates in each of the preceding 13 years of his life. Jewish education in these formative years determine the quality of the Sanctuary. TERUMAH TERUMAH

The 13 Items of the Mishkan

In the construction of the Mishkan— the portable Sanctuary—as is recounted in this week’s parsha, the Jews were commanded to contribute their resources to this holy project.

According to Rashi, there were thirteen items that constituted the bulk of their contributions.

(Closer examination of the text yields a total of fifteen items. However, some commentators maintain that the two types of jewels were contributed by the leaders of the tribes and were not an integral part of the national effort that included all segments of the community.)

Every detail of the Torah is significant. This is

TERUMAH especially true with respect to the construction of the Mishkan, which played such a pivotal role in our history, since it epitomized the intimate relationship between G-d and His people. Notwithstanding their serious degeneration into idolatry when they constructed the golden calf, G-d was still willing to dwell in their midst by way of the Sanctuary. It is thus no wonder that the Torah dedicates almost four entire sections to the details of the construction of the Mishkan.

The Significance of the Number 13

In light of the central role of the Mishkan, it is indeed interesting to reflect on the significance of the number 13 as it pertains to the building of the Mishkan.

As Jews we are familiar with the number 13. Contrary to the perception in our society that it is an unlucky number, Judaism considers it to have much positive meaning.

(In truth, there is no such thing as a lucky or unlucky number. There are, however, numbers that have connotations that are TERUMAH symbolic, auspicious and instructive.)

Of all the “thirteens,” the one most famous is the age of thirteen when a boy reaches the age of maturity and becomes a Bar Mitzvah.

A girl becomes an adult (a Bas Mitzvah) a year earlier, at the age of twelve, which means that she becomes an adult as she enters into her 13th year. Thus, both boys’ and girls’ age of responsibility are associated with 13; the difference is that girls become mature at the beginning of their 13th year and boys at the end.

There are also other significant “thirteens,” such as the Thirteen Attributes of Divine Mercy that are enumerated later in the book of Exodus and form an important part of our Yom Kippur liturgy. There are also Thirteen Methods of Torah Interpretation and Thirteen Principles of Faith. Ahavah, the Hebrew word for love is numerically equivalent to thirteen, as is the word “one” in Hebrew, Echad.

When we become a Bar or Bas Mitzvah Mitzvah, the soul that entered into our body at the time of birth, naming and circumcision TERUMAH becomes fully integrated and engaged within us. Bar and Bas-Mitzvah is thus the milestone in life that is the equivalent to the Sanctuary.

And just as there were thirteen different items that were donated to the Mishkan, so too, each and every year of leading up to the age of Bar Mitzvah, contributes one crucial ingredient that prepares us for the momentous event when our bodies become Sanctuaries for our Divine souls.

Yes, even the first few years of our lives are not just passing through years. What we absorb in our formative years stays with us and forms one of the components of our own Mishkan. The words, music and other influences that a one day old baby (indeed, even when it is in utero) is exposed to shape and mold the baby’s receptivity to the Divine.

However, as was stated, the number thirteen also corresponds to the “Thirteen Attributes of Mercy, the “Thirteen Methods of Torah Interpretation,” the Thirteen Principles of Faith” and the words Ahavah-love and Echadunity.

TERUMAH

The Three Thirteens; Three Pillars of the World

Upon deeper reflection, these items represent the three pillars upon which the world stands (Ethics of the Fathers Chapter One): Torah, Prayer and Acts of Loving Kindness.

The 13 methods of interpretation obviously correspond to Torah. The 13 Attributes of Mercy are invoked in our prayers. The idea of love is what motivates us to perform acts of loving kindness.

But all of the above must be based on the singular foundation of faith in the unity of G- d, the bedrock of Judaism.

Translating the above in practical terms:

The Mishkan that we build in our own lives must be based on the foundations of Torah, prayer and acts of loving kindness. These foundations, themselves, must be based on the more fundamental principle of faith in G- dly unity.

Waiting for Our National Bar and Bas Mitzvah

TERUMAH

We can apply all of the above specifically to our unique role at this point in history, standing on the threshold of the period that separates between exile and Redemption.

The entire period of exile can be viewed in two ways. We can look at it just as a time of suffering an pain—which it certainly was— or we can also view it as a time of laying the foundations for the future role of the Jewish nation as they reach spiritual maturity.

Indeed, the period to follow the future Redemption has been characterized as the age of our collective Bar Mitzvah when our collective soul will be fully integrated within us as individuals and as a community, and will spread its light to the entire world.

But if the future era of Redemption is our Bar Mitzvah, we are presently in the period of preparation, where every positive action of ours can be compared to one of the thirteen items that were contributed for the construction of the Mishkan.

Now is the time for us to strengthen these foundations, by reinforcing our faith in the 13 principles of Judaism, strengthening our TERUMAH study of Torah (that is interpreted in 13 ways), invoking G-d’s 13 Attributes of mercy in our prayers, and by acts of Tzedakah and Loving-Kindness, which are expressions of love and parallel the 13 items contributed to the Mishkan.

And all of the above should be permeated with the spirit of Ahavah and Echad, love and unity, both of which numerically equal the number 13.

TERUMAH

TERUMAH

From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Terumah by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.