There is a very
sweet Midrash which is based on the opening verses of our Parsha
Terumah which means a gift. In the opening verse, G-d tells Moses to
speak to the Children of Israel and instruct them to offer a gift. A
few verses later, we find those beautiful words "And they shall make
for me a Sanctuary and I shall dwell in their midst." The Midrash is
the following:
"The Holy One said to Israel 'I have given my Torah to you, in a
sense, I am giving Myself with it. The Torah says They shall give to
me a gift. This is like a King who had an only daughter and a prince
of a neighboring country came and married her. The prince requested
that he return to his land and take his wife with him. The King said
to him: 'My daughter that I have given to you is my only daughter. To
be separated from her I can not do. To say to you, do not take her I
am not able to do because she is now your wife. Therefore please offer
the following gift to me. Every place that you go, make for me a small
room that I be able to reside near you because I am not able to give
up my daughter. So said the Holy One to Israel. I have given the Torah
to you. To separate from it I am not able. To say to you do not take
it I am not able to do. Rather in every place that you go, make for me
a house and I will dwell there with you. Thus it says "And make for me
a Sanctuary, and I will dwell amongst you."
These verses and this Midrash have special meaning at this time as we
complete the construction of our entire synagogue campus with the
completion of the new Irv and Elaine Levin Building and the beginning
of the new Ohev Shalom.
More than thirty years ago, some Jewish pioneers ventured out to this
area of Bucks County. Exactly thirty-two years ago, in February of
1976, a handful of families came together to form a new synagogue
named Ohev Shalom. The first service was Purim of 1976. The first
modest building fronting Second Street Pike was purchased in 1978 and
a much larger addition containing the Sanctuary and Social Hall was
built and dedicated in 1983. The theme of that dedication was this
verse from our Parsha "They shall build a Sanctuary for Me and I shall
dwell in their midst." A decade later we constructed the Rothman
Family School Building and one more decade later our building is
completed.
I recently wrote how the present building project somehow has been a
special joy for me in watching the construction. I can almost not let
a day go by without walking through it from the new Simcha Boutique
through the Lobby and the Grand Hall to the Adath Tikvah-Montefiore
Chapel. Even better is when others have seen the space and marvel how
beautiful it is and how it exceeds all expectations.
If we view the completion of our synagogue's construction not only as
the finale of a project that began three decades ago but of a promise
made more than three thousand years ago, it has even greater meaning
and deeper spiritual significance. After giving us the gift of Torah,
G-d asks of us that wherever we find ourselves we create a space for
Him so that He may be able to dwell in our midst. Did G-d know then
how far and wide we would travel in the course of time. While we were
wandering in the desert on the way to the Promised Land did G-d know
that some of us would find our own promised land in a place called
Richboro? When we arrived, we did not forget to fulfill our promise
that we would create a space for G-d to dwell amongst us. Notice what
G-d says to Israel in the Torah and what G-d does not say. G-d does
not say to Build for me a Sanctuary and I shall dwell in it. Rather
G-d says "Build for me a Sanctuary and I will dwell amongst You. G-d
doesn't want to dwell in the space and surely not in the space alone
but amongst the people, the builders. The King was not interested in
the real estate. He just wanted to be close to his daughter. Without
his daughter there, the space would have no meaning.
So far, when I walk through our new space, the people I see are the
workmen (yes, all men), carpenters, contractors and all their tools
and equipment. As much as I have enjoyed watching the construction
happen, I am waiting for the day when we fill this new space to come
together, to celebrate and to pray. If we can feel that we are
building this space as an invitation to invite G-d to dwell in our
midst that invitation only becomes real when we are in it ourselves.
The primary spiritual focus of our synagogue this year is to become a
more welcoming, inclusive community at Ohev Shalom. That means
continuing many things that have made us the special synagogue
community we are, terminating some things that have gotten us off
track and beginning new initiatives that will make us more and more
welcoming to our members and guests and future members. It is only
when all of us can feel at home at Ohev Shalom that we can we come to
believe that we have created a home in which G-d's holy spirit will
delight to dwell.
The completion of the building is nearing. We will surely announce
when the doors open. We can truly see this as our response to these
verses of the Torah in which we are instructed to offer a gift. We
have. We have created a holy space in which we hope G-d's Shekhinah,
spirit, will delight to dwell amongst us.
Shabbat
Shalom
