Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 3 Adar I, 5784
Parsha Terumah: (Exodus 25:1 – 27:19)
Second Portion: Exodus 25:17 – 25:30

Good morning!  Today we jump into the second portion of “contribution.” And it is an amazing time to be thinking about how we will contribute to our community. We left off yesterday discussion what we hold sacred.

The definition I found of sacred is: “connected with God or dedicated to a religious purpose and so deserving veneration.”

What is it we connect in our lives to Hashem? Because what we get today? Is a lesson on the sacredness of the ark, which holds the Torah:

17And you shall make an ark cover of pure gold, two and a half cubits its length and a cubit and a half its width.

18And you shall make two golden cherubim; you shall make them of hammered work, from the two ends of the ark cover.

19And make one cherub from the one end and the other cherub from the other end; from the ark cover you shall make the cherubim on its two ends.

20The cherubim shall have their wings spread upwards, shielding the ark cover with their wings, with their faces toward one another; [turned] toward the ark cover shall be the faces of the cherubim.

I want to reflect on this for a bit.  The Torah is our way to connect with Hashem.  The Ark certainly seems symbolic of our hearts.  Our hearts contain the mechanism to connect with Hashem through the Torah.  It is interesting two children sit on the cover.  This connects for the duality found within us – the Yin/Yang, the Masculine/Feminine, Tohu/Tikkun, the Animal/Godly.

Whatever framework we want to use – these Cherubim need balance to cover our hearts. Their faces are connected.

I also think this may be connected to the inner work within us.  It would seem necessary to dig into the little child within us – that 5-8 year old boy and girl who resides inside us.

This is sacred. This is where we are healing. Because these inner children are what protect our hearts.  And. They have learned to survive. They have good motives; but may have learned tactics from external sources (fathers, mothers, etc) that have moved them away from seeing Hashem as the source of our protection – and feeling like they are protecting us on our own.

Can we feel into the sacred relationship we have with our inner children? Can we look at their tactics from a place of compassion and empathy?  Can we educate them on a more peaceful way to work to protect and guard our hearts? This seems to be our work.

21And you shall place the ark cover on the ark from above, and into the ark you shall place the testimony, which I will give you.

22I will arrange My meetings with you there, and I will speak with you from atop the ark cover from between the two cherubim that are upon the Ark of the Testimony, all that I will command you unto the children of Israel.

So The Torah is in our hearts. Hashem (the Universe, Source) will speak with us (not to us) from between the two cherubim. That requires connection and harmony between the inner children within us.

23And you shall make a table of acacia wood, two cubits its length, one cubit its width, and a cubit and a half its height.

24And you shall overlay it with pure gold, and you shall make for it a golden crown all around.

25And you shall make for it a frame a handbreadth [wide] all around, and you shall make a golden crown for its frame all around.

26And you shall make for it four golden rings, and you shall place the rings on the four corners that are on its four legs.

27The rings shall be opposite the frame as holders for the poles [with which] to carry the table.

28And you shall make the poles of acacia wood, and you shall overlay them with gold, and the table shall be carried with them.

29And you shall make its forms, its spoons, its half pipes, and its supports with which it will be covered; of pure gold you shall make them.

30And you shall place on the table showbread before Me at all times.

If Hashem connects with us – and our Neshama speaks between our inner children? What is the showbread? What is the table? It is the sacred place we show Hashem who we are. We place our experiences, our friendships, our sustenance on this table.  This is our offering to Hashem.  This is our CONTRIBUTION.

Hmmmm. Just reflecting on this.  I am curious to your thoughts.

Here’s my thoughts from the past two years:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 29 Shevat, 5783.

This passage this morning speaks very differently than it did a year ago. This time around, I read about the cherubim and I hear “balance.” Hashem speaks between the inner children of our hearts. And we are called to be in balance internally.

What does this look like? For me I’m learning to be balanced between my masculine and feminine self. Yes, I’m a dude. But inside of me, I see having both my Neshama and the Shechinah. The masculine and feminine aspects of Hashem.

The truth is our souls don’t have a gender. They truly do balance both. We are created in Hashem’s image so it makes sense why we have both.

My kids often ask; “why do we see Hashem as a boy? What can’t he be a girl?”

And then we get to discuss how gender and Hashem aren’t likely completely connected. It’s just the archaic language we have to discuss “him.” If we are created in Hashem’s image; men and women are both Hashem. And learning to be balanced in harmony speaks to me; both internally and externally.

Hashem speaks between the balance. When we are out of balance, I wonder if we hear properly.

What are your thoughts?

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for Shevat 29, 5782

We left off yesterday with the instructions for building the ark.

Today we learn about the lid for the ark; as opposed to the ark which was acacia wood covered in gold, the lid of the ark was pure gold.

This is interesting to me; that the vessel of the Torah is made of wood covered in gold. The lid; or the piece that keeps the Torah inside is made of pure gold; not wood covered in gold. What does that say about us? Our vessels are earthly – we are made from acacia wood. But what keeps the Torah inside of us is pure gold. Interesting.

On the ends of the lid of the ark we’re two cherubim; children. This, to me, relates to how we connect with the Torah- as a child; pure and full of wonder.

Then, Hashem tells Moses to put the Tablets of Testimony inside the ark.

Then Hashem tells Moses this will be where He meets with Moses; Hashem will speak from between the two cherubim. The faces of the cherubim looking at each other is where Hashem resides.

I wonder if this is connected to the study of Torah. It’s something for one person to engage with Torah with childlike wonder. But when two of us study (or more) we hear from Hashem!

After we are done with instructions for the ark, we learn about the table near the ark. Again, made of acacia wood, coated with pure gold. Then there were four rings attached so that poles could be inserted to carry it.

All the tools for the table were made of pure gold and the poles to carry the table were made of acacia wood covered in gold.

On this table was “multi surface bread” that was to be kept at all times.

The Mishnah tells us this signifies the importance of people sitting together, eating, and discussing Torah. It’s as if “they have eaten from the table of God.”

Wow. That’s something to literally chew on! What are your thoughts?