Parshat T’rumah

In this week’s parashah, T’rumah, God teaches Moshe how the children of Israel are to build the mishkan, the sacred structure in which God will dwell among them. Each member of the community will contribute to the building of the mishkan in his or her own way. No two contributions will be exactly alike in that they will be expressions of each person’s heart. Yet, in spite of the diversity behind it, the structure will be one. The whole will have a unity that transcends the parts. 

According to the S’fat Emet, the oneness of the mishkan was not in spite of the diversity behind it, but because of that diversity. The secret of the mishkan’s unity was that it brought together everyone’s unique gifts.

We sometimes imagine that to build true spiritual community, the kind that brings God’s presence down to earth, we must suppress our differences and conform to a single standard. But the truth is the opposite. We bring God into the world by making the most of our diversity. by celebrating the uniqueness of each person’s contribution. In that way we discover what we truly have in common – which is that we need each other precisely because we are not the same. By recognizing what we all share, namely our dependence on each other, we build a oneness that reflects God’s oneness.

• Candle lighting this Friday evening February 24 is at 6:02 pm. Shabbat ends on Saturday night at 6:58 pm.
• The New Shul’s Shabbat morning service is from 9 to about 11:45 am, followed by a kiddush-lunch open to all. This Shabbat, February 25, the kiddush-lunch is sponsored by Cindy Mann and Michael Unger in honor of the upcoming wedding of Ian Mann and Sara Jackson.
• Minyanim during the week are on Sunday mornings at 9:30 am, and on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings at 6:30 pm. Kabbalat Shabbat is on Friday evenings at 6 pm (usually at our rabbis’ home – please contact us for directions).
• Purim begins on Monday evening March 6. Join us at The New Shul for our megillah reading and shpiel at 7 pm. On Tuesday March 7, join us for a morning minyan and a second reading of the megillah beginning at 8 am.
• On the Shabbat of March 17-18, our guest teacher will be Rabbi Shai Held, President and Dean of the Hadar Institute in New York. Rabbi Held will teach four times during the weekend: 1) over dinner at the shul on Friday night after Kabbalat Shabbat, 2) at our Shabbat morning service, 3) on Shabbat afternoon immediately after the kiddush-lunch, and 4) at seudah shlisheet (the third Shabbat meal) at our rabbis’ home. For further information, or to register for the Friday night dinner, please contact us.