mishkan

Is Going To Starbucks A Spiritual Act? (Plus Drag Queens, Ponchos and Tents)

June 12, 2015 By punktorah

Three things to talk about here. First, let’s talk about clothes…what they communicate about who you are, what your life is about, and what you think of yourself and the world around you. And RuPaul. Then we’ll talk about a tent in the wilderness. And after that, Starbucks, sacred ritual, and how we’re basically living the same lives we were living thousands of years ago.

Let’s do this!

Holy Drag Queens

What a person wears says a lot about who they are, and what they represent. A cheap suit means an attempt to be upwardly mobile, in a tasteless way. A military uniform commands power from civilians, or shows rank among the troops. We can see a person’s lot in life from what they wear, and of course, how they wear it. The clothes don’t make the man, but in a way, they do.

Once upon a time we had these priests called the Kohanim, and yowzah, they had some drag man. The priestly vestments contain several “clues” as to the way in which a priest was to be understood in relation to the community: the mixing of linen and wool (shatnez) and the blend of crimson, purple and blue with gold interlaced.

First, the mixing of wool and linen must be addressed, because it’s really, really, really strange (then again, so is most of the Bible, so shocker, eh?) The commandment for the high priest to mix wool and linen comes before the prohibition of shatnez. This is arbitrary at first glance. Perhaps wool and linen represent two seasons that are not supposed to be mixed together, reflecting how the ancient Israelites thought of God as the maker of a world of opposites: light/dark, land/sky, sky/water, winter/summer, etc. Another possibility could come from a later prohibition on cross-dressing.

Drag.

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Parshah Pekudei

March 3, 2011 By punktorah

This week’s parshah, Pekudei, sees the completion of the Mishkan, the portable Tabernacle that serves as G-d’s dwelling place amongst the Israelites as they travel. Moses does a little accounting (hey, he’s the executive director of a non-profit organization, it’s in the job description!), and all of the pieces are brought together to be erected.

Here’s where we see two things that are pretty special.

First, Moses gets a special honor. Moshe hadn’t been involved with the actual construction of the Tabernacle. While he had relayed instructions to Bezalel, the “General Contractor” appointed by G-d, Moses didn’t actually get a chance to physically get in there and get his hands dirty like all of the other Israelites. Knowing this, Hashem gives Moses a special opportunity. According to Rashi, the workmen brought the pieces to Moses.

When Moses saw how heavy all the pieces were, he exclaimed, “How am I going to lift his whole thing up?”

G-d told him, “Don’t worry! You just do your best, I will do the rest.”

So Moses moved to lift the Tabernacle, and the it raised up by itself!

What does this mean? Hashem is telling us that when there is work to be done in G-d’s honor, what really matters is that we try. As long as we make an attempt, we win. Especially when it comes to creating a holy space for G-d to dwell, there is no failing in the service of Hashem.

Secondly, Pekudei speaks about the anointing and blessing of Aaron and his sons as priests. The Torah says, “and so shall it be that their anointment shall be for them for eternal priesthood for their generations” (Shemos/Exodus 40:15). Haamek Dvar (a commentary on the Torah by Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin of Voloshin), tells us that before this time the blessing given to the priests had only been for them, and was not passed on to their children, but now the blessings extends to them and the generations that follow.

Inherited holiness? What does that even mean?

I understand this to mean that the capacity for holiness is inherent in all creation. We all have the potential to be holy and create holiness in others. What gets passed on is the key to unlock this potential. Jewish tradition is one that passes on the secrets of unlocking this holiness, so we have an obligation to those around us and the generations that follow to be an example of that holiness, and show the world that we all have the capacity to be holy, and we all hold the key. The real secret is that we don’t have the key for our own potential! Our key can only unlock the heart of another! Just as the Israelites couldn’t build the Tabernacle one by one, they had to help each other, so do we have to help each other realize their potential for holiness. It is only in helping others that we can truly help ourselves.

Parshah Terumah: Tents and Tents-Ability

February 3, 2011 By punktorah

(Subscribe to R. Michael’s weekly D’var Torah at OneShul’s IndieYeshiva by clicking here)

In this week’s Torah portion, Hashem tells us all about the construction of the Sanctuary, how big each piece of acacia wood needs to be, what kind of cloth to make the tents and curtains out of, even how many boards to use when making the Sanctuary walls! (It’s 48, by the way.)

What we are seeing this week is G-d specifically communicating how to make a space in which to dwell, how to create a holy place to house G-d’s presence among us.

There are a few other things that stand out this week as well.

The people of Israel are called to bring offerings to help build the Sanctuary. Notice though, that they aren’t commanded to bring offerings, but Hashem says “from every person whose heart inspires him to generosity”. We are shown that the only way we can build a space for G-d to dwell among us is if we give freely and generously to make this space complete. It has to happen through our free will. G-d doesn’t just magically appear in our lives, we have to give to make it happen. And not only give, but work! Throughout the portion G-d tells us over and over, very specifically and repeating instructions many times, exactly how to build what is needed for Hashem’s presence to be amidst us. This tells us that not only to we have to give, but we have to work, and work hard. Anything that is worth doing is worth doing right. And G-d tells us so. Does Hashem really need a tent made of goat skins or gold covered acacia wood poles? Probably not. But we are called to give generously of our time, our sweat, and our prized possessions, in order to create a space of holiness in the world.

Another point is the constant demonstration that happens through the textile arts. Hashem says to make numerous multicolored curtains, and to connect them with each other with loops and clasps, so that, as the Torah says, “the Mishkan will be one”. Only through the presence of Hashem can the many become one, echad. This miracle of unity is only available through the power of Hashem’s presence.

Most strikingly, however, is the fact that this sanctuary that is being built is portable. The Israelites were to keep G-d’s presence with them wherever they went. G-d travels with us. G-d has brought us out of Mitzrayim, the narrow places, and reminds us that as long as we create that space, G-d will be with us.

Dwelling in Holiness

March 22, 2010 By punktorah

(Originally Posted Here)

This year, I noticed that Torah gives us this awesome counterpoint of time – moments and metaphors spinning around themselves and overlapping.

Over the last several weeks, the Torah readings have focused on the building of the Mishkan (Tent of Meeting) – the place which will be home to the menorah, sacrificial altar and Ark of the Covenant for centuries, until Solomon eventually builds the Temple in Jerusalem.

Midrash compares the Tent where God’s Presence resided to the human body – the supporting beams were like ribs; the woven curtains the skin; the table with showbread the stomach. Going a bit deeper into metaphor, the menorah represents our intellect; the seraphim (angels) whose wings spread over the Ark are our lungs; and the Ark itself is our heart.

Inside the heart? Well, the Ark had the Tablets of the Law – both the whole set, but also the broken set. Inside our own heart we can find those same commandments – some broken in all of us, no matter how diligently we try to adhere to them, and others whole.

At the end of the book of Shemot/Exodus, we read:

“When Moses had finished the work, the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the Presence of the Lord filled the Tabernacle…”

Similarly, we can be filled by God’s Presence. In our finest moments, I believe we are.

The same portion tells us that,

“In the first month of the second year, on the first of the month, the Tabernacle was set up.”

…and hey, it’s kind of funny, but Tuesday will mark the first day of the first month – Rosh Chodesh Nisan! This isn’t some cosmic coincidence either. The Jewish calendar and the Torah reading cycle cause this to occur just about every year.

What you realize is that the Israelites have been out in the wilderness, camping at the foot of Sinai for 2 years. That they have finally gotten over their abusive past as slaves and begun to build a holy home for themselves and God.

And what are we doing? Well 2 weeks from now we’ll sit down at our table, and retell – re-LIVE in fact – the story of our slavery and journey to freedom.

Between now and then, between the building of our Mishkan and the retelling of our troubled past, comes the cleaning. Many of us are in a frenzy right now, trying to clean out the chametz from our homes. “Chametz” has come to mean “stuff that has flour in it”, or just plain “bread”. But it really refers to things with leavening, things that rise. At the heart of the issue, however, is the fact that “chametz” comes from the Hebrew word for “sour”. You get rid of leavening because it sours what it touches.

So in effect we are being told to set up our Mishkan – our holiest selves – in a time and place and way that affirms our whole-ness.We then have 2 weeks to clear it of those things that sour our dwellings.

Then and only then can we look back through the lens of experience to a troubled time. We will be able to see and even plunge ourselves back into the experience of Exodus, because we are anchored in the present (whether that present time is the 2-years-later of the Israelites in the newly-erected Mishkan; or our present time where we are further from that incredible dwelling but still just as blessed).

We sit in our tent surrounded by God’s Presence, knowing it will be – that it actually IS – all right.

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