This week's double portion describes in great detail the building of a portable tabernacle to be carried through the wilderness.  It was a symbol of God's presence in the community.  The artist responsible for the building was Betzalel, but of course the instructions came from Moses following a revelation from God.

 

             I wrote the following message for our synagogue's April-May bulletin.  Since it is built on this week's Torah reading, allow me to share it now.

 

             The walls of our new building have finally gone up.  It is exciting seeing this building as a reality.  In a few months we will be making our formal move, with plans to hold High Holiday services in the building.

 

       People ask me how I feel about the walls going up.  For all the excitement about walls, there is a thought upon my mind.  I am focused not on the walls, but on what will happen in that building once the walls are up.  How do we turn a building into a spiritual home for Jews from Western Broward County?

 

       When Moses received from God the plans for the building of a portable tabernacle in the desert, he first received the details of the inside of the building.  He learned how to make the holy ark, the Cherubim, the altar, and the menorah.  Only afterwards did he focus on the curtains and wood that makes up the walls.

 

       Moses then shared his plans with Betzalel the artist-architect who designed the structure.  According to Rabbinic Midrash, Betzalel challenged Moses.  "You do not build a building from the inside out; you must start with the outside and build inwards."  When Betzalel began building, he went in the opposite order of Moses, beginning with the outer walls.

 

       As I look at our new building, the architect, contractor, and building committee are like the artist Betzalel.  They are building from the outside inwards.  As the rabbi, I feel like Moses, focused on what will happen inside that building.  How will we run religious services and other spiritual activities for our members and the greater community?  How will we educate both children and adults in the joy of their heritage?  How will we run social activities and projects to transform our community?  How do we make a building into a Jewish center for a spread-out community like ours?

 

       I watch the walls that shape the outside of the building and think about the activities that will happen inside that building.  This is how Moses felt when he watched Betzalel constructing the tabernacle.   A building is both a physical and a spiritual place.  I can already see that the physical place will be beautiful.  Now, how do we make our new building spiritually beautiful?   That is my challenge as the rabbi.  That is the challenge for all of us as a congregation.