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February 4, 1957

And They Shall Make for Me a Temple (1957)

Terumah General Jewish Thought
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How Many Does It Take to Build a Tabernacle in a Desert (1954)

(דשעה שאמר לו הקב"ה למשה על עסקי המשכן, יאמר לפניו" רשב"ע, יכולים ישראל לעשותו? אמר לו: אפי' אחד מישראל יכול לעשותו, שנא' מאת כל איש אשר ידבנו לבו מד"ר פל"ג) I. Problem of Moses in Desert= G-d commands building of משכן, and he wonders: do I have the necessary people for it? (quote part) A- The Religious Problem. Many people are newly
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Synagogue Sermon

Tabernacle and Temple (1965)

Our Sidra and Haftorah of this morning deal essentially with the same theme: the building of a central place of worship for the people of Israel. The Sidra tells us of the commandment to construct the Tabernacle or Mishkan. The Haftorah relates the building of the Mikdash, the Temple. Yet, despite the similarity of subject matter, there are remarkable differences between the Mishkan of Moses described in the Sidra and the Mikdash of Solomon described in the Haftorah. It seems as if the arrangement of this Haftorah to follow this Sidra was intended to teach us a study in contrast; there is a clear message in the juxtaposition of these two different stories of the sanctuaries of Israel. The Mishkan, as our Sidra describes its construction by Israel under Moses, was a highly popular project, although it was a relatively plain structure, for it had to be portable in order to accompany the Israelites during their long travels in the wilderness. Its construction was a cooperative venture by all strata of society. The men worked, the women weaved, the laborers labored, in a folk project, a community undertaking. The Mikdash, however, despite its architectural grandeur, was not something built by the entire community. It was not the people who erected the Mikdash; it was foreign skilled labor. Professional artisans were imported from Tyre, whose King was Hiram, a friend of Solomon. The contract was sub-let; it was not a do-it-yourself project. The Mishkan and its construction was something which captured the fancy of the people. It fired their imagination. They gladly volunteered to serve as the builders of the Tabernacle, and they contributed its furnishings. There was an overflow of enthusiasm, an unparalleled and unsurpassed outpouring of love for this sacred project. Such was the plan at the very inception of the project: מאת כל איש אשר ידבנו לבו תקחו את תרומתי, “of every man whose heart maketh him willing ye shall take My offering.” So successful was this element of נ…
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Synagogue Sermon

The House that Solomon Built: An Ancient Commentary on the Modern Synagogue (1960)

Just how important is the Synagogue in Jewish life? This question agitated some of the best minds of the Talmudic sages some two millennia ago when they debated the relative worth of Synagogue and School. It was a source for deep thought and contemplation by medieval thinkers who were comparing the merits of prayer in the Synagogue and the other mitzvot. It is a significant and crucial question in our own day, when the Synagogue has become the focal point of the entire Jewish community and its single most important institution. Just how important should the synagogue be in Jewish life?On the one hand, it is clear that the Bet ha-Knesset, the Synagogue, is preeminently a place of holiness, or Kedushah. Thus our Talmud tells us that it is forbidden to live in a city in which there is no Synagogue (Sanhedrin 17). The Talmud of Jerusalem taught that he who prays in a Bet ha-Knesset, is considered as if he had personally made an offering in the Temple of old. And our Talmud, again, tells us that Rabbi Joshua, the son of Levi, told his children always to rise early to attend the Synagogue service, so that they may thereby merit long life (Berakhot 8).So that you cannot gainsay the value of the Synagogue. It is the place where the Jew pours out his heart before G-d. It is a place where there occurs the dialogue between G-d and His children. It is the place where the noise of the market and the clamor of the world are silent before the awe of the Almighty.Yet, on the other hand, just saying that a Synagogue is important is not telling the whole story. We must qualify, explain, and analyze.Let us then turn to our Haftorah, from the First Book of Kings, which tells us about the Holy Temple, the Bet ha-Mikdash, the House that Solomon built – the precursor of the modern Synagogue. The two concluding verses, (11-13) contain G-d’s promise and challenge to Solomon and Israel upon the completion of the building of the House. Contemporary Jews too are here offered some extremely pe…
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