The Torah portion of Terumah begins the description of the Tabernacle that God commands the Jewish people to build in the desert. Not only is the rest of the book of Exodus, except for the incident of the golden calf, dedicated exclusively to this subject, but nearly the entire book of Leviticus and the first few portions of Numbers deal with the service conducted in the Tabernacle.
For most non-observant Jews these portions are not only hard to relate to, but to many they are a total turn-off, due to the many details, the animal sacrifices and the service of the priests and levites, all of which do not exist anymore and seem outdated or worse. Even for many observant Jews, the Tabernacle and the service described are parts of the Torah most likely to be skipped over or read in a very superficial manner.
Yet, this is a real shame. Most Jews do not understand to what an extensive degree the synagogue is based on the physical model of the Tabernacle and the Temple. Even more so, much of the conceptual basis and composition of our daily, Shabbat and holiday services are taken from the order and content of the Temple service.
For example, the bimah where the prayer leader stands represents the outer alter where the sacrifices were offered. We are taught that our prayers today are a direct replacement of those offerings. The ark, containing Torah scrolls, represents the Torah scroll resting in the ark, placed in the Holy of Holies, which had a curtain in front of it, as does the ark today. The ner tamid, the everlasting light, in the synagogue represents the menorah, the seven branched candleabram of the holy Temple. Our synagogues facing Jerusalem is in memory of the Temple itself. The mechitza, the prayer partition between men and women of today is modeled on the separation made by the Sages in certain areas of the Temple between men and women.
As for the prayers replacing the Temple service, the examples are too many to bring in such a short venue, but to name just a few. The fact that we pray the morning prayers of shacharit and the afternoon prayers of mincha is to replace the morning and afternoon daily offerings. Maariv, the evening service is to replace the offerings that burnt on the alter all night. The Musaf prayer on Shabbat and holidays replaces the additional offerings brought on these days. Each morning we recite karbanot, the readings about the offerings, at the very beginning of prayer. Pesukei d’Zimra, the beginning verses of praise in the morning prayers corresponds to the songs of the Levites in the Temple. In Israelthe priestly blessing is done every day, as it was done in the Temple. Each day we read the particular song the Levites sang. Tachanun, verses of repentance, replaces the guilt offering, while mizmor l’toda, a song of thanksgiving, symbolizes the thanksgiving offering. These are just some of the many examples.
As for the construction of the Tabernacle we are taught that each measurement, material, direction, and color contain a multitude of lessons from the moral to the ethical, from the practical to the mystical. The Talmud (Berachot 55a) teaches that Bezalel was able to construct the Tabernacle through understanding the secrets of the Hebrew letters, the same letters which with God created heaven and earth.
Our Sages were able to translate and transform the Temple model into the synagogue experience of today. That was their genius and contribution to Jewish continuity. We need to renew our commitment to understanding the profound meaning of the Tabernacle and its service, in order to richen our Jewish experience today, making it relevant and meaningful to one and all.
