🎤Kol-🐥Hayyah🐘 - קוֹל־חַיָּ֖ה
Terumah 5779: Rabbi Adam Frank
The contents of this week’s Torah portion, Terumah, focus heavily on the information and details necessary for the construction of the tabernacle and its utensils that the Israelites will use to worship God during their desert journey towards the Land of Israel. The elements of the tabernacle include the altar, menorah, table, side coverings of tapestries, poles, rings, clasps, sockets, fabrics -- great emphasis is placed on the smallest details of how to construct each object so that their appearances will be accurate and true.
In describing the construction of the ark, the instruction includes, "Cover it with pure gold; you shall cover it inside and outside, and make a gold rim all around, extending above its top" (Exodus 25:11). Future generations asked, why is it necessary to cover/overlay the interior with pure gold -- the inside of the ark will not be seen! This question invited our tradition to make a connection between the holy ark and humans: the teacher Rava (4th century Babylonia) taught, "any Torah scholar whose inside does not match his outside is no Torah scholar" (B.T. Yoma’ 72). Torah knowledge is praiseworthy, but if that knowledge is not accompanied by a life lived which expresses Torah values of dignity, compassion, mitzvot, and action -- then that Torah knowledge is a deception and falsehood.
This very teaching must be emphasized regarding the connection between halakhah (Jewish law that dictates our actions) and the underlying morality and ethics that accompany the law. A person meticulous in her observance of Jewish practices (the external) but detached from the ethics girding those practices (the internal) is deceiving herself and others. There is no better example of widespread detachment of ethics from halakhic practice than that surrounding the commandment to care for the suffering of animals. There is no commercial use of animals that is not saturated with mistreatment, neglect and cruelty for the animal. As such, a consumer of animal products is a participant in the suffering of animals. Accordingly, an observant Jew who does not uphold a diet and lifestyle of compassion is not an observant Jew. And... the same can be said of the Torah scholar, too.
Terumah 5779: Rabbi Adam Frank
The contents of this week’s Torah portion, Terumah, focus heavily on the information and details necessary for the construction of the tabernacle and its utensils that the Israelites will use to worship God during their desert journey towards the Land of Israel. The elements of the tabernacle include the altar, menorah, table, side coverings of tapestries, poles, rings, clasps, sockets, fabrics -- great emphasis is placed on the smallest details of how to construct each object so that their appearances will be accurate and true.
In describing the construction of the ark, the instruction includes, "Cover it with pure gold; you shall cover it inside and outside, and make a gold rim all around, extending above its top" (Exodus 25:11). Future generations asked, why is it necessary to cover/overlay the interior with pure gold -- the inside of the ark will not be seen! This question invited our tradition to make a connection between the holy ark and humans: the teacher Rava (4th century Babylonia) taught, "any Torah scholar whose inside does not match his outside is no Torah scholar" (B.T. Yoma’ 72). Torah knowledge is praiseworthy, but if that knowledge is not accompanied by a life lived which expresses Torah values of dignity, compassion, mitzvot, and action -- then that Torah knowledge is a deception and falsehood.
This very teaching must be emphasized regarding the connection between halakhah (Jewish law that dictates our actions) and the underlying morality and ethics that accompany the law. A person meticulous in her observance of Jewish practices (the external) but detached from the ethics girding those practices (the internal) is deceiving herself and others. There is no better example of widespread detachment of ethics from halakhic practice than that surrounding the commandment to care for the suffering of animals. There is no commercial use of animals that is not saturated with mistreatment, neglect and cruelty for the animal. As such, a consumer of animal products is a participant in the suffering of animals. Accordingly, an observant Jew who does not uphold a diet and lifestyle of compassion is not an observant Jew. And... the same can be said of the Torah scholar, too.