Early on in our personal Jewish journeys, we learn that God is everywhere and needs no invitation. But then why do the Israelites build the Mishkan (the Tabernacle)? Though we no longer have the detailed building described in Parshat Terumah, we still "invite" God to dwell with us through our actions.
Anger. Frustration. Anxiety. Resentment. As some people begin to get their inoculations, other people who are in a higher risk group or otherwise eligible are feeling frustrated that they can’t find a place to get the vaccine. Signing up is primarily done by computer, and not all of our older neighbors have computer access or feel comfortable navigating the sites. That’s pretty frustrating.
The current version of who we are may seem quite different to those who knew us when. Similarly, people who only know us as adults may be surprised when they learn things about our former selves. The Torah reminds us not to dwell on memories that no longer reflect reality, but to embrace the present.
The three rules of real estate, goes the old saw, are location, location, location. In many ways, location in the Bible provides necessary context to understand what a particular narrative is trying to communicate. Unfortunately, because we only read the Torah, we don’t always have a mental picture of where a particular episode occurs.
On the rare snowy days in Portland, I sometimes dream that I hear a snow plow clearing the streets. It's a cruel trick for my brain to play, but a fitting reminder about this past year - the pandemic has our sense of reality and time all confused.
Do you carry a special picture or letter in your wallet or wear a loved one’s jewelry every day? There’s something comforting about carrying with us these tangible items that connect us to our past, or to a moment of strength. It's because these things we carry are really more about the people we carry and those they carried before us.
One of the moments in this week’s inauguration which captured the nation’s attention was when our first National Youth Poet Laureate, Amanda Gorman, recited her poem, “The Hill We Climb.” Written in the aftermath of the January 6th insurrection, it captured the heartbreak, anger and division of our nation, even as she provided us with a message of tempered hope and a path forward.
