Terumah - 2023

Chevre, this week’s parsha is תְּרוּמָה (Terumah). This week we have the instructions for building more parts and utensils for the Mishkan (Tabernacle). In pure Amazonian fashion, all the parts and pieces are explained in words and in great detail. However, when the Torah got to the Menorah, the Midrash Tanchuma says that G-d had to show Moshe a picture in order to show the details of how the Menorah should look.  And we know there is a machlochet or disagreement about how it looked. The Golden Menorah in the Old City of Jersualem has rounded arms (Ibn Ezra and The Arch of Titus in Rome), while the Chanukah Menorot of Chabad all have the straight arm (Rashi and Rambam) version. Whatever the real Menorah was like, the discussion around straight vs round are considered a machlochet for shamayim (heaven) where the Rabbis and Sages will argue through the ages to search for the truth. In the end, many times, both are valid options and considered pleasing to G-d. And it proves that a picture can be worth a thousand words. Shabbat Shalom.