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Our Torah portion this Shabbat, Vayakhel, demands that we remove the masks and costumes of Purim as it were, centering as it does on being in authentic relationship to place and to each other.  It describes the final stages of building and decorating the desert mishkan, the sanctuary in which the Israelites would gather so that God’s presence might dwell among them.  In so doing, the hope was that they would experience themselves as a community that truly saw each other, cared for each other, and maintained a covenantal relationship with God.  It was a sanctuary resplendent with blues and purples, adorned with jewels of silver and gold.  It was a space meant to delight the eye and elevate the soul.

Now, could these things have happened without a sanctuary, or the support of the community?

It’s certainly possible.  On the one hand, our tradition does celebrate those who found spiritual richness in solitude.  Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav wrote “Grant me the ability to be alone/ Then would I fully open my heart in prayer, supplication and holy speech; Then, O God, would I pour out the words of my heart before Your Presence.”  On the other hand, the words of our prayers said together have a different kind of power entirely.  They connect us to the generations before, and to each other.  They anchor the longings of our hearts, and help us discern where we are on our personal and collective journeys.  Our acknowledgment of the passage of time and of life’s transitional moments together, in a sacred environment, does matter.  In the words of Tablet Magazine columnist Marjorie Ingall, “… there’s something special about the physical space of a synagogue. It triggers long-dormant sense memories. Location has meaning… succor can be found in the right setting.”

God may not have needed that desert sanctuary, but the ancient Israelites did.  And we do too.

On a recent Sunday morning during Tefillah, one of our students answered a question by saying we can be at our happiest “when we’re here together.”  For her to be conscious of that is an indication that she is growing up in a Jewish community that cares about her and her friends, modelling the truth that we all have a stake in our congregation.  We are all builders of the whole.

Let’s join together tonight for services at 6:30pm to support and share in the pride and excitement of this student and her 4^th/5^th grade class as they step up to the bimah and lead!

Shabbat Shalom,