Parsha Terumah:

Terumah in Hebrew, literally, something that is uplifted or elevated (to a higher status). In this case it is an elevated offering. It is from this sense of meaning that we will proceed to investigate, inquire and indeed meditate. Reading this Parsha produces an elevated state of consciousness during which the hidden meanings of Torah are found between the spaces.

In order for Moses to be able to carry the tablets back with him he must prepare a suitable place for their keeping both within and without. What is this elevated offering and has does this explain the relationship between Hashem and man? Also how could there be anything, which a man could bring to Hashem that would be in any way acceptable? The answer to both questions turns out to be the same. It is a man’s attention. Hashem does not reveal himself without this attention. Man has to offer up himself. This means that we have to let go of our lower nature in order to ascend or be uplifted in respect to our relationship to Hashem. What is this like?

A King had four daughters each one more beautiful than the rest. He loved them all equally. One of his daughters was so beautiful that he kept her hidden from everyone except himself and the other three daughters. Her chambers were lined with gold and everything in there reflected the awesome beauty she radiated. The other daughters grew up with her and loved her but they still couldn’t understand why she was kept hidden and why her rooms were so much more wonderful than theirs. Also this daughter had a secret room known only to her father the King and herself. Sometimes she would go in there and disappear completely from her sisters. One day the three daughters asked the King why if he loved them all the same was this most beautiful of daughters treated so it seemed differently. Also they wanted to know where she went when she disappeared and why she had to remain hidden. The King answered as follows:

“Yes I do love you all equally. Look at you most precious one,” He said to the first daughter whose chambers were luxurious tents that graced the gardens in the grounds surrounding the palace. She loved the flowers and was perfectly in tune with the wonder of nature that filled her world from head to toe.
“Here in your garden you reign supreme and are perfectly suited to everything and everyone you meet. I am so proud of you. The people have taken you into their hearts. Your beauty and the majesty of all that you survey strike everyone who comes to the palace. And you dearest daughter,” He said to the second daughter, “are the first person to greet everyone as they enter the palace. Your chambers are lined with precious jewels and your garments are the finest in the land. When guests arrive their eyes open wide just to see you and marvel over everything that you have done to make this palace into a home. Now I look at you glowing and full of smiles,” He said to his third daughter. “You stand but a hairs breadth away from me sitting on my throne. With your good counsel I rule the land justly. Your joy makes everything possible. All of you ask about your sister. She lives in both worlds you know very well. When she disappears it is to confer with the Mystery that sustains this castle and the entire Kingdom. I know little more than you do about her but it is she who moves through us especially when she disappears. The truth is that she carries a part of each of you inside of her so that all of you will know the Mystery in your own way.”
The daughters marveled at this revelation and then remembered those times of sudden inspiration. Those were the same times that their sister disappeared from them completely. It all made sense to them when it was explained this way.

So it goes for the descriptions of the Tabernacle and the Sanctuary. One purpose is to be divined from these lengthy details and that is that nothing is greater than the holy of holies where Hashem does appear. Remember that Hashem is but a thought that describes G-d as he appears in the sense of ‘I am that I am.’ This entire section may be thought of as the architecture of deity-consciousness-man-works and the relationships that exist simultaneously between these four elements.

First is deity and hand of G-d or the Yud of Hashem.

Job 27:11 I will teach you concerning the hand of God; that which is with the Almighty will I not conceal.

It is a directing ever-present influence that consistently seeks expression as Consciousness or the first Heh of Hashem.

Deut 12:5 But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put His name there, even unto His habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come;

Through this first Heh there is the unfolding of all of our relationships bursting through the shell of reflection or the Vav of Hashem.

Psalm 91:15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him, and bring him to honor.

It then becomes a fixed reflection (Vav) that centers its awareness upon what it is becoming. This becoming completes the pattern and results in the final Heh of Hashem or the bringing to earth of the initial intention direction of Hashem.

Psalm 58: 12 And men shall say: 'Verily there is a reward for the righteous; verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth.'

Moses is given the patterns for the construction of all of this and will be shown in even greater detail everything else that must be constructed. Hashem directs Moses to make everything. This is the blueprint of creation that is given time and again throughout Torah just in case you did not receive it the first time in Genesis.

Further now lets explain keeping in mind the above examples:

Hashem directs (Yud), Moses unfolds or gives the laws (Heh) and the patterns of creation while through the agency of the tablets these laws and patterns are projected and fixed (Vav) in the minds of Israel which leads to the fulfillment (Heh) of the Promised Land or the physical counterpart of what Hashem begins by directing.

How does all of this relate then to our own relationship with deity and the world that we are responsible for dressing and keeping?

We have an inspiration. It fills us and unfolds within us. Before it can get away from us we have to transform it by offering it upwards through our projection of the image or vision received. We have to raise our offering by reflection and recognition and be aware that we must make this into a holy offering. Holiness symbolizes the unity of consciousness and our total buy in with this inspiration allowing it to become fixed in our consciousness so that “no other G-d’s” will intrude or take away from this inspiration. It is only after our buy in or the unity of purpose and inspiration are met that we see fulfillment take place.

It is the mystical marriage that takes place between consciousness and the soul when in unity the soul defines its highest purpose. At this point your feeling nature will become one with your knowledge nature. You will go beyond yourself and in this journey find that what you have been looking for has all the while been seeking you.

B’H”

Mark Siet