Terumah - Creating Space for Hashem

You're listening to the weekly para podcast with Ari Goldwag recorded with Hashem's never ending assistance in Israel C786 2026. This week's part is Truma and we have the command to Mosha Rabu to the Jewish people. I want you Hashem says I want you to create a sanctuary. I want to we want you to create a space physical space where I will reside and I will place my divine spirit amongst the Jewish people and the majish speaks about something which we spoke we touched on two weeks ago and we're going to expand upon it a little bit more this week and it has to do with how Hashem manifests in the world because you know if Hashem will manifest in an open And as the med says according to his own strength so we would disappear, right? Hashem is the ultimate oneness. He created us. He created a reality where there's something separate from him as it were. But he's the ultimate oneness and where he exists in his dimension so to speak. So nothing else exists. So the moment that Hashem reveals himself, if he reveals himself too strongly, we lose our we lose our free choice and we lose our very existence. Because it's important to understand and we're going to see how this has to do with the concept of the Mishkan because if we think about it, how can Hashem ask us to create a space, a sanctuary where we're going to interact with him and that's the only place where he is? as we'll see Mosher Raenu asks this question. But before we get to that, the Mish brings a puss says in a a very difficult to understand statement, but as we explore it, we'll see the depth of it. It's very powerful. Pik says in chapter 37:23, it sounds bad, but it's Shakai is one of the names of Hashem and we need [snorts] to understand why it specifically chooses chooses this name Shakai. So, Hashem, we do not find that he has a lot of power, right? So, this sounds terrible. What do you mean God has all the power? Hashem is the ultimate power. So, the the says like this. You hear this, it sounds like it's saying it's denying that Hashem has power. It's saying something blasphemous. Aliu who was the the person speaking in that this is what he meant to say he didn't mean to say anything negative about Hashem that Hashem is lacking power but rather what he means to say Hashem does not allow his power he doesn't unleash his power on his creations Hashem withholds his power right the name Shakai Shindalud it denotes the fact was creating the world. So he let things expand and expand and expand. He brought all this power into the world. This or this never ending light. But if he would have allowed that light to just exist as it was, so there would be no space for us. There would be no room for free will. So Hashem the name denotes the fact that Hashem creates a a limitation upon his power, a limitation upon his revelation in such a way that we can exist. We can be here and even believe. There could be a person who believes that there is no God. Heaven forbid, right? But how is that possible? Hashem is the most real thing that exists, right? So how could it be that we don't perceive him even or it's difficult to perceive him? So that is Hashem Shakai. That's the name means to say we don't find that he has a lot of strength. It means he doesn't overwhelm us with his strength. Hashem reveals himself to us. He only does it according to what we can handle. Right? Hashem does not expect us to overnight go from being a regular mundane physical person to being a spiritual person. He doesn't expect that. It's a gradual process to become more spiritual, to become more aligned with Hashem's will, become more aware of Hashem's presence. Right? We've been talking in the be talking podcast since 2019. So we've been going at it for for six years, seven almost seven years. And uh the more you learn about, the more you learn about connection with Hashem, the more you become aware of it, the more you see that he's there and that he's interacting with us and that he's manifesting in our lives. But it's not something that Hashem is just going to blow a person over with unless they're ready for it. This is what we mentioned two weeks ago. We find that when Hashem gave the Torah to the Jewish people, if he would have come upon them with all of his strength, with his full manifestation, they wouldn't have been able to stand it. This is what we said two weeks ago. Hashem's voice is it doesn't say Hashem comes with his strength. It says he comes with strength because it depends on the strength the ability the the the I don't it's not the right word sustainability but the the ability of the person to receive and to be able to withstand Hashem's revelation. So Hashem reveals himself to each person differently. Now your experience of Hashem is different than my experience of Hashem. And according to how much we make ourselves ready and of and and able to receive it, sometimes we can't even control that. But Hashem is gentle with us. Okay. So that's the first concept. And now we're going to talk about it in terms in the context of the Mishkan. When Hashem says, I'm going to manifest my presence amongst the Jewish people. I'm going to do so through the which is it seems like a very strange way of manifesting. What does it mean that Hashem the one the name is used is the name that denotes his limiting himself. He doesn't manifest his full power. Hashem says to Mosher Ramu, I want you to make me a tabernacle. I want you to create something which is going to contain my presence. So, so Moshenu heard this and he said, I don't get it. I just I just don't understand. Is like look, the entire universe is 13.8 8 billion lightyears across. It's huge. The Earth itself is huge compared to us. And I think the numbers 1.3 billion Earths fit in the sun, you know, and and the sun is just one star in a in a galaxy called a Milky Way galaxy. And it's just one galaxy in the plethora of I don't even know the numbers, millions, maybe billions of galaxies. So, we're a speck on a speck and a speck and a speck and you could go on and on about it. And Hashem fills this entire universe, this huge awesome universe. And you want to tell me that Hashem wants to limit his presence to the Mishkan or I would say there's two different ways of saying it really. You want to tell me that it's only Hashem's presence is only in one place, it's only in one location, that it's centered there. That's very hard to understand. How could that be? Hashem is everywhere. Hashem is is is [snorts] beyond. He's transcendent. Not only that also saw that in the future he was able to see with through his divine inspiration his nu his prophecy that in the future there's going to be a person whose name king Solomon and he's going to build a bdish a temple on he's going to build it in Jerusalem and it's going to be much larger than the mishk the dimensions of the beast were significantly larger than the Mishkan. I think it was three times the size if I'm not mistaken, at least in height, but I might be mistaken. It's when he establishes the Bish, he establishes the temple. He says, "Could it be that the master of the universe, God himself, the creator of all is going to manifest himself exclusively in this space of mish in this temple." So which is he's making a much grander edifice and he's saying how does Hashem manifest in this space? So sees that significantly larger than the if you think about it in terms of 13.8 billion light lighty years across. So the the difference is not so large. But let's think about it in terms of ourselves. You know a small a small little hut versus a huge building. And even the large building is saying how could it contain Hashem is certainly the tabernacle. How's it going to contain as it were Hashem? This is why Moshenu said okay so it's not so clear what this is saying. We're going to see another measure in Barab. We're going to come back to this point. I'm going to finish the maj here. It's a few more lines and then go to the raba maj. But he brings the which is very interesting because as explained here is a chapter of psalms that we say every shabas but it was the chapter that mobu said when the Jewish people established the mishkum the tabernacle. Pik says referring there's different ways of understanding the but in our context it's referring to Hashem himself God himself as it were who dwells on high and he brings his presence into a a place of limitation means mystery right something that's we have limited understanding about it beser Elliot the one who sits It's on high eye comes down in into a hidden place. But Shakon, Hashem dwells in the shade. Hashem places his divine presence in the shade. You think about shade. Shade is a lack of light, right? Shade is a lack of light. Hashem is the ultimate light is the all-inclusive light. And who are we? We're just a shadow. We're a shadow. We're at the place where Hashem's light doesn't shine unless we let it through. Right? But still, Hashem wants to manifest and show his presence in the shade. As we'll see, it's referencing the shade of the Mishkan. And the Mishkin is a tabernacle. What's the tabernacle? Bas is also referred to as Sukas David. It's the It's the temporary dwelling place of King David. the suka that there's going to be in the mdish is referred to as a suka which is as the suka says a place of shade it says speaking about the future time that there's going to be a suka a mdash that provides shade which means to say pro protects us that's the place where hashem manifests Okay, let's hold on to that thought. Who says who is obviously transcended beyond all his creations? Why does it say Shakai? Why does it use the name Shindal which we spoke about earlier? [gasps] But Hashem has many names. the mighty God. Hashem is the compassionate God. Hashem is the gracious God. Why do we say that Hashem dwells in in the in the shade of God, the shade of compassion? What? What's in Shak? Hashem specifically dwells in the shade that was made by Bal was the person who oversaw the construction of the Mishk, the design of the Mishkan. Right? So the human being creates a place for Hashem to dwell. That's basically what we're saying which is the question and we're not exactly doesn't seem to be that we're answering the question yet. The question is Hashem how can it be that you dwell in a limited way in the world? The answer is Hashem does. Hashem dwells in a limited way in the world based on the creation that we create based on the mishk the sanctuary that we create. Hashem is all powerful. Hashem is in infinite light. Hashem wants us to build a mishk. He wants us to create a sanctuary ces create a place within ourselves to receive him to receive his light. He wants to manifest in us according to what we can receive according to what we build according to the space that we create within ourselves. And how do we create that space? It's reciprocal. It's reciprocal to the degree that we act in the same way that Hashem does. Hashem says, "I'm going to limit myself. I'm not going to overwhelm you with my light to the degree that I'm willing to limit myself. I'm not going to overwhelm you, Hashem, with my demands. Not going to over overwhelm you." Of course, there's no such thing as overwhelming Hashem. When we create a space, when we hollow out ourselves, hollow out our egos, and that's how we let Hashem in. That's the sanctuary that we create in that sail, in that shade. The shade I wrote here on the side just a little, a little concept that we find is our shade by our right hand. It means to the degree that we move our hand, Hashem responds. Which means to say to the degree that we create shade within ourselves, within our egos, we stop trying so hard to shine out our light. Doesn't mean to have low self-esteem. It just means don't be so grabby. Don't be so grabby. To the degree that we are more humble, to the degree that we are less forceful, to the degree that we create shade within ourselves, a lack of light, a lack of needing things to be our way. That's how Hashem manifests in our lives. We see more. We see more divine providence. We see Hashem's divine inspiration. We see his clouds of glory. It's not how you think. Say, how can Hashem limit himself to this small structure? Fills the entire universe. It's not how you think. cubits of of boards in the north, 20 cubits of boards on the south, eight cubits on the west. That's it. That small space, that limited space which is what you can build, what you can handle, what you can create, the amount that you can limit yourself in deference to me, that's the space that I will fill. I can even make it smaller. 20 by 20 by seven cubits, forget it. One by one, one by one cubit, which the say here is referring to the space above the ar the the ark of the covenant had within it the tablets which I don't know the ten commandments the and it had the salmon and on top of it there were kuim there were these angelic figures and from between the kuim which is a small space one cub by one cubit's voice was heard. Previously, Hashem would speak to Mos wherever he was, any location. Voice could be heard anywhere. But now, it's it's constricted into a small space. That's the space that we can hear. The space that we can hear is where Hashem speaks to us. Such an important idea. Hashem speaks to us. He does speak to us all the time, but he only speaks in a way that we could listen. He only speaks in a way, he only speaks in a way that manifests within the space that we create for his voice to appear. It's very deep. It's very true. I want to read to you and part towards the beginning of that section. It says like this brings our mishall and I will dwell within him. Says who can create a sanctuary for God to manifest in? How could it be? The heavens, the highest heavens, nothing can contain your presence. Maybe there's another that indicates that fills all of the heavens and the earth. that no matter what he's definitely his presence is much bigger than a mishkash says the heavens are my my throne and the earth is the foottool of my feet how's it going to be that hashem is going to manifest his presence ink understand something this goes back to what we said two weeks ago but it's so important to reiterate And understand that in this context, Hashem says, I don't expect you to do anything more than what you can do. I want you I I don't expect you to do according to who I am, the greatness that I am, the awesomeness that I have. I want you to create a space that you can create. I can decide that the entire universe cannot contain me. When when I want to the sun even even the sun which is a huge huge fireball cannot be contained cannot be contained by anything. I just want a small space. I just want you to create what you can create and I will manifest there as I wish. So again this message brings our the which is that Hashem the one who dwells on high manifests in a mysterious way in a compact constricted area [snorts] says it in a beautiful way. Hashem, Hashem is a transcendent being. He sees everything, but we can't see him. Hashem is the most anonymous. Hashem is the most humble. Hashem does not allow himself to be seen lest we be overwhelmed by him. He's he sees everything, but he can't be seen. The mushel I heard, I'm sure you've heard this kind of mushel, is a fish in water, right? And some other fish come and tell the first fish, "Hey, did you hear about this thing called the sea? Did you ever see the sea? Did you ever feel the do you know about the water? I heard there's something called the water. We believe in the water." And the fish says, "Where's the water?" [cough] The fish goes on and search for the water. That's us, my friends. Hashem is he made this entire reality. He sees everything and he can't see him. He's so close. He's so close. You can't see him. He want He wants to dwell in our shade. And the bottom line here of this message is the message here is that Hashem is so humble. Hashem is so humble. And to the degree that we make ourselves like that, we make ourselves like that. So then we become aligned with, we become a manifestation of Hashem. Hashem is seen, but he's not seen. That's what humility is. Think about it. Be seen, but I can see but not be seen. I remember my bubby, my grandmother Allah Shalom, she used to see, she used to say, she was sitting at the table, kids are fighting, and she would say in her Yiddish accent, I see everything, but I don't mix. I don't mix in. I don't get involved. Of course, Hashem is involved, [sighs] but she would say, I see everything, but I don't I see the big picture. And I have learned from my lifetime my bu was saying I think that it's not necessary for me to take care of the problems. The problems will resolve on their own. And Hashem sees us and he sees our efforts to draw close to him, to try to have a relationship with him, to learn his Tyra, to fulfill his will through the mitzvah, from being through kindness to others. And Hashem sees it, but he's not seen. And to the degree that we see and are not seen, to the degree that we have that humility, so we create that space within our hearts that can be filled by Hashem manifests in the world according to our strength, according to what we do. Does not overwhelm us. created a space for us to be able to create a space for him created a space for us to be able to create a space for him. So when we act in this way, when we create miktosh, it's a sal it's a it's an individual named who creates the shade who is looking to create a space for hashem. That's where hashem manifests. I want to bless you and ask you to bless me. Hashem should help us that we should be able to see this amazing idea, this amazing potential that we have. B mikdash mishk was for those times existed afterwards inside of for a few hundred years mikdash is another opportunity to create a space 2 years we haven't had a bas mikdash hopefully soon we will again but in any event we still even now can create this mishkon should help us to be able to create this space to be able to give up ourselves in service of him so that he will manifest and shine his light, his shina, his divine presence will shine into our lives. Thank you so much for listening. A wonderful Shabas. This podcast was made possible through the gracious donations of listeners like you. For more podcasts like this, please visit www.argoldwag.com [music] or search on iTunes Ari Goldwag.