Rabbi Howard Morrison

An age old question pertaining to the Mishkan is that the Torah states, "Let them make for Me a Tabernacle that I (God) may dwell in THEM." Why not "IT," meaning in the Tabernacle?

Classical commentators understand that God resides in people not physical structures. It is we the people who need physical structures to assemble as a community with shared beliefs, values, and practices before God.

A miracle of this past week demonstrates the indwelling presence of God within people. Several days ago, the IDF liberated two male hostages in Gaza. The liberating officers extended true acts of Godly kindness: covering the redeemed hostages so that they would not be killed in potential battle, and offering their own clothing and shoes as well.

The IDF personnel showed empathy, heart, and soul in the redemption of these two captives. For me, this is what the Torah means when it says, "Let them make for Me a Tabernacle that I may dwell in them."

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Howard Morrison