The beginning of this Torah Portion begins with a detailed census of the Levite tribe and their responsibilities, then laws of purity, family laws, Sotah (adulturous woman), Nazirite, and then 88 verses detailing the donations to the Mishkan/Tabernacle and ending with this strange verse:
In Liminal Time and Space
By R. Katy Z. Allen
In Judaism, we continually sanctify liminal moments and liminal spaces. With the mezuzah, we sanctify the liminal space between the inside and the outside of our home. By lighting candles, we sanctify the liminal moments when day meets night and when profane time meets holy time. At all of these places and times, God is present, and through our rituals, we attempt to make contact with the Divine Presence, to make God immanent in our lives and our world.
”You can never have the use of the inside of a cup without the outside. The inside and the outside go together. They’re one.”
— Alan Watts
Divinity can only reside in an empty space we create. We create a container that holds Divine Presence, it can give an illusion or feeling that the container itself is Divine but it it is the empty space, the room we make for something to fill- the 'space between' that holds Divinity.
How do you create your 'space between'? How do you invite Divine when creating that space?
The Guest House
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
As an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
— Jalaluddin Rumi, translation by Coleman Barks, The Essential Rumi
Liminal Space
In this
waiting place
we loiter, hover,
on a tentative cusp,
a threshold,
between the familiar
and the unknown,
with no possible retreat.
The customary comfort zone
is gone, and where
the entrance ushers
is not yet seen.
Our new question
(let alone its answer)
still is ambiguous.
We are in limbo.
We can either hesitate
or go forward.
The gossamer veil
of divine nearness
flutters ever so lightly,
breathing inseparably close,
as we step to embrace
the unrevealed with trust,
a shimmering opportunity
for connection and listening
and being led right on through.
Lean into this portal;
it is the doorstep
to fruitful ground.
by Polly Castor
“Made himself a palanquin,” Rabbi Azarya in the name of Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon interpreted the verse regarding the Tabernacle. “Palanquin,” this is the Tabernacle. Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Ilai said: [This is analogous] to a king who had a young daughter. Until she matured and signs of puberty appeared, he would see her in the street and speak with her in public, in an alleyway, and in a courtyard. Once she grew and signs of puberty appeared, the king said: ‘It is not befitting my daughter’s honor to speak with me in public; make her a partition, and when I need to speak with her I will speak with her from behind the partition.’ So it is written: “Because Israel is a lad and I loved him,” (Hosea 11:1). In Egypt, they saw Him in public, as it is stated: “The Lord will pass to smite Egypt” (Exodus 12:23). At the sea they saw Him in public, as it is stated: “Israel saw the great power” (Exodus 14:31), and the toddlers would point to Him with their fingers and say: “This is my God and I will exalt Him” (Exodus 15:2). At Sinai they saw Him face to face, as it is stated: “The Lord came from Sinai…” (Deuteronomy 33:2). When Israel stood at Mount Sinai, received the Torah, and said: “Everything that God spoke we will perform and we will heed” (Exodus 24:7), they became His complete nation. The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘It is not befitting the honor of My children that I will speak to them in public; rather, let them craft a Tabernacle for Me and when I need to speak with them, I will speak with them from within the Tabernacle.’ That is what is written: “When Moses went into the Tent of Meeting to speak with Him” (Numbers 7:89). “King Solomon [Shlomo] made,” the King [of Whom it may be said] that peace [shalom] is His; “of the timber of Lebanon,” just as it says: “You shall make the planks for the Tabernacle of acacia wood, standing” (Exodus 26:15).