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Building the Inner Mishkan: Each Individual as a Dwelling Place for the Divine Presence
D'var Torah by Keith A. Liker - February 9, 2008
Parsha Terumah (Exodus 25:1-27:19)

This morning's Torah portion consists primarily of precise, detailed instructions pertaining to the construction of the Mishkan and its contents, the portable sanctuary that our ancestors are to carry with them throughout their sustained wilderness journey. It can seem redundant and repetitive, and one can easily get lost in the details. But what exactly is going on here? Is it about mindless adherence to God's exacting details, or is there something greater for us?

Let's re-cap for a moment. God has brought us out of Egypt for one reason, says the V'Ahavta in Deuteronomy Chapter 6: "To be our God." That is, God has brought us out of Egypt to dwell in a dynamic, holy relationship with Him. Not long ago we stood trembling at Sinai and received the Divine Revelation of Torah, but still we find ourselves falling back into old, undesirable habits that are difficult to change: We are still conditioned by our recent past to think and act like slaves, so we need something additional. We need an interactive Divine-Human relationship because we are now under new management.

In recognition of this new dynamic, Adonai does something extremely wonderful and unbelievably accommodating for us humans. Instead of remaining as the "God-Who-Maintains-Distance" on the mountaintop, complete with thunder, lightning and an overpowering voice, God sends a very special portion of the Infinite and Eternal Divine Self to live amongst humans in a portable tent constructed by homeless former slaves, who are wandering about on an extended journey in a desert wilderness. The magnitude of God's kindness in choosing to live amongst humans under these less-than-ideal circumstances is staggering!

God says, in essence, "Make me a holy place among you, so I can dwell with you on your terms, not mine." The implications of this dynamic are immense, but why does God do this? God's wholesale accommodation of our ancestors is accomplished by a conscious exercise of Divine will, which is underwritten entirely by Divine love and kindness. It is the same love and kindness that created our Universe, sustains it each day, and which brought us out of Egypt. Adonai chooses to go out of His way to deliberately place the Divine Presence among humans-Humans which He knows will not fully listen to, or appreciate this Presence, and who will later complain and rebel in spite of this amazing relationship. In return, God assumes a huge risk of not being loved by those with whom He chooses to dwell.

For me, this dwelling of Adonai's Presence among humans is more astounding than the Revelation of Torah: In effect, after giving us the "operating instructions" of Torah, God elects to step down off the Divine Throne of the Heavens, and chooses to sit on the desert floor with us humans. In essence, God is telling us, "I want to be with you at all times, even during your most difficult and extended life's journey through dry and barren places, and even as one generation becomes the next." I find this demonstration of Divine love and kindness to be incredibly comforting.

It is significant to note at the outset that the same shoresh (Hebrew root) exists for the word "Mishkan", as exists for the name of God's Indwelling Divine Presence, or "Shekhina". The name "Shekhina" comes from the root, "Shakhan", meaning, "To dwell". Accordingly, the Mishkan is the place in which Shekhina, the Divine Presence, dwells. Initially, Shekhina refers to the dwelling place or abode of God, but gradually it comes to also refer to God's presence amongst humans. Eventually, the portable tent containing the Divine Presence becomes the portable Presence of the God of Israel. Shekhina is said to rest wherever God's Presence is manifest, so the name Shekhina denotes that God appears to "dwell" in a certain place. But what exactly does it mean when the Torah tells us that God "dwells" in a certain place? Should it be taken literally? The angels in Isaiah Chapter 6 (the Kedusha) remind us that God's Presence fills all Creation, as opposed to only the Mishkan. So, when we say that God "dwells" in a certain place, we are really referring to the fact that people are able to experience an enhanced or heightened awareness of God's Presence in a particular location.

In order to distinguish this Divine dwelling place from the ordinary tents around it, the Torah tells us that the Mishkan must be special, unique, and befitting (at least in human terms), as the dwelling place of the Self-Aware Self of the Universe. Accordingly, the Mishkan is ornate and orderly, precise and symmetrical. In fact, it is a reflection of the orderly process of Creation set forth in Genesis Chapter 1, yet it is also separate and distinct, or "holy".

Still, we do not escape these nagging questions: Does God really "need" an outrageously beautiful, gold-trimmed tent in which to dwell? And, how could a tent contain the infinite and eternal Divine Presence anyway?

I think what's going on here is that God is going out of His way to create, nurture and maintain a functional, intimate, yet holy relationship with humans-a relationship which is not based upon human neuroses, fear, anxiety, or anger, but rather is premised upon Divine love and kindness, as evidenced by Adonai's physical accommodation of our needs on completely human terms.

It seems to me that what humans need is a locus of the Divine Presence, some place we can point to and say, "I know God is there." In fact, our ancestors learned that one of God's names is "Ha-Makom", or "The Place." So, perhaps the purpose of the Mishkan is to focus our attention, our minds, and our emotions on the fact that: 1). God is present in our midst; 2). God consciously chooses "To be our God" by being present in our lives; 3). God desires an intimate yet Holy relationship with us both individually and collectively; and 4). God acts out of Divine love and kindness when he instructs us in this Torah portion to build the Mishkan.

Let's fast-forward to February 2008 for a moment. As we apply this understanding to our Temple community this morning, inside our brand-new Mishkan-Sanctuary (complete with the new-carpet smell!), we have the same dynamic-a new, orderly and beautiful dwelling place for the Divine Presence, a locus of holy relationship. This new sacred space exists for us to experience, and permits us to draw closer to that same unchanging Divine love and kindness which still seeks, thousands of years later, "To be our God."

So this morning we find ourselves inside our new Mishkan mindful of God's Sustaining Presence, just as it was for our ancestors. But what happens when we are not inside our new Mishkan, or when we are not mindful of the fact that God is present with us? The Psalmist gives us the same answer as Isaiah, in Psalm 139:7-there is no place we can go which is outside of God's Sustaining Presence. God, whose true nature is Eternal Becoming-ness in all moments and in all dimensions, is ever-present, yet also ever-transcendent. God fills all Creation, yet also exists outside of time and space, and is not bound by it. Nor is Adonai bound by the confines of the Mishkan, but chooses instead to maintain a unique Presence there. Nevertheless, Adonai leaves it up to us to remain conscious (or mindful) of His Presence wherever we find ourselves at any given moment. Remaining mindful of the Divine Presence, then, is the essence of spiritual practice.

When we align our hearts and minds to be mindful of God, as only humans have the unique capacity to do, we begin to create a dwelling place inside each one of us for God's Presence. In so doing, we take the spiritual legacy of the Mishkan described in this Parasha, and we transform ourselves into living containers for God's Presence to become manifest in our world. Each of us, as reflections of the Divine Image, has the unique capacity to construct within us, an "Inner Mishkan".

Significantly, this idea of humans as a dwelling place for Adonai is not new. Our Prophets addressed the human heart (our "Center of All Emotions") as the place for God to dwell several thousand years ago. Jeremiah prophesied in Chapter 31: 31-34:

"See, a time is coming-declares the Lord-when I will make a new covenant with the House of Israel and the House of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers, when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt-declares the Lord. But such is the covenant I will make with the House of Israel after these days-declares the Lord: I will put My Teaching into their inmost being and inscribe it upon their hearts. Then I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer will they need to teach one another and say to one another, "Heed the Lord"; for all of them, from the least of them to the greatest, shall know Me-declares the Lord."

While in exile in Babylon, the prophet Ezekiel said almost the exact same thing. In Ezekiel's case, the people had been carried off to Babylon, exiled from the Temple in Jerusalem, and were now completely without a locus of the Divine Presence. They therefore had to learn how to transform themselves into dwelling places for God's Presence. Ezekiel reassures them that God also leaves the Temple and goes into exile with them when the Temple is left in ruins by the Babylonians (Ezekiel 10:18 and 11:22-23). In Chapter 36, verses 26 and 27, Ezekiel gives us the same message from God as Isaiah:

"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit into you: I will remove from your body your heart of stone, and give you a heart of flesh; and I will put My spirit into you. Thus I will cause you to follow My laws and faithfully to observe My rules."

Spiritual practice, or "Avodah" (which can also means "worship" or "work") is about making the Center of our Emotions (our hearts) into a Mishkan, a sacred space for Adonai. So today's parasha begins with an invitation for each of us to first take an honest inventory of ourselves to see exactly how generous our hearts are, and if we will offer without reservation the best of what we have in our lives to this unique relationship with Adonai. This is important, because the Inner Mishkan, like the physical Mishkan, cannot be built out of a sense of duty, debt, or obligation. It cannot be forced with directives ordered from outside. It must be built from a generous heart full of gratitude, which is willing to engage in the process or practice ("Avodah") required to build it. It must start with a foundation of love and kindness which mirrors Adonai's own love and kindness to fully accommodate our ancestors by choosing to dwell among us in the Mishkan.

And so, we start building the Inner Mishkan by an act of volition or will, whereby we first choose to make ourselves accessible and available to Divine love and kindness which surrounds us at all moments. We continue construction of our Inner Mishkan when we take steps to draw closer by inviting God to dwell within the Center of our Emotions, from the inside out. Construction proceeds when we choose to take our petty egos out of the driver's seat of our lives, and instead seek the Living God of Israel as the most important aspect of our lives. Another prophet, Amos, reminds us in Chapter 5, verse 4 to "Seek Adonai and live." True living, then, is the result of seeking God's Presence. Here are the abbreviated "blueprints" for constructing the Inner Mishkan:

1.) Put the Torah Into Our Hearts.

Remember Jeremiah Chapter 31? We are first to allow Adonai to inscribe the Torah into our hearts. (If taken literally, we will all need to schedule heart surgery!). This means that the Torah and all its teachings become such an integral part of our daily selves that we no longer see ourselves as separate from it. Instead, the Torah actually becomes the essential core of our intellectual, emotional, and especially our spiritual identity. Rabbi Shefa Gold reminds us that the Torah is not about someone else, and it is not about some other time. Rather, it is about what's happening now to each of us in this present moment as we pray and study this morning in our brand-new Mishkan. We put the Torah into our hearts when we see ourselves, our lives, our families, and others as the means through which the Divine Revelation of Torah at Sinai continues to unfold. Sinai was only the starting point. The Torah continues to be revealed each day through each one of our lives, yet we usually fail to recognize that our lives are actually a continuation of the process of Torah.

We also put the Torah into our hearts by prayer, meditation, study, and by looking for opportunities to perform acts of love and kindness, (or, as my Tibetan friends say, "acts designed to alleviate suffering"). Jacob Neusner tells us that the study of Torah affords each of us a direct encounter with God, so Torah study is more than a recordation of past events. Instead, it becomes an opportunity for each person to encounter God in the present. In this sense, Torah study supplements the Mishkan as the dwelling place of Adonai. But we have to do this Avodah regularly as a practice, or our Inner Mishkan will gather dust and cobwebs, and its golden trim will lose its brilliance.

When we put the Torah into our hearts, it affects our eyesight: It begins to change the way in which we view ourselves and in how we see others. We start to see ourselves and others as physical manifestations of God's love, kindness and creative power, and as part of a greater unity with God. One of the benefits of building our Inner Mishkan is that we gain a new, spacious perspective, by seeing ourselves and others as part of the uninterrupted process of Torah.

2.) Actively Seek God's Presence.

Remember Amos Chapter 5, verse 4: "Seek Me and live."? The Prophet Isaiah also tells us to do the same. (Same message; different prophet!). Isaiah 55:8 tells us: "Seek Adonai while he may be found; Call to Him while He is near". Once we put the Torah into our hearts, we now continue construction of the Inner Mishkan by actively seeking God's Presence in our lives. Again, the answer is Avodah (practice). We seek God by making a spiritual practice out of acknowledging the Divine Presence in the most ordinary things in our lives. Seeking God naturally leads us rather rapidly to also make the effort to try and love God with all of our human components, as instructed in the V'Ahavta. The Psalmist tells us in Psalm 107:43 that a wise person will consider God's love as an important sustaining factor in his/her life, so seeking God also marks us as being wise! Seeking God leads naturally to loving God. We begin to love God by making a conscious choice to do so. Again, it can't be forced from the outside; It has to come from the holy place inside our Inner Mishkan. And, we continue to love God when we practice mindfulness of God's Presence, Shekhina, wherever we find ourselves at any given moment. Psalm 16:8 instructs us to place Adonai before us always. This means that we "practice" regularly filling our hearts and minds with God's sustaining Presence.

I call it "Practicing the Presence of God." This is done by daily prayer, study, meditation, or just "talking" to God, or thinking of God as we go about our day. (But talk to God silently or people will think you are insane!). Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan tells us that the most difficult part of talking to God is simply to begin. Baby steps at first. As we begin to converse, we become increasingly aware of God's Presence. One of the key teachings in the Talmud is that one can experience closeness to God in everything that one does. The Talmud bases this teaching on Proverbs Chapter 3, verse 6: "In all your ways know Him." It teaches us that no matter what a person does, he or she can dedicate it to Adonai and turn it into an act of worship. According to Rabbi Kaplan, even the most ordinary or mundane actions can become infused with Adonai's Presence if we practice.

Practicing the Presence of God could also include treating each person as a "Divine Messenger", just like Abraham treated the three persons who appeared at his tent at Mamre, who actually were Heavenly Messengers. There are countless ways to "Seek God and live". The important point here is that we actively seek God's Presence by looking for God as we go about our day. Jeremiah 29:13 tells us that if we do so, we must do it wholeheartedly. In seeking God's Presence, we build our Inner Mishkan by creating an available, receptive and accessible space within us for the Divine Presence to dwell.

Perhaps the most vivid example of seeking God is Moses. In Exodus Chapter 33, we learn that Moses still seeks God's Presence even though he has an unprecedented "all access pass" to God, and meets with God directly, one-on-one, on a regular basis in the Mishkan! Moses nevertheless cries out to Adonai saying, "It is your Presence that I seek!"

Another way to actively build the Inner Mishkan by seeking Adonai's Presence is to engage in the silent repetition of a sacred word or phrase throughout the day. This Avodah is called "Gerushin", and is designed to provide us with constant awareness of God's sustaining Presence. This is similar to saying a spontaneous B'racha (blessing) for events that happen to us throughout our day, except that it is more engaged, because we are constantly generating it internally from within our Inner Mishkan. Gerushin brings us into greater proximity with God's goodness. Gerushin can be as simple as silently repeating one of God's names, or a portion of one of the prayers in the Amidah throughout your day. Make this practice your own personal mantra. With regular practice, it becomes almost automatic, and the astounding result is that one's heart and mind become filled with God's love and Presence, and we find our own will aligning with the Divine Will.

3. Choose to place your trust in God's infinite kindness and faithfulness.

Choosing to love God with all human faculties, and making the Torah an integral part of our lives is the "easy" part of building the Inner Mishkan. This third and final part, choosing to trust in Adonai's kindness is, for me, the most difficult. I can generate love and mindfulness of the Divine Presence by making it a regular practice throughout my day. I can constantly repeat silent praises of the Divine Name or the Divine Attributes listed in Exodus Chapter 34 as part of Practicing the Presence of God in my life. Those parts of building the Inner Mishkan are relatively easy in comparison to trusting, at all times, in Divine kindness and faithfulness.

Job 13:15 describes for us what is probably the ultimate trust in God. Job says, "Though He slay me, still will I trust in Him." Trusting doesn't get any more serious than this, but fortunately we probably won't have to trust God in the same manner and under the same circumstances that Job did! The point here is that since our lives are ultimately in God's "hands" at all moments, we can develop a trust in Adonai's love and kindness to sustain us even in the worst of times.

Trusting starts, again, with a conscious choice to put God squarely in the center of our Inner Mishkan. When we do so, we find that our ego causes us to experience doubt in that Divine kindness and faithfulness. The ego causes us to doubt because trusting in God directly threatens it with being removed from having control of our lives. So the ego resists, and it often resists fiercely. The ego's resistance to our practice of trusting in God's kindness usually manifests itself as doubting that Adonai will be with us. Sometimes, this doubt can be so pervasive that it can cause us to focus mostly upon the magnitude of the doubt itself! At times, it can prevent us from trusting in Adonai's kindness altogether-if we allow it.

Building the Inner Mishkan by trusting in God's infinite kindness and faithfulness also requires us to step out of our own personal comfort zone, which is where the ego constantly tells us we are safe and secure. Trusting in Adonai's kindness requires that we step into the unknown, which is rarely comforting and often threatening and difficult. Choosing to trust in Adonai's kindness also means that we are capable of reaching an understanding where we stop subscribing to the illusion that we actually control what happens to us in life. This is why trusting is so difficult to do. Trusting means that we choose to make Adonai's infinite kindness and faithfulness our safety net. Difficult? Yes. Impossible? No. Crazy? Perhaps. But there is a way to do it. Again, take baby steps at first.

[Do you want to hear how I do it? I don't share this with many people, because it's not comfortable to discuss, it sounds crazy, and is even harder to do. It's taken me 47 years to get to this point, but it can be done. However, I know you are here in the Mishkan to seek God's Presence, so here goes. {Describe Daily Surrender if people want to hear about it.}].

I am reminded of Isaiah 58:11 "Adonai will guide you always." But God can't guide us unless we choose to allow it, and our choice to trust in God will place us into direct conflict with our ego and its irrational obsession with remaining in control. After we place our trust in God's kindness, the next step is to release our attempts to control both the outcome and the timing of whatever occurs next as a result of that trust. This is often the hardest part: releasing control of the results that we want sometimes desperately, and releasing the timing of those results. Often, one learns that one has to release control over the results and their timing again and again. This is part of the practice of trusting in Adonai, and we strengthen the foundation of our Inner Mishkan by making a practice of releasing control over the results of what occurs next when we place our trust in God's kindness and faithfulness. It is precisely the most difficult, because we continually strive for certainty in our lives, and trusting in Divine kindness means that we have to embrace and make friends with the uncertainties in our lives. This is exactly the opposite of what the ego wants and what it fears: trusting in Divine love and kindness is outside of the ego's control.

I tend to think these days that placing our trust in Divine love and kindness is partly what it means to allow Adonai "To be our God", as we each make efforts to comply with the V'Ahavta. Ironically, because most of what happens to us in life is truly beyond our control, it actually makes sense to trust in Adonai's infinite and eternal kindness and faithfulness. The key when we begin to doubt in Divine faithfulness, is to remind ourselves that we are actually trusting in the same infinite love and kindness that created our world, sustains each of its component parts moment-by-moment, and which turns distant galaxies thousands of light-years away in our ever-expanding Universe. When we remember that we are actually trusting in Divine love and kindness that has no end ("Ayn Sof"), then trusting actually begins to look quite reasonable. This, I find to also be very comforting in the Avodah of trusting.

And so we complete the construction of our Inner Mishkan, a dwelling place inside us for Shekhina to reside, by remembering that in times of doubt and uncertainty, what we are trusting in is Divine wisdom, love and kindness that has no end and which existed even before Creation itself!

To summarize and conclude (and because Rabbi Tamar is now looking at her watch!) , we build our Inner Mishkan through the practices of: 1) Putting the Torah into our hearts; 2) By actively seeking God's Presence in the most ordinary things in our lives; and 3) By the practice of placing our trust in Adonai's infinite kindness and faithfulness.

In the process, we find ourselves moving into closer proximity with God's goodness, and we discover along the way that we possess the incredible ability to create a sacred space within us, an Inner Mishkan, for the Divine Presence to dwell wherever we may find ourselves.

Shabbat Shalom, and Blessings upon you heads!