D'var for Terumah

In this week’s parsha, Terumah, God gives the instructions to make the Tabernacle (Mishcan), a portable Temple that the Israelites would bring with them through the desert to worship God. God tells Moses to tell the Israelites to, if they wish, bring gifts of various valuable materials to make the Tabernacle, so that God can dwell among them. The parsha continues to list the instructions for things that would need to be made, including two gold cherubim, a seven-branched gold menorah, walls made of acacia wood, a blue, purple, and crimson curtain, an altar of acacia wood, and an enclosure of fine twisted linen.

D'var for Beshalach/Shabbat Shirah

In this week’s parsha, Beshalach, Pharaoh finally lets the Israelites go. They are led by God, taking the form of a pillar of clouds by day, and a pillar of fire at night. They camp by the red sea, and then Pharaoh has a change of heart and sends his army after them. God tells Moses to lift out his rod over the sea, and he does, and the sea splits into two walls of water so that the Israelites can cross through. The walls of water crashed down on Pharaoh’s army, and they drowned. Miriam leads the Israelites in the Song of the Sea, thanking God for delivering them from the Egyptians.

The Israelites wander through the desert, but complain because they have no water or food. God provides water, mana, and quail. At the end of the parsha, Amalek attacks the Israelites. Moses held up his hand, and the Israelites were winning, but when Moses’s hand got tired and fell, they were losing. So, Aaron and Hur hold up Moses’s hands, and the Israelites win.