This year’s portion of Terumah is a continuation of the subject of last year’s Terumah portion. 

Last year we started on detailed instructions of how to build the Ark of the Covenant (or Tabernacle).  The Tabernacle is to be a portable sacred place that the Israelites can take with them, and in which the priests can make sacrifices.

We learn that there must be a curtain of deep violet, purple and scarlet, decorated by twisted fabric made of linen.  On that curtain is to be a decoration of winged sphinxes, covered with gold.

The curtain is to separate the outer part of the Tabernacle from the Holiest Holy-Shrine (or Holy of Holies), where the sacrifices are to take place.  There’s to be a table and a lampstand outside the curtain.

The Torah even tells us what kind of wood to use for the rods that hold up the curtain!

The Torah is just as careful to describe the altar inside the Holy of Holies.  Even the tools for performing tasks like scraping the skins of the animals and sweeping away the ashes are described.

Food for Thought

Why do you think the Torah goes into such detail in describing how the Tabernacle is to be made?