Perashat Terumah

Perashat Terumah

This week’s perasha discusses the construction of the various vessels used in the Mishkan – the Tabernacle.  Among these vessels was the aron – the ark, which housed the stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments.  Our sages teach us that the ark fashioned by Besalel, the designer-in-chief of the Mishkan, was made of gold and wood. The ark was a wooden box on the inside, covered with gold on the outside. (Rashi, Shemot 25:11, Yoma 72).

Why was the ark constructed in such a manner? From the biblical account we know that there was no shortage of gold in the desert. Would it not have been more befitting for the Ten Commandments to be housed in a pure gold box?  Why then, did Besalel make the ark of both materials - wood and gold?  

An understanding of the nature of these substances can help answer this question. Each of these materials has a particular quality.  Gold is durable and strong. Many substances decay over time; colors fade; metals rust; fibers rot. Gold is one of the rare exceptions to this rule. It is durable and strong. It resists time and decay. This is also true in the realm of ideas. There are some that are transient. They may last a decade, a generation or an age, but eventually they become rusty, antiquated and even obsolete.  However, there are also ideas and principles which, like gold, are not subject to the onslaught of time, but are durable. This is true regarding the the ideas and principles of the Torah.  King David compared the teachings of the Torah to gold. "More to be desired are they than gold." (Tehillim 19:11). Its doctrines have withstood the ‘test of time’ and the most concentrated assault of centuries of scrutiny and attack.  It was, therefore, proper that the ark which housed the Tablets of the Law be made of gold, to symbolize the enduring worth of the Torah of God.

Gold, however, has one drawback; it is lifeless. Wood, on the other hand, has an advantage over gold in that it is organic.  It comes from a living thing, that  grows, has roots, and produces foliage and fruits. The Torah, therefore, is compared not only to gold but also to a tree. "It is a tree of life to them that grasp it" (Proverbs 3:18). What gold lacks is supplemented by wood, and what wood lacks is supplemented by gold. The durability of gold and the vibrancy and life of wood were merged in fashioning the ark. Eternity and life were forever to be the symbols of the Torah.

May we continue to grow through our study of the Torah like the wood of the living tree, and may our study of the Torah, its ideas and principles continue to strengthen and protect us through time.