B"H

Friday, Adar 3, 5783 (Hakhel Year) / February 24, 2023

We are now in the month of Adar.

Adar is a very happy month in the Jewish calendar.Our sages instruct us, “When Adar comes, we increase in happiness.” Although, it is a mitzvah to be happy every day of the year, during the month of Adar we increase in happiness more than other months of the year.

Remembering the great miracles which G-d did for us over the past three thousand years and the daily miracles which G-d does for us each day, is good enough reason to be happy and joyous on a daily basis. True, we had many bumps along the way, but the fact that we are here calls for daily happiness. This is especially true during the month of Adar when the great Purim miracle happened.       

This week's Parsha, Terumah, is about the building of the Mishkan (Tabernacle) and its contents; the Aron (ark), the Kaporet (ark cover), the Shulchan (table), the Menorah (candelabra) and the Mizbe'ach (altar). The Torah details the materials, measurements of each component of the sanctuary.

The Torah states, "And they shall make an ark…and you shall overlay it with pure gold from within and from without… And you shall put into the ark the testimony (two Tablets).  And you shall make an ark-cover of pure gold... And you shall make two Cherubim of gold at the two ends of the ark-cover... And the Cherubim shall be spreading their wings on high covering with their wings over the ark-cover and their faces one toward the other."  

The ark contained both sets of Tablets; the first Tablets, which Moshe broke coming down Mount Sinai, when he saw the Jewish people worshipping the Golden Calf, as well as the second set of Tablets.

The ark was made of three boxes. The inner and outer boxes were made of gold. The middle box was made out of wood, which comes from a tree. The Torah is called, "A Tree of Life to those who cling to her and those who support her are fortunate." 

Lesson: Studying and supporting Torah brings life and blessings. When looking at the ark, one would see gold on the interior and exterior. This teaches us that a person must be the same on the inside (in one's heart and mind), as on the outside.

Due to the gold content and the Tablets which were inside the ark, the ark was extremely heavy!  Yet, when traveling, only four people carried the ark. How was that possible? Our sages say, "The ark carried its carriers!"  It was the ark in which were the Two Tablets which gave them the strength to carry it. 

Lesson: Studying Torah and performing the mitzvot should not be a burden, for in fact, it is the Torah which carries, uplifts, and gives energy to those who study it and adhere to its mitzvot.

SHABBAT SHALOM – A VERY HAPPY & JOYOUS SHABBAT

Montreal candle lighting time: 5:16 / Shabbat ends: 6:20