Parashat Teruma opens with G-d instructing Moshe to tell the Children of Israel to begin collecting the materials to build the Mishkan (Tabernacle) and its accoutrements:
דַּבֵּר אֶל־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְיִקְחוּ־לִי תְּרוּמָה מֵאֵת כָּל־אִישׁ אֲשֶׁר יִדְּבֶנּוּ לִבּוֹ... וְעָשׂוּ לִי מִקְדָּשׁ וְשָׁכַנְתִּי בְּתוֹכָם:
“Speak to the Children of Israel, that they will for Me a donation from every man whose heart inspires him…They will make for Me a Mishkan, and I will dwell among them" (Exodus 25:2-8).
We begin by noting that the Torah uses three words interchangeably for the Tabernacle: מִקְדָּשׁ (Mikdash), מִשְׁכָּן (Mishkan), and אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד (Ohel Mo’ed). Each of these appellations carries slightly different connotations:
מִקְדָּשׁ (Mikdash), from the root קדש meaning “holy", hence the usual translation “Sanctuary", place of sanctity;
מִשְׁכָּן (Mishkan), from the root שכן meaning “to dwell", hence the usual translation “Tabernacle", place of dwelling;
אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד (Ohel Mo’ed), אֹהֶל (Ohel) meaning “tent" and מוֹעֵד from the root ועד meaning “to conjoin", hence the usual translation “Tent of Meeting", the place where we and G-d meet. In post-Biblical Hebrew, וַעַד (va’ad) comes to mean a meeting-place or gathering, and by extension a committee.
The word מוֹעֵד is the standard name for the Festivals - the times when we as a nation celebrate our joint history, when come together with our past, with each other, and with G-d.
G-d commands us here to build His dwelling-place using the word מִקְדָּשׁ (Mikdash), which is by far the least-frequent name:
the Torah uses the term מִקְדָּשׁ (Mikdash) just 15 times;
the term מִשְׁכָּן (Mishkan) 103 times;
and the term אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד (Ohel Mo’ed) 135 times.
Even though the appellation מִקְדָּשׁ (Mikdash) is the rarest name, it is the first one that G-d uses. It is how G-d introduces His House: its identity as the place of sanctity is its foundational definition.
The Mishnah (Zevachim 14:4) tells us that before the Mikdash was constructed in the desert, בָּמוֹת (bamot) or private altars for sacrifices were permitted in all places, and the firstborns were responsible for the sacrificial services.
After the Mikdash was constructed, these private altars became forbidden: sacrifices were permitted solely in the Mikdash, and the sacrificial service was performed by the Kohanim (Priests). The meat of the holiest of sacrifices (קָדְשֵׁי קָדָשִׁים, Holy of Holies) was eaten solely by the Kohanim within the Court of the Mikdash (vide Leviticus 6:17-23), while the meat of the less-holy sacrifices (קָֽדָשִׁים קַלִּים) could be eaten by any Jew anywhere in the Israelite Camp.
Later in Jewish history, when we entered the Land of Israel and placed the Mikdash in Gilgal (Joshua 4:15-20), the meat of the holiest of sacrifices was still eaten solely by the Kohanim within the Court of the Mikdash, and the meat of the less-holy sacrifices could be eaten anywhere in the Land of Israel (Zevachim 14:5).
When the Tabernacle of stone was built in Shiloh (Joshua 18:1), the meat of the holiest of sacrifices was still eaten solely by the Kohanim within the Court of the Mikdash, and the meat of the less-holy sacrifices could be eaten anywhere within eyesight of the Tabernacle (Zevachim 14:6).
And then, when the Holy Temple was built in Jerusalem, the meat of the holiest of sacrifices was still eaten solely by the Kohanim within the Court of the Holy Temple, and the meat of the less-holy sacrifices could be eaten anywhere within Jerusalem (Zevachim 14:8).
The introductory identity of the Mikdash is its sanctity, hence this appellation the first time that G-d commands its construction. Its identity as G-d’s dwelling-place is crucial - but the Torah will use the appellation מִשְׁכָּן (Mishkan) only in the next verse, תַּבְנִית הַמִּשְׁכָּן, “the form of the Tabernacle" (Exodus 25:9).
This is immediately after specifying that “they will make for Me a Mishkan, and I will dwell among them". First Hashem dwells among us - we must prove ourselves worthy of having Hashem dwell among us; only after that does the מִקְדָּשׁ (Mikdash), the place of sanctity, become the מִשְׁכָּן (Mishkan), G-d’s dwelling-place.
And then it additionally becomes the אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד (Ohel Mo’ed), the Tent of Meeting, the place where we and G-d are unified, the aspect which we will find for the first time next week in Parashat Tetzaveh (Exodus 28:43).
We see from this that the construction of the Mikdash marked a new era in Jewish history. It transformed us from a collection of families to a united nation, united in in our worship of G-d.
And similarly the construction of the Tabernacle of stone in Shiloh marked the beginning of a new era in Jewish history: “The entire congregation of the Children of Israel assembled in Shiloh and established the Tent of Meeting (אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד) there - and the Land was conquered before them" (Joshua 18:1).
Rashi elucidates: “Once the Tabernacle was firmly established, the Land before them was easier to conquer".
And Metzudat David adds: “From the time that they established the Tent of Meeting in Shiloh, which was in the Tribal territory of the sons of Joseph, Hashem helped them and they conquered the Land, which they had not been able to do previously".
The construction of the Mikdash in this week’s parashah introduces a new epoch in our history - a time of national cohesion, centralisation of worship, closeness between us and Hashem.
The Mishkan in the desert was designed to be a potable structure, temporary by its very nature.
The Mishkan in Shiloh was built from stone - for the first time a permanent structure, the locus of worship for all Jews. It anchored our national presence in the Land of Israel.
The Holy Temple ushered in yet another new period of history, cementing our national sovereignty in Israel.
Originally the Mishkan could be constructed anywhere in the world. As soon as we crossed the River Jordan into Israel and erected the Mishkan it became forbidden to erect it anywhere outside of Israel, though it could still function anywhere in the Land.
And once King Solomon built the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, it became forbidden to build any Mikdash anywhere else.
We live today in a turbulent time: wars swirling round our borders, uncertainty within the country.
We are in desperate need of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem - or, at the very least, restoring unrestricted Jewish worship on the Temple Mount and restoring such sacrifices as are permitted without the Holy Temple being built; the Korban Pesach (Pesach Sacrifice) foremost among them.
This will usher in a new era - an era of reinforced Jewish sovereignty over Jerusalem and by extension over the complete Land of Israel. This will be an era of greater unity among ourselves and closer connexion with G-d.
We live in an era in which, for the first time in millennia, this appears to be within our grasp. No longer an impossible dream. For the first since Israeli independence, we at last have a Government which is not bitterly hostile to Jewish worship on the Temple Mount.
Events sometimes move swiftly, and only a fool would attempt to predict the events of the next few years, or even of the next several months, with confidence. The future is very fluid.
Ever since the yearly cycle of Torah readings was standardised towards the end of the Second Temple era, and the fixed calendar as calculated by Hillel II (Hillel ben Yehudah, Nasi or head of the Sanhedrin) was adopted in 4119 (359 C.E.), Parashat Teruma has invariably been in the first half of the month of Adar (in leap years of Adar 1). It is the month of נַהֲפוֹךְ הוּא, everything being reversed and overturned in an instant and the Jews overpowering their enemies who seek their extermination (Esther 9:1).
Maybe - just maybe - this Adar will mark the inception of a new era of greater holiness, and era in which we will prove ourselves worthy of having G-d dwell among us.