T orah P ortion
Structures for Moving Forward
BY RABBI VALERIE JOSEPH
Parshat Terumah
“Speak to the children of Israel
and let them take for Me a portion
[a donation for the Sanctuary],
from every person whose heart
motivates him you shall take My
portion” Exodus 25:2.

“They shall make a Sanctuary
for Me — so that I may dwell
among them” Exodus 25:8.

IN THIS WEEK’S Torah
reading, G-d speaks to Moses
and Israel from Mount Sinai.

The Israelites listen and
accept the covenant that G-d
proposed, saying “We will do
and we will listen.”
At this point in the story,
the drama of the plagues,
the Exodus from Egypt, the
parting of the Red Sea, and the
wondrous sights and sounds
of the Sinai experience are in
the past. The Israelites have
been made part of history,
but have not yet been asked
for anything in return. There
is an important shift here as
G-d introduces the concept
of Terumah, or offerings and
Poland Continued from Page 5
contributions to the people.

Not only does G-d now ask
something of the Israelites, he
also gives them gives detailed
instructions, which we will
hear about in the coming
weeks. They are to build a
portable sanctuary, which will
become the center of commu-
nity life during the coming
years of wandering.

Awed by G-d, the Israelites
respond “we will do,” which
is an admirable change, after
following behind the leader-
ship of Moses and Aaron out
of Egypt. It’s an important step
toward freedom. But the word
used by G-d is not “to give,”
but rather “to take for me a
donation.” Why use the word
take instead of give?
Rabbi David of Kotzk
explains with a saying: “A fool
gives and a wise man takes.”
It means that a fool thinks
he is giving when performing
a generous act or making a
donation, but it is the wise
man who realizes he is taking
because he benefits psycholog-
ically as much as the taker,
based on a desire to become
part of something larger.

of larger academic groups,
they don’t have the support
of academic institutions,
they don’t have universities,”
Rice said.

Michael Steinlauf, professor
emeritus at Gratz College,
said that many countries
have political groups that try
to filter history through the
lens of “heroes and martyrs”
— including the United States.

But in Poland, the ideological
attachment to a clean past can
have drastic consequences for
Holocaust scholars.

“What’s happening now is
not the first time that people
have lost it [when] looking at
their own past,” Steinlauf said. l
said. The passage of the 2018
law against indicting Poland
and its citizens in Nazi crimes
was evidence to some liberal
and democratic groups that
the Law and Justice party was
discouraging independent
research into Polish activities
during the Holocaust.

It was against this background
that the case was brought against
Grabowski and Engelking, and
Rice believes the ruling will have
a chilling effect. The pressure to
teach the Holocaust as a period
of heroic Polish resistance will
be borne most heavily, she said,
by elementary and secondary
school teachers.

jbernstein@jewishexponent.com; “They don’t have the support 215-832-0740
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM The Israelites are asked
“to take,” not as an obliga-
tion but as their hearts move
them — and as a group, to
create through the sharing of
textiles and metals, a place for
G-d to reside amongst them,
where they gather. And give
they do, recognizing the value
they are receiving in return:
community, ownership, active
participation and more. Each
gives his own portion of contri-
bution with open heartedness
and shares in the finished
product of a sanctuary.

The Israelites in this week’s
reading are in the process of
becoming a single people and
a nation with shared ideals.

The ethereal G-d asks them
for a physically distinctive
and sacred place to reside. It’s
a defining moment in their
fluid life of wandering and, as
opposed to the destructiveness
of the golden calf, they work
together to create an inspiring
sacred sanctuary.

Bezalel, the architect who
transforms G-d’s detailed
instructions into reality, is
the main player in the narra-
tive, while Moses is still up
Pavel Continued from Page 6
a moral framework, tradition —
I sound like ‘Fiddler on the Roof’
— intellectual inquiry,” he said.

Pavel presided over a school
that won numerous accolades
during his tenure.

In 2011, Central, which
counts about 2,400 students
each year, was the only high
school in Pennsylvania named
a national Blue Ribbon School;
Pavel said then that 99% of its
students attended college, with
his last graduating class gener-
ating more than $23 million in
college scholarships. Around
that time, it was the only
Philadelphia proper school
included on Newsweek’s list of
the 1,000 best high schools in
JEWISH EXPONENT
CAN DL E L IGHTIN G
Feb. 19
Feb. 26
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in the clouds, so to speak.

With Bezalel, the Israelites on
the ground transform from
former slaves into demon-
strably free people, and they
are transformed internally and
psychically. And as a result of the
Terumah, contributions
that they took and brought
to this moment, the people,
rather than Moses, will bring
G-d’s presence to earth in a
physical sign that joins them
as they journey. They’ve
created something bigger than
themselves. So why build a sanctuary?
Isn’t this a paradox, since
G-d doesn’t need a temple or
sanctuary to “be,” as the whole
universe is filled with His
presence? It is rather our need to
gather and give back in gratitude,
to build structures, whether
they be in someone’s home or
a building modest or other-
wise, that creates the holy space.

Fifteenth-century commen-
tator Abravanel notes that the
sanctuary allows the feminine
presence of G-d, known as the
Shechinah, to dwell within and
among them.

This week, we see a tangible
representation of G-d’s presence,
created by the people. It is a lesson
we can learn about recovery
from the pandemic, addressing
climate change and addressing
other natural and man-made
events of the recent past.

May we all gather together
soon again, not in just the
“cloud,” that is, online, but
in those structures, such
as synagogues, we have
contributed to through our
volunteering and through
material gifts, where we share
our life cycle events as a
community. l
the country.

Bardach said her father
deftly managed the challenges
of school administration,
which oftentimes took on auxil-
iary roles, such as counseling
and social work and general
problem solving.

“He drove people home on
snowy days when they couldn’t
get a ride,” she cited as an
example, laughing that her
father encouraged her to not
go into education.

Outside of school, Pavel
enjoyed reading, following the
local sports teams, playing poker
and travel, Bardach said. The
family’s last pre-COVID-19 trip,
in December 2019, was to Israel.

Judaism played a key role
in his life, both in applying the
religion’s principles to teaching
and also spiritually. The Pavels
were founding members of Or
Hadash: A Reconstructionist
Congregation in Fort
Washington. That
Reconstructionist background stressed the value
of questioning, Bardach said.

“He did a great job of
questioning, both to help
other people learn and grow
and also to enable the school
and students to try new things,
if there was no reason they
couldn’t,” she said.

Pavel is survived by his wife
Paula (née Blackman), daughter
Shani (David) Bardach, stepson
Ariel (Afshana) Broido and
two grandchildren. l
Valerie Joseph is a board-certified
chaplain and a retired rabbi
who leads morning minyan at
Congregation Kesher Israel each
week. The Board of Rabbis is proud
to provide diverse perspectives on
Torah commentary for the Jewish
Exponent. The opinions expressed
in this column are the author’s own
and do not reflect the view of the
Board of Rabbis.

agotlieb@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0797
FEBRUARY 18, 2021
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