13 Feb BROKEN YET WHOLE

This week’s parsha, Terumah, details the
construction of the Mishkan, and its vessels.
“V’asu Li Mikdash, v’shachanti b’socham,
And they shall make me a Sanctuary, so that
I will dwell among them. “ (Shemos 25:8)
B’socham. Among them. Would it not have
been more correct to say b’sochah – in it?
Bnei Yisroel were given the mitzva to build
a resting place for the Shechina. Yet, the
pasuk reads “so I will dwell among them”.
The Mishkan stood in the center of Bnei
Yisroel’s encampment. A reminder that
HaShem is with them at all times. “V’osu
Li, And you shall make for Me”. It doesn’t
just happen. We have to make it happen.
And then, He will dwell amongst us,
b’socham.
Parshas Terumah gives us a formula of how
to make it happen. It tells of the nation
donating towards the building of the
Mishkan. Be a giver….. Everyone has
something they can give.
Rav Nachman of Breslav taught that while
the Shechina is all-encompassing, we can
bring it b’socham, within ourselves, through

giving. The very act of giving, opens a
place in our heart for HaShem to rest.
This is true not only with the giving of
monetary gifts, but also when we give of
ourselves in a myriad of other ways. The
giving of our time, our talents, our
knowledge. The giving of a good word, a
smile, a kind gesture.
“V’yikchu li terumah, take for Me a
donation .”
“Terumah”. Why not the more commonly
used words for donation, tzedakah or
nedavah?
The root of the word terumah is rom – to
raise. To elevate, to attain greater heights.
When we give, our neshama doesn’t just
ascend, it soars. It is super-charged. It has
the spirit of HaShem resting within.
“Bilvavi Mishkan evneh…, In my heart, a
Sanctuary I shall build…” (Sefer
Chareidim) We no longer have a Mishkan.
We no longer have a Beis HaMikdash. But
we do have our hearts. Hearts we can open,
and allow the Shechina to enter. Hearts that
can be our own personal sanctuaries.
The Aron, the Holy Ark, was a most sacred
article in the Mishkan. It stood in the

Kodesh HaKodoshim, the Holy of
Holies. Within the Aron were the
Aseres HaDibros, the Ten
Commandments, and the broken
shards of the first set of Luchos. The
tablets Moshe brought down from
Sinai, only to see Bnei Yisroel
encircling the Golden Calf in
celebration. The pain and
disappointment were too much for
Moshe to bear. The tablets became
heavy in his hand and heart. Moshe
threw them down, causing them to
break. The holy fragments were
collected by Moshe and subsequently
lovingly placed in the Aron.
“Luchos v’shivrei Luchos munachim
b’aron.” The Talmud tells us that the second
set of Luchos and the shattered shards of
the first set were placed together in the
Aron. Even though they were broken, they
were a Divine gift from HaShem to His
people. They were filled with kedusha, and
restored to a place of honor alongside the
second set of Luchos.
With the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash,
we lost the Aron. We still have our Torah,
and the life messages that the Aron conveys.
Our rabbis teach that the Aron can be
compared to man’s heart. A message that
speaks to us today. Within our hearts, we
have a mixture of feelings. We have the
emotion of the dibros, tablets that stand
strong. Mitzvos that stay with us and defy
the ages. At the same time, we have
shivrei luchos, the broken pieces, the pain
we all live with. The failures we all have
and the mistakes we all make. Just as the
shards are housed in the Aron, so too, are
the broken pieces of our life kept in our
hearts, not to be discarded, eliminated
and forgotten from our memories.
As I write these words, I heard of the
miraculous recovery of two hostages. We
just began the month of Adar, and the
miracles are already coming upon us.
Fernando Simon Marman, 60, and Louis
Har, 70, survived four months of being
held hostage.
Hodu L’HaShem ki tov, thank you
HaShem. At the same time, our heart
aches with the pain of the shivrei luchos.
So many – too many – lives lost, from
residents of the South, to soldiers and first
responders, to hostages who sadly didn’t
make it. And we ache for the numerous
others injured on October 7 and on, many
so seriously that their lives will never be
whole again. These are the shivrei
Luchos, the shattered fragments in our
hearts. Each shard, holy. Each life lost, a
kadosh. We are broken, yet at the same

time, we are whole.
In the book Meaningful Minute, there is an
excerpt of an article written by Rabbi Aryeh
Zev Ginzberg.
There was a time when my wife and I
needed encouragement. We traveled to
Eretz Yisroel, where we met with Rav
Aharon Leib Shteinman. I told him, “Rosh
Yeshiva, we’re in pain, we need chizuk.”
He looked at me sadly and said, “I can’t
give you chizuk.” Then, he reached out and
touched my heart. “You need to find it
here.”
I wasn’t sure what he meant, but then, a few
weeks later, I saw that the sefer Reishis
Chochmah quotes from the Zohar
HaKodosh, which says that the human heart
corresponds to the Aron Kodesh in the Beis
HaMikdash. We know that the broken
shards of the Luchos, the shivrei Luchos,
were kept in the Aron along with the
complete Luchos. There is room in the heart
for both the shivrei Luchos and the Luchos;
a person can be broken from a loss, and at
the very same time, complete with all that
remains.
What is our secret of survival? How do we
as individuals and as a nation endure the
pain?
The answer can be found on top of the
Aron. The Aron has a covering, the Kapores.
On it, stood two golden Keruvim, angelic
cherubs. The Keruvim faced one another,
giving us a life lesson. Be there for each
other. Be there for family, friends,
neighbors. Be there for your people. Look
out for one another. Ask yourself, what can
I do to help someone else. How can I even
begin to understand someone else’s pain.
The war in Israel has brought us together as
a nation. As the Keruvim looked towards
each other, so too, should we look at one
another, asking, how can I help. What can I
do to lessen the burden and pain of those on
the front lines. In that merit, may we be
zoche to see sholom al kol Yisroel, and the
coming of Moshiach, speedily in our day.