I AM Found

I AM.🔥🔥

Terumah - (Heb.) Gift or offering

This week’s Torah portion, T’rumah, invites us to imagine what makes a sanctuary holy.

Is it the beauty of the space, the music that lifts our spirits, or the traditions that bind us across generations? All matter. But at the heart of the Mishkan stood two golden cherubim, facing one another – and our tradition teaches that God’s voice emerged not from one alone, but from the space between them.

Holiness, in other words, is born in encounter. 💨💨

In a time when disagreement too often turns into dismissal, our parashah reminds us that sacred community depends on face-to-face dialogue.

Judaism has never demanded uniformity of thought; it has demanded dignity of engagement. The challenge before us is not to avoid difficult conversations, but to hold them with curiosity, humility, and respect – to listen deeply even when consensus proves elusive.

As we enter the sanctuary of Shabbat – and as we leave it – may we remember that God dwells not only in architecture or ritual, but in the way we speak to one another. Like the cherubim, may we turn toward each other – and in doing so, bring heaven a little closer to earth.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Elliot J. Cosgrove
Park Avenue Synagogue
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