Dear BSO Congregant,

This coming Shabbat, February 27 -28, 2004 - Adar 6, 5764, we will read Parshat Terumah (annual cycle - Exodus 25:1 -27:19; triennial cycle - Exodus 26:31 - 27:19). The Haftarah reading is from I Kings 5:26 - 6:13.

Parshat Terumah provides us with the details involved in building the “Mishkan – Tabernacle.” This was the portable house of worship built by the Children of Israel which they transported as they traveled through the wilderness after the Exodus from Egypt.

Now that we are once again nearing the end of a synagogue building project at B’nai Shalom of Olney, I am amazed at how pertinent and relevant these concluding chapters of Exodus have become once again.

When I was in rabbinical school these were the most boring portions to study. What we didn’t realize then and what I now know better than most, is that a congregation is always going through a building process. There is always a need to maintain the physical structure of the synagogue. We also continually provide support to the spiritual foundation upon which, metaphorically, the synagogue structure must rest. Therefore Parshat Terumah, and the subsequent Torah portions which conclude the Book of Exodus, provide us with many important lessons.

For example, the Tabernacle built by the Children of Israel in the wilderness consisted of three walls. On each wall there were rows of bars used for support.

Exodus26:28 states:

“The middle bar in the midst of the boards passed through from end to end.”

This middle bar extended the length of the entire wall while the other bars were shorter. Because of its special length, our tradition has assigned special significance to this middle bar.

The Midrash tells us that this middle bar of the Tabernacle was originally the staff of Jacob, our patriarch, which he carried with him when he went down to settle in Egypt. Legend informs us that Jacob told his sons, “When you will be redeemed from Egypt, take this staff with you.” Therefore when the Israelites actually left Egypt, they decided they would use Jacob’s staff for the middle bar in the Tabernacle. Upon doing so it was declared, “Let this staff come and atone for us so that we will never again need to take a staff of wandering in our hands.” So the Israelites kept this “staff of wandering” as a relic from their past. It became a reminder of their austere beginning when God’s presence seemed distant and vague. What was once a staff used for direction and support by our ancestors while they wandered and searched, now became the foundation of the Tabernacle wherein God’s presence would be more clearly focused.

This Midrash epitomizes the tendency of Judaism to look toward the future while always retaining key memories from the past. This is both true for us as individuals and the community.

As an individual, I observe certain aspects of Judaism differently than I did in the past, but I always keep in perspective from whence I came, and what I carry with me as I move ahead.

As a community we are obligated to do the same. Anyone who might look at our synagogue building would realize that B’nai Shalom of Olney looks quite different than it did just a few years ago.

Yes, we are different, but in certain ways we are the same.

We certainly are in a different building, but in many ways we are the same shul. The center of our building remains the same, albeit remodeled and transformed. The Sanctuary is still in the same place it has been since 1981. But now, the Berlin Family Sanctuary is not also a social hall, or an all-purpose room. It is a Sanctuary which serves as the center, both physically and spiritually, for a much larger synagogue building. The Sanctuary, like the building itself, can reach out from the center to the right and to the left, providing Jews different observance levels to feel comfortable and at home.

We have our own versions of Jacob’s staff which we bring with us from the past and use in a new and different way in our expanded synagogue building. One such item is the six-pointed Star of David which beautifies the ceiling of the Sanctuary. In a recent Washington Post great attention was directed to a similar star designed by an architect who was working on the first synagogue building to be constructed in Loudon County, Virginia. Many of us were surprised that so much attention was paid to something which has added beauty to our synagogue since 1981. It symbolizes that our connection to God remains the same, even if there may be slight changes in our mode and/or environment of worship.

The yahrtzeit boards and plaques remain the same and serve as a stable reminder of the connection we have to our own relatives and certain past members of B’nai Shalom of Olney who have passed on to the World to Come.

Finally, with the Sanctuary at the center of the synagogue building, now we also have the Torah scrolls in the center of our shul. Everything we do radiates from the word of God we have received, and which we keep close and dear to us in the Sanctuary. That, more than anything else, symbolizes the link which unites us so emotionally whenever we sing with Cantor Geller “– from generation to generation we will tell of Your greatness.”

Candle lighting time is 5:38 PM.

Our Friday night K-1 class service will begin at 7:30 PM.

Our Shabbat morning service will begin at 9:00 AM. During this service we will celebrate the Bat Mitzvah of Marley Rydelek. Mazel Tov!

Our Shabbat Minha/Ma-ariv/Havdalah service will begin at 5:15 PM. During this service we will celebrate the Bar Mitzvah of Andrew Warren. Mazel Tov!

Our service on Sunday morning, February 22 will begin at 8:45 AM.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Philip Pohl

Rabbi Philip Pohl
B'nai Shalom of Olney
18401 Burtfield Dr.
Olney, MD 20832
301-774-0879
301-774-3992 FAX