This weeks Parashah, Terumah, tells us about the construction of the Mishkan (Tabernacle), which housed the holy objects of the Jewish people. The Mishkan contained the Ark of the Covenant with its Cherubim, the Shulchan (Table), the Menorah, and the Sacrificial Altar. In the Parshah, it also features the measurements of many of the sacred objects which were to be used in the Mishkan, interestingly enough a lot of Jewish laws related in the Talmud are derived from many of the measurements of the various precious objects in the Mishkan which were to later be modeled by at the time of the building of the Beit Hamikdash (Shabbat 98-99) - which is very much described in this weeks Haftorah reading from the first book of Kings (Kings 1 5:26- 6:13).

The Mishkan stood for around 480 years, which was instituted just after the giving over of the Torah at Mount Sinai. However the Beit Hamikdash stood during two different but close periods, the First Temple was built by King Solomon (the son of King David), it stood for a total of 410 years before being destroyed by the Babylonians (Taanit 29), after a 70 year period gap, it was rebuilt with the help of Ezra and Zerubavel and went on to stand for another 420 years, eventually being destroyed by the Romans (Gittin 55- 56), may we all very soon be able to witness the building of the third Beit Hamikdash brought by Moshiach!!!!

However in this weeks beautiful Haftorah we are related to how majestic the building of the First Beit Hamikdash was. Firstly the Temple was built thanks to the generous donations from the whole of the Jewish nation at that time, in fact not just financially but also by the large number of Jews who gave over the qualities and services and volunteered much of their time by leaving their homes to work in the lands in the constructing of the Temple. In fact the Haftorah testifies to the tremendous effort on the part of the Jewish nation, describing how 30000 men from Israel went to work on the land (Kings 1 5:27). So too nowadays in the Jewish communities all over the world, there are committees helping the poor, building the Synagogues for prayer, hospitality for Shabbat services, Gemach (Free Loan institutions). One of the principle elements of Judaism is based on Gemilut Chassidim (Giving over kindness) which is a core factor of Judaism. It is important for us all to go out of our way and see what we could do in our communities to help strengthen the lives of our fellow people!

The Haftorah testifies to how amazing the materials were that made up the Temple, including the hewn stones (Kings 1 5:31). Interestingly enough just how the Parshah was so exact in describing the measurements of the Mishkan, so too here in the Haftorah, there is exactness to the measurements of the Beit Hamikdash (Kings 1 6:6). The beauty of the Temple is described in the Haftorah 'He built the Temple and completed it, he made a ceiling for the Temple of decorative wood with rows of cedar beams (Kings 1 6:9), we learn a lesson from the importance of having such a beautiful building in which the services to Hashem were to be performed during the Temple's existence, just like Israel were so specific in making such a beautiful infrastructure with magnificent utensils to serve G-d in the Temple in performing the mitzvot, so too nowadays as we enter the weekly Shabbat or the various festivals, we too should make a point of spending more money or make more effort in performing the various mitzvot, for example, spend more on the Shabbat meal, wear our finest clothes on Shabbat, spend more time on enriching our Torah studies on Shabbat and festivals, pay more attention to our family and friends during these times.

However a beautiful and important message is left with us at the end of the Haftorah,  'This Temple that you build, if you follow my decrees and my statutes, you perform and observe all my commandments to follow them, then I shall establish my word with you that I spoke to David your father, and I shall dwell in the midst of the children of Israel and I shall not abandon my people, Israel (Kings I 6:12-13). It may be great that such an incredible infrastructure was built by King Solomon, but however it is not all just about the infrastructure, so too the infrastructure has to be used in serving G-d. Just like G-d wanted us during the Temple era to full heartedly serve him in the Temple, so to in the Modern day, as we have thousands of beautiful Synagogues across the world, it is not just important for them to look beautiful, it should be in constant use for Prayer, different Jewish celebrations and being used for acts of Kindness on an extremely regular basis.

Hope you all have a great week and a great Shabbat to come!!!