We mourn the death of Reverend Jesse Jackson. Jackson was a complex individual and a person of great accomplishment.
In this world of purity litmus tests, cancel culture, and identity politics, it is easy for some to write off this icon of the civil rights movement, focusing on shortcomings and missteps rather than accomplishments.
He helped move the arc of justice forward. We can and should remember him for all the good he did, and hopefully find space in our hearts, even though he, like all of us, had flaws. Jackson fostered a sense of pride and self-esteem in those who struggled in a society determined to deny them, as captured in his well-known saying, “I am Somebody.” Jesse Jackson was Somebody.
This is a moment to rededicate ourselves to the vision of respect and dignity for every person that Jackson preached. The work is far from over, and it is ours to do.
May his memory be for a blessing.
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D’var Torah Parshat HaShavuah
Rabbi Tsurah August
TERUMAH
Shemot 25: 1-2, 8
וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃
And the Eternal One spoke to Moses, saying:
דַּבֵּר֙ אֶל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל וְיִקְחוּ־לִ֖י תְּרוּמָ֑ה מֵאֵ֤ת כׇּל־אִישׁ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר יִדְּבֶ֣נּוּ לִבּ֔וֹ תִּקְח֖וּ אֶת־תְּרוּמָתִֽי׃
Tell the Israelite people to bring Me gifts/terumah; you shall accept gifts/terumah for Me from every person whose heart is so moved.
וְעָ֥שׂוּ לִ֖י מִקְדָּ֑שׁ וְשָׁכַנְתִּ֖י בְּתוֹכָֽם׃
And let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.
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The insistent wind blew snow flurries against our frozen cheeks, and tugged at our home-made signs as we gathered at the corner, in front of our neighborhood library. A woman stood with her two little girls, gripping posters they illustrated with hearts and hugging families, proclaiming: “keep families together”, “we love our families”, “without each other we would be sad”. We gathered with neighbors of all ages, races, life-styles, to protect our immigrant neighbors.
In this past year, the need for providing sanctuary has been churning in me as the abuses against immigrants here and world-wide, surges and destroys our human civilizations and poisons our very souls.
Sanctuary. What a contrast to what our country has been building – “detention” centers that are effectively prisons for those who are being hunted and torn from their homes and families, because they are suspected of being “illegal”. Because they are Brown or Black or speak with a “foreign” accent, they live in fear and dread, in hiding.
The parasha “Terumah”, comes directly after the parasha Mishpatim –which lays out the ethical, moral, and property laws that create and maintain a civil society. A society in which each person has a role to maintain the peace and order for the communal good.
Terumah, translated as “offering”, deals with creating a physical Sanctuary, the Mishkan, to which “every person whose heart is so moved”, contributes terumah. The Mishkan will be the home for God to dwell in. The parasha goes into great detail describing the materials, processes, structure and ritual objects of the Sanctuary/the Mishkan. These are physical objects, such as gold, silver, copper, gems et al.
But let’s first look at the word Terumah . The Hebrew root is RAM – to raise up/ to elevate. In the parasha, one can read it as to elevate material objects to spiritually serve a higher purpose. In the process of being elevated, the material object becomes a vehicle for holiness, just as the one who is offering the terumah, is spiritually elevated and becomes a vehicle for holiness, to serve a higher purpose.
We Jews continue the work of the Mishkan. Yes, we do build magnificent architectural structures - synagogues and Jewish Centers, filled with gorgeous ritual objects, art and libraries.
And, more to my point – we continue the work of the Mishkan beyond the physical spaces; raising our very selves – and each other - to transform our world into a Mishkan, a Sanctuary, for all who dwell here on this exquisite, beleaguered planet.
Here in Philadelphia, we have been providing sanctuary for new immigrants for at least 200 years. In our Jewish community, HIAS, Jewish Federation, JFCS, and so many other Jewish organizations and synagogues, have been and continue to be advocates and supporters of new arrivals from diverse cultures and countries worldwide.
Along with like-minded neighbors from all religions, beliefs and cultures, we join together to lift up our gifts - our voices, our bodies, our knowledge, our time, physical resources, our creativity, our spirits, our love - to not only “welcome the stranger”, but to provide a lasting sanctuary for all who seek refuge.
So many new organizations have been created – like Welcoming Home, whose Terumah are homes and daily life skills support for young adult immigrants; the newly formed NW Immigration Network’s Terumah includes keeping its burgeoning membership up to date on regional ICE activity, local and regional actions to benefit immigrants, and providing legal and practical support. Terumah is offered weekly at clergy and activists vigils. And on and on throughout our city, region, country.
We bring our Terumah; all of us, “each whose heart moves us”. And the Mishkan we are building is far more glorious and more lasting than any building could be - and big enough for all of us to dwell in, together. That’s Divine.