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As this week’s Torah reading covers Parashat Terumah, translated as “gifts” and referencing the gifts that the Israelites were to bring for the construction of their tabernacle, I found myself particularly compelled by the image offered by Rabbi Aaron Panken, of blessed memory:

“Imagine the image. You go up into your attic and you find a fantastically wrapped, absolutely beautiful, unbelievably compelling gift that somebody gave you a long time ago. Maybe they even gave your father or your grandmother this gift. And it has been sitting there, unwrapped, for decades perhaps. And you look at it, you think about it for a minute, and you choose not to unwrap it.  

We have to wonder: what are the core pieces of a beautiful, distinct and thriving Jewish community. And to me, the image of a beautiful gift that nobody opens is striking. We have each been given this wonderful gift of being Jewish. We have an extraordinary tradition with thousands of years of wisdom that has come down to us, and yet the reality is that the vast majority of Jews right now never open the package. They never deeply get into what is inside of that extraordinary gift.

I’d like to see more people open that package. I want to see people rip the paper off, to give them the scissors to cut the ribbon, to give them the tools to be able to see what is inside this beautiful gift that they got, to understand it, to connect to it, and to realize most importantly the value of it.”
-          Rabbi Dr. Aaron Panken, January, 2014

As we enter this weekend, may we consider the gifts we have given and the gifts – even the unopened gifts - we have received. And may this consideration transform Friday night into Shabbat, and may each of these gifts full our lives with meaning.

Shabbat Shalom,

Brad