For the last week or so, I, along with millions of people all around the globe, have been watching the Winter Olympics. Currently, athletes from 92 countries are locked in competition and in pursuit of the ultimate achievement: winning a gold medal. But the Olympics are not the only arena in which the prizes of gold, silver, and bronze are in play this week!
At the very beginning of this week’s parsha, T’rumah, we read that “God spoke to Moses, saying: Tell the Israelite people to bring Me gifts. You shall accept gifts for Me from every person whose heart is so moved. And these are the gifts that you shall accept from them: gold, silver, and copper…” (Exodus 25:1–3).
In the setting of our Torah, of course, the context for these metals is quite different. In T’rumah, these metals are requested as the first items on a long list of materials from which the Israelites were to construct the Tabernacle, their mobile sanctuary in the desert and God’s dwelling place among them. For our ancestors, these metals are not awards; rather, their offering in service of God and of the Tabernacle is their victory!
Whether you’re following along with the Olympics, the Torah, or (like me) both, these past weeks have been full of incredible stories and miraculous feats. May we be inspired by them all!