Terumah: The Five-Star Heart

“And they shall make me a sanctuary and I will dwell among them.” (Exodus 25:8).

The sanctuary that Hashem wants us to prepare for Him is not one of marble pillars, stained-glass windows and red carpets. Our sages interpret “among them” as within the heart of every person. Rashi adds that the sanctuary should be “a house of holiness, made for My sake.” We consequently learn the three conditions for preparing a worthy sanctuary for Hashem, for all times, even when we don’t have the Holy Temple, as follows:

1. Our hearts should be open to Hashem;
2. Our hearts should be holy;
3. Our hearts should be programmed for “Hashem’s sake”; in other words, His desire should be our desire.

Fortunate is the individual whose heart meets the above three conditions, for when Hashem dwells in one’s midst, there is peace and joy, the two main benefits of the Divine Presence. But, if a person’s heart is clogged, defiled and full of lewd thoughts and desires, he or she can’t expect the King of kings to dwell in their midst. The following parable will help us understand this concept:

A company executive is about to make a very important business trip where he’ll be required to entertain distinguished prospective clients. His secretary phones the most prestigious luxury hotel in the city where the executive will be visiting and reserves the finest suite. The price is very high but the hotel manager promises all the desired amenities and more. The executive approves the price and the secretary makes the reservation and leaves the required down payment. The suite is reserved.

At the appointed day, the executive arrives in town. A limo brings him from the airport downtown to the hotel. He checks in, receives a key to his suite, and takes the elevator to the top floor, where the penthouse suites have a magnificent view of the entire city and surroundings. On the way up to the room, he visualizes what he hopes to see – a luxury set of rooms with a well-stocked coffee bar and wet bar, wall-to-wall plasma screen for presentations, exquisite furniture and a breathtaking picture window that opens to a spectacular balcony…

Imagine the shock when the executive opens the door to his suite and finds a filthy entrance with trash strewn behind the front door. Empty beer bottles, a few of them broken, are all over the stained carpet. The picture window is covered with greasy fingerprints and the whole suite has the insufferable musty smell of cigarette smoke and garbage. The executive tries to get past the debris to walk from room to room, stepping on empty peanut shells wherever he goes, as if the suite had been occupied by a family of baboons. If that’s not bad enough, he enters the supposedly luxury bedroom and instead of finding an elegantly-made bed with silk and satin sheets, he finds a filthy bed with a snoring drunk fast asleep, who didn’t even bother to take off his muddy shoes. If that’s not bad enough, the executive chases the drunk out of the room then runs down to the manager’s office to vociferously file a complaint. Rather than trying to placate the irate executive, the hotel manager runs after the drunk to appease him…

The above scenario seems ludicrous and far-fetched, doesn’t it?

Think of it this way: the hotel suite is a person’s heart. The executive who pays top-dollar for the best rooms is Hashem. The drunk is the evil inclination and all the garbage is our lusts, transgressions and lewd thoughts and desires. The hotel manager is each one of us. Imagine the damages we’ll have to pay for placating the “drunk” – the evil inclination – rather than doing Hashem’s will, especially when it is He who sustains us every moment of our lives. How embarrassing it will be when the Heavenly Court shows a person that his heart was a shabby cheap dive for a drunk rather than a luxury five-star suite fit for a king.

That’s not the way we want to go.

The chambers of our heart should be the King’s chambers, for this is the proper dwelling for Hashem, the one that He most desires.