Beyond the Honeymoon Pursuing a relationship is exciting. The heart races, adrenaline flows, and you are invested and present in every detail. You plan an extraordinary trip, you shop for gifts, and you experience tremendous excitement. Then, time passes, and you realize that maintaining a relationship requires an additional set of skills that perhaps you underestimated. A relationship requires consistency; it must be nourished with small, ordinary acts of kindness on an ongoing basis. When the pressures of life build up, you must still check in and connect on a daily basis. Just as human love requires both passion and consistency, so too our relationship with G-d requires both occasional inspiration as well as daily devotion.” In last week's Torah portion, we read about the commandment to build a Mishkan, a tabernacle, a home for G-d in the desert. The people were enthused like a young couple in love. Overjoyed to participate, excited to donate, and exhilarated by the awesome experience of G-d desiring a relationship with them. Indeed, immediately at the beginning of the Parsha, the Torah emphasizes the inspiration and the excitement: The Lord spoke to Moses saying: Speak to the children of Israel, and have them take for Me an offering; from every person whose heart inspires him to generosity, you shall take My offering. (25:1-2) In contrast to the inspiration and generosity we read about in last week’s portion, this week’s portion highlights the other critical component of a relationship. The consistent connection even on ordinary days. This week’s portion introduces the service of the priests and highlights again and again the word “Tamid“, which means “always”, and emphasizes consistency: And you shall command the children of Israel, and they shall take to you pure olive oil, crushed for lighting, to kindle the lamps continually. In the Tent of Meeting, outside the dividing curtain that is in front of the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall set it up before the Lord from evening to morning; [it shall be] an everlasting statute for their generations, from the children of Israel. (27:20-21) The combination of the portions, the novel excitement and the consistent application, allow for a deep relationship to flourish and grow.
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