ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם
The stated objective at the start of this week’s parsha seems straightforward on the surface. But the four parshiyot of painstaking detail dedicated to the construction of the Mishkan make us think about what it actually means to build a sanctuary so that Hashem can dwell among us. At the core of this undertaking is the mitzvah that launches this project: Terumah.
There are two components of the terumah, donations brought to the Mishkan. They require two distinct types of participation from Am Yisrael. On the one hand, Bnei Yisrael were to bring donations kol nediv lev, "each man as his heart desires." This contribution is about self-expression and self-direction. It is how each participant finds their own personal meaning and connection in the way they relate to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. The opportunity for choice kindles the intrinsic motivation inside the heart of the nediv lev.
On the other hand, we learn from the repetition of the word terumah that there was a mandatory donation of silver for each individual. This terumah is not that of motivation but of obligation. It makes a statement that fundamentally, we have a responsibility towards the set of values we adhere to. The materials of the mandatory contributions to the Mishkan were used in the adanim, the sockets which supported the walls. This terumah is our ante, our buy-in anchoring us to the foundational principles on which our entire philosophy is built.
The challenge in fostering these two components in our bnei and bnot Torah is that they are sometimes at odds. Teaching our students responsibility for their avodat Hashem often resonates less, while encouraging only autonomy in avodat Hashem severs the avodah from its very foundations. This tension is found, for example, when we usher a student to davening. Have I taught them an important lesson about achrayut, responsibility? Or have I extinguished their internal nedivut lev, which I need to foster towards tefillah? Does an assessment in Talmud help our students do the requisite chazarah, review, necessary to master their Torah study, or is it an impediment to their affective connection to their Torah learning?
The Torah is telling us that in chinuch, in every classroom moment and in every hallway interaction with our students, we need to intentionally develop both aspects. We have to teach our kids the messages of both terumah, donation, and tetzave, command – to balance autonomy with discipline, innovation with tradition. This is the balance that David Hamelech alludes to in Tehillim with his seemingly competing instructions of ivdu et Hashem be’simcha (100:2) and ivdu et Hashem be’yirah (2:11) – worshipping Hashem with both joy and awe. Every interaction with our students is about walking this delicate balance. At Maimonides we try to cultivate both viewpoints simultaneously. It is this philosophical approach that motivates the four distinct options from which our students can choose in our Upper School Talmud program. It is this approach that motivates our acts of tzimtzum, stepping back so that our students can take leadership and ownership of their tefillah experience. It is why we position our students to be drivers of their own spiritual growth within the bounds of our hashkafa. But it is not sufficient to develop both aspects independently. The ultimate goal is to bridge them, to fully align our achrayut with our hitnadvut, personal choices and desires. I recently returned from visiting some of our precious alumni in Israel. There is something one notices when talking to those studying in yeshiva and seminary, a certain clarity and focus. One can see it in their eyes – it’s the eye of the shteiger. It is the culmination of the years of careful chinuch that we, as a community, have poured into them. Our students are finding their own internal terumah alignment. Their hitnadvut has come fully in line with the fundamental values of our hashkafa. There is cohesion and coherence, an hashkafic synergy bridging their senses of responsibility and autonomy, which are now animating their life decisions. It is that alignment that is emanating from our alumni as they ask me to learn with them in the Beit Midrash, as they tell me about their experiences as soldiers in Gaza, as they share their intentions to enlist in the Israel Defense Forces in the coming months. These young men and women are living and breathing our values, glowing representations of everything we stand for. The adanim have been anchored, and their religious aspirations are burning with the fire of our Modern Orthodox values.
May we have continued success in raising our amazing Maimonides students to be achrayim and nedivim, to develop and align both aspects of their own personal terumot as they build their relationships with HaKadosh Baruch Hu. | 
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