Shabbat Shalom and welcome to Judeo Talk. The Torah portion for this week is Terumah, Exodus 25:1-27:19.
This parsha isn't a very active one. It describes, down to the smallest detail, how the Israelites are supposed to build the Ark of the Covenant. God's specifications are exact and extremely demanding, especially for a nation of people who are wandering around in the desert. But then again, that's basically the point. As is often the case in the Torah, it is the unwritten that is the most important. The Torah is, after all, a living document. It isn't meant to sit like a piece of religious decor, it is meant to be interacted with. That's why we read it every week and that's why it's imperative that we ask questions.
The question that springs to mind when reading Terumah is this: If the Israelites are still in the wilderness and God demands that the Ark be made out of every kind of finery imaginable, where are the Israelites supposed to get these materials?
That's when we need to look back to an earlier parsha. Back when the Israelites were on their way out of Egypt after the tenth and final plague struck, one of the conditions of their departure was that the Egyptians give all manner of spoils to them. They gave gold and jewels, they gave fine clothes and whatever other riches they could scrounge.
Later, the Israelites came into warfare with kingdoms that didn't want to allow them safe passage through their land. The Israelites conquered these foes, presumably taking yet more spoils of war with them.
So, what we can reason from these events is that all of the wealth the Israelites have, they have because of the protection and direction of God. By forcing the people to throw so much of their wealth into building the Ark, it drives home just what exactly ought to be at the front of everyone's mind. This path to salvation, this long journey from slavery (both literal and figurative) to enlightenment begins and ends with the divine. There is no wealth but that which God gives and there is no victory except that which God deems right.
This is how we must approach the study of Torah. When we crack open these books of scripture hoping to find epic miracles and poignant dramas involving the iconic figures many of us have known since childhood, there is an inherent frustration if we happen to be at a parsha where it seems that nothing happens. Indeed there are several parshiot that describe exact procedures, outline building schematics or list extensive lineages. These are not wastes of space nor are they antiquated literary conventions. Any time we feel a sense of disquiet or disinterest in a parsha, it's quite likely that disquiet and disinterest are exactly the point.
So go ahead, embrace that indignance. Ask a snotty question about the Torah and you may just get an enlightened answer. Remember, the Jewish people are known as Yisra'el, those who struggle with God. Judaism is not about blind faith and it most certainly isn't about complacency. The Torah, like God, is something to be wrestled with, something to be approached not with universal reverence but with a voracious, even arrogant intellectual curiosity.