Drash Cards for Naso (5770)

by Marc Mangel

• Today Shlomo — born in Israel and raised Orthodox — and I — New York and raised Reform in Chicago – share the Bima on the anniversary of our Bar Mitzvah

• What we read in Ch 7 is exactly about our shared Bar Mitzvah

• Gifts of the Princes to finish the Tabernacle:  Ch 7, v84 — on that day was annointed, but then Ch7, v 88: after was annointed. How do we deal with on the day/after?

• Although each prince brought on a different day, God considers as if all brought on the first (to initiate) and last (finishing touches) day

• Like the princes, we (Shlomo and I; all of us) have complementary unity:  our own strengths and mission in which we are disparate individuals but…

• Intrinsic unity:  To succeed we must join with other Jews to complement each other — we form one collective unit and since each of us has only a small aspect of the collective essence, we need each other to fulfill our purpose

• How do these co-exist? Through Essential Unity –we do not view our different paths as different but rather see them as the Divine imperative to make the world God’s dwelling place

• Complementary, Intrinsic, and Essential Unity.  Thank you for sharing our Bar Mitzvah