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God in a Box
A menorah.
JNS.org – Martha Goldberg was a middle-aged Jewish woman from the Bronx, N.Y., on her visit to the Far East. After the long trip from New York, she was exhausted but insisted on continuing her journey to the mountains of Tibet. She was so eager to have her long-awaited audience with the great guru Maharishi that she refused to delay it any further.
Martha arrived at the spiritual teacher’s sanctuary and was told by his assistant that the holy guru was very busy with prayers and meditations, and her audience must be very short. She would be allowed to say only three words. Martha was disappointed, but she couldn’t wait any longer, so she agreed. Ushered into the holy man’s private chamber, she shouted three words: “Sheldon, come home!”
I don’t know if this story really happened, but it certainly could have.
For years, far too many young Jews in search of spirituality ended up in the Far East with Eastern religions. Some never bothered to look in their own Jewish backyard, while many others did go to shul but couldn’t find what they were looking for. It is tragic that so many young Jews did not find spiritual satisfaction in the synagogue because Judaism is the primary source of spirituality.
Perhaps, it wasn’t always that accessible.
This week’s Torah portion, Vayakhel, tells the story of how the Jewish people fulfilled the instructions of God to build the very first house of God in history. The Mishkan—“tabernacle” or “sanctuary”—was constructed in the wilderness. It was a portable building that was erected and dismantled many times during the Jewish people’s decades-long sojourn in the wilderness. It was the precursor to the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, which would be our permanent sanctuary.
In an earlier chapter, Moses was told by God which materials would be needed and how to build it. But this week, we read that the Israelites actually did build it. The Torah reading is punctuated by the words Vaya’as (“And he made it”) and Vaya’asu (“And they made it”). They made the Ark. They made the Menorah. And they made all the sacred utensils. Everything was constructed and put together with the Divine instructions carried out to the letter.
Many commentaries question why there is so much seemingly superfluous duplication in these chapters. Previously, we read how God told Moses to make the sanctuary. And now, we read how Moses told the Israelites to make it. Many of the verses are almost verbatim. As the Torah is always concise, why is there so much repetition here?
Some suggest that since “the longest distance in the world is from speech to action,” the fact that they made it happen deserves repetition. Others argue that the building of a “House of God” on earth by finite human beings is itself so remarkable that it deserves to be said again and again.
Interestingly, the entire story of creation in Genesis takes all of one chapter in the Bible. The revelation at Mount Sinai and the Ten Commandments take up three chapters. The whole long story of the Exodus from Egypt fills 10 biblical chapters. But the building of the sanctuary takes up no less than 13 chapters of the Torah. Why? Because making a home for God on earth, in this material world, is the entire reason for which the world was created in the first place.
Can an infinite God be housed in a box? Can mere mortals of flesh and blood draw down the Divine spirit from heaven to earth? How is this even possible?
The answer is that we were empowered by God to do just that. He instructed Moses, who, in turn, instructed us exactly how to do it. And when we followed those instructions precisely, it happened. Because He made it happen, and God’s presence filled the sanctuary.
The mystics teach that God wasn’t satisfied with having angels sing His praises up in heaven. Angels are spiritual beings who have no bodies and no physical desires or distractions. It’s easy to be angelic up in heaven. But God wanted human beings, with all our moral frailties and terrestrial temptations, to live a godly life here in the physical realm. When we overcome our creature comforts and material constraints and live with faith and spirituality according to God’s will, that is a huge achievement, one worthy of creation itself!
So whether it is building a physical house for God or taking the most materialistic object—money—and giving it to charity instead of spoiling ourselves, we are doing nothing less than transforming the physical to the spiritual and the earthly to the heavenly. Taking a piece of leather that could have become a pair of Gucci boots and using it for a Torah scroll, tefillin or a mezuzah is transformative, too. Angels singing God’s praises in heaven is quite natural, but human beings praising God in our manmade synagogues here on earth is not to be taken for granted.
When we come to shul and study Torah in-depth, including the mystical sources, we discover how spiritual Judaism is. There’s no need to run to Tibet. We can bring God down to earth and raise ourselves up to heaven, wherever we live. That is earth-shattering stuff.
The post God in a Box first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Says Missile Launched by Yemen’s Houthis ‘Most Likely’ Intercepted
Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi addresses followers via a video link at the al-Shaab Mosque, formerly al-Saleh Mosque, in Sanaa, Yemen, Feb. 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
The Israeli army said on Saturday that a missile fired from Yemen towards Israeli territory had been “most likely successfully intercepted,” while Yemen’s Houthi forces claimed responsibility for the launch.
Israel has threatened Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement – which has been attacking Israel in what it says is solidarity with Gaza – with a naval and air blockade if its attacks on Israel persist.
The Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group was responsible for Saturday’s attack, adding that it fired a missile towards the southern Israeli city of Beersheba.
Since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza in October 2023, the Houthis, who control most of Yemen, have been firing at Israel and at shipping in the Red Sea, disrupting global trade.
Most of the dozens of missiles and drones they have launched have been intercepted or fallen short. Israel has carried out a series of retaliatory strikes.
The post Israel Says Missile Launched by Yemen’s Houthis ‘Most Likely’ Intercepted first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran Holds Funeral for Commanders and Scientists Killed in War with Israel
People attend the funeral procession of Iranian military commanders, nuclear scientists and others killed in Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 28, 2025. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Large crowds of mourners dressed in black lined streets in Iran’s capital Tehran as the country held a funeral on Saturday for top military commanders, nuclear scientists and some of the civilians killed during this month’s aerial war with Israel.
At least 16 scientists and 10 senior commanders were among those mourned at the funeral, according to state media, including armed forces chief Major General Mohammad Bagheri, Revolutionary Guards commander General Hossein Salami, and Guards Aerospace Force chief General Amir Ali Hajizadeh.
Their coffins were driven into Tehran’s Azadi Square adorned with their photos and national flags, as crowds waved flags and some reached out to touch the caskets and throw rose petals onto them. State-run Press TV showed an image of ballistic missiles on display.
Mass prayers were later held in the square.
State TV said the funeral, dubbed the “procession of the Martyrs of Power,” was held for a total of 60 people killed in the war, including four women and four children.
In attendance were President Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior figures including Ali Shamkhani, who was seriously wounded during the conflict and is an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as Khamenei’s son Mojtaba.
“Today, Iranians, through heroic resistance against two regimes armed with nuclear weapons, protected their honor and dignity, and look to the future prouder, more dignified, and more resolute than ever,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who also attended the funeral, said in a Telegram post.
There was no immediate statement from Khamenei, who has not appeared publicly since the conflict began. In past funerals, he led prayers over the coffins of senior commanders ahead of public ceremonies broadcast on state television.
Israel launched the air war on June 13, attacking Iranian nuclear facilities and killing top military commanders as well as civilians in the worst blow to the Islamic Republic since the 1980s war with Iraq.
Iran retaliated with barrages of missiles on Israeli military sites, infrastructure and cities. The United States entered the war on June 22 with strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
TRUMP THREAT
Israel, the only Middle Eastern country widely believed to have nuclear weapons, said it aimed to prevent Tehran from developing its own nuclear weapons.
Iran denies having a nuclear weapons program. The U.N. nuclear watchdog has said it has “no credible indication” of an active, coordinated weapons program in Iran.
Bagheri, Salami and Hajizadeh were killed on June 13, the first day of the war. Bagheri was being buried at the Behesht Zahra cemetery outside Tehran mid-afternoon on Saturday. Salami and Hajizadeh were due to be buried on Sunday.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he would consider bombing Iran again, while Khamenei, who has appeared in two pre-recorded video messages since the start of the war, has said Iran would respond to any future US attack by striking US military bases in the Middle East.
A senior Israeli military official said on Friday that Israel had delivered a “major blow” to Iran’s nuclear project. On Saturday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in a statement that Israel and the US “failed to achieve their stated objectives” in the war.
According to Iranian health ministry figures, 610 people were killed on the Iranian side in the war before a ceasefire went into effect on Tuesday. More than 4,700 were injured.
Activist news agency HRANA put the number of killed at 974, including 387 civilians.
Israel’s health ministry said 28 were killed in Israel and 3,238 injured.
The post Iran Holds Funeral for Commanders and Scientists Killed in War with Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Pro-Palestinian Rapper Leads ‘Death to the IDF’ Chant at English Music festival
Revellers dance as Avril Lavigne performs on the Other Stage during the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm, in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 30, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Dylan Martinez
i24 News – Chants of “death to the IDF” were heard during the English Glastonbury music festival on Saturday ahead of the appearance of the pro-Palestinian Irish rappers Kneecap.
One half of punk duo based Bob Vylan (who both use aliases to protect their privacy) shouted out during a section of their show “Death to the IDF” – the Israeli military. Videos posted on X (formerly Twitter) show the crowd responding to and repeating the cheer.
This comes after officials had petitioned the music festival to drop the band. The rap duo also expressed support for the following act, Kneecap, who the BCC refused to show live after one of its members, Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh – better known by stage name Mo Chara – was charged with a terror offense.
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