Weekly Thought

וְעָשׂוּ לִי מִקְדָּשׁ וְשָׁכַנְתִּי בְּתוֹכָם: (שמות כה:ח)
They must make Me a sanctuary, so that I may dwell in their midst. Exodus 25:8
Not “in its midst” but “in their midst”: G‑d told us to make a sanctuary so He may dwell within us. There are three types of sanctuaries included in this commandment: the physical Tabernacle that the Jews built in the desert; the personal, inner sanctuary that each of us must construct out of our lives and our sphere of influence in the world; and finally, the world at large, which we must transform into G‑d’s home.

In all three cases, the task is possible only because we are simply revealing the hidden, true nature of reality. The world at large and everything in it exist only because of the Divine energy pulsing within them, so making the world into a place where Divinity is revealed is simply a matter of removing the obstructions that hide this reality. Similarly, the essence of every one of us is our Divine soul, so making our lives into a Tabernacle for G‑d is nothing more than allowing our inner essence to shine through the excess material baggage we have accumulated during our journey through life.

- One Plus One