Terumah (Part 4) - Exodus 25:1-27:19

Even a God Needs to Eat

In last week's parasha, we read the following in Exodus 24:10-11:

"[Moses, Aroon, Nadav, Avihu, and the 70 elders] saw the God (Elohim) of Israel and under His feet was that which was like a sapphire form [footstool], and it was like the appearance of the heavens (shamayimj) in purity. 

And to the nobles of the children of Israel, He did not send forth His hand, and they viewed the God (Elohim) and they ate and drank."

Who is "they"?

Was it referring to a few of the humans, all of the humans, or was God having a party and "they" includes Him?

"Face" Bread?

Which brings me to lechem panim - "face bread", or  "show-breads" as it is traditionally translated.

"Face" (panim - which only has a plural form) can mean "surface" as well as the "presence" or "place of being" and since this Being is YHVH, it is a holy presence. And so, you will have for verse 25:30 which has God demanding to always have His bread available at all times:

So the "face bread", since "face" refers to YHVH, is his holy bread, to be before Him always, on a special golden table that will be not too far from the ark, upon which He will sit/dwell.

So I will refer to this as His holy bread.

Just Imagine...

Now imagine for a moment that your Rabbi or other religious leader told you that God spoke to him and God wants to travel in and speak from a cabinet of gold, inside and out, with a golden cover and golden cherubs on either side...

...and God also wants a table of gold, which will be close to where His cabinet will be, and a lamp of gold, and staves to carry these incredibly heavy things will also be covered in gold.

Yes, God wants your gold, and lots of it!

And not only that, but God demands fresh bread every day, continuously, and as we will read later, He wants meat as well. Of course, He will be needing plates of gold, and golden utensils, and gold cylinders (which I assume are for drinking out of).

Wouldn't you think that it was strange that God wanted to have more golden furniture than the most narcissistic leader could ever dream of? After all, if God wanted gold, why not make Him a wooden table and "ZAP!" He turns it into gold? Or better yet, "ZAP!" and he caused a golden cabinet to manifest from nothing.

Why would a God want so much golden furniture and eating utensils?

It reminds me of the Star Trek episode where a being claims to be God, but Spock and Kirk are suspicious because He needs a space ship to leave a planet.

And as we will read in later chapters, God also wants meat, and lots of it, every day along with incense and a cozy place where He can be among His people.

Conclusion

The God of the Exodus authors is not an omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent Being who lives outside of tie and space. The primitive authors saw God as just another being who had needs and would demand to have only the best given to Him, and that would mean the best cuts of meat and the freshest of bread. (Read the Rambam's lengthy rules about these breads, and how they had to be very, very, special.)

For those people who have a sophisticated view of a God, the God of Exodus is an embarrassment, and the only way around these problems is to treat everything that shows an anthropomorphic and narcissistic God as treated as a metaphor.

I happen to love literature, and I love reading the texts.

And for those people who claim that I "hate the Bible", my response is, "No, I happen to love the stories as they are. YOU don't. So it is you who either hates the Bible, or you are embarrassed by it."

Peace!