I now feel like I’m getting old.

One of my teachers once quipped, “You’re upset that you’re getting old? It beats the alternative.” Indeed, we wake up every day and thank God for another day.

The main indicator was that a CD of oldies has been released containing the songs I sang and listened to in my youth and young adulthood. Somehow, they became “oldies.” Yaakov Shwekey beautifully recorded tributes to D’veykus, Journeys, Mordechai Ben David as well as classic songs, Yiddish songs and songs of Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach. When the songs you sang as a youth are now oldies, you can start to put two and two together.

The truth is, the CD is beautiful. While I like a lot of the new Jewish music, very little compares, in my somewhat objective opinion, with the music of D’veykus and Journeys. It really makes your soul soar. I can listen to the music – either the original or the covers – and I’m transported to a different spiritual plane. For me, music enables my soul to communicate with its headquarters on high.

Most commentators suggest that the impetus behind the command to build the Tabernacle – the narrative which begins in Parshas Terumah – was the Golden Calf. God recognized that the nation could not extricate itself from the notion of a corporal god or at least a physical manifestation that can be worshiped. As such, why not harness the need and transform it into something monotheistic and positive.

But not the Ramban! Nachmanides stands firm in his belief that having a physical locus for God’s presence was always the intention; it was not an accomodation. Those who disagree with Nachmanides have to believe that the Torah is not necessarily written in chronological order, as the Golden Calf narrative comes two weeks hence. Nachmanides does believe that the order of the narrative must be taken into account and its order is its chronology.

The Ramban believes that man must find a way to commune with the Almighty. The Ramban also believes that animal sacrifice was not an accommodation to the mores brought with the Children of Israel from Egypt. He points to the Hebrew word for sacrifice – korban – cognitively meaning to come close. Ultimately, the goal is to develop a proximal relationship between man and his God.

I quote from the first Ramban in Terumah (English translation by Rabbi Chavel z’l).

Thus, the main purpose of the Tabernacle was to contain a place in which the Divine Glory rests, this being the ark…Therefore, He first gave the commandment about the ark and the ark-cover, for they are first in importance. Next to the ark He gave the commandment about the table and the candelabrum, which are vessels just lie the ark, and because they indicate the purpose for which the Tabernacle was made…The secret of the Tabernacle is that the Glory which abode upon Mount Sinai should abide upon it in a concealed manner. For just as it said there “and the glory of the Eternal abode upon Mount Sinai” (Shmos 24:16), and it is further written, “Behold, the Eternal our God has shown us His glory and His greatness” (Devarim 5:21), so it is written of the Tabernacle, “and the glory of the Eternal filled the Tabernacle” (Shmos 40:34). Twice is this verse, “and the glory of the Eternal filled the Tabernacle” mentioned in connection with the Tabernacle, to correspond to with “His glory and His greatness.” Thus, Israel always had with them in the Tabernacle the Glory which appeared to them on Mount Sinai. And when Moshes went into the Tabernacle, he would hear the Divine utterance being spoken to him in the same way as on Mount Sinai Thus, just as it is said at the Giving of the Torah:  “Out of heaven He made you to hear His voice, that He might instruct you; and upon earth He made you to see His great fire” (Devarim 4:36), so it is written of the Tabernacle, “And he heard the voice speaking unto him from above the ark-cover… from between the two cherubs; and He spoke unto him” (Bamidbar 7:89)

The Ramban teaches us a few very important fundamental notions of Judaism (this list I heard from Rabbi Moshe Taragin).

First, the Ramban believes it was deliberate and chronologically accurate that the building of the Tabernacle came when only a smattering of laws had been commanded. Prior to the command to build the Tabernacle, a small percent of the 613 commandments were given. This is because the covenantal relationship between the Children of Israel and God had to precede the mitzvos. One can only acknowledge their obligation to another if they are bonded one to the other.

Second, that relationship can thrive when there is closeness. When the people feel the manifestation of God’s presence on a regular basis (at least thrice annually), it provides them with a bolt of energy and relatively enduring inspiration.

Third, the Ramban sees the Mishkan as a means to perpetuate Revelation at Sinai. It is hard to feel God’s shechinah without some physical depiction of it.

The Ramban believed that the Jewish people need a physical means to appreciate God’s presence. When a Jew approached and encountered the Tabernacle, and later, the Temple, they were energized and spiritually recharged. On Tisha B’av, in addition to mourning the physical destruction of the Temples in Jerusalem, our sages composed elegies lamenting the loss of the means of broadcasting God’s presence. This is indeed an enormous problem. On the one hand, as pointed out by Rabbi Joel Tessler, rabbi emeritus at Beth Sholom Congregation in Potomac, MD, it’s miraculous that Judaism has survived almost 2,000 years without the Temple, sans any way to physically contain and broadcast God’s shechinah. On the other hand, we need to find a way to bring God into our lives.

Jewish Action, the magazine of the Orthodox Union, devoted an edition to the phenomenon of “Neo Chassidus,” which tries to address this challenge (here is an example). This refers to people mostly self-identifying as Modern Orthodox, who are embracing some of the components of chassidus meant to inspire the masses towards greater faith and fidelity in God. Rabbi Moshe Weinberger of Congregation Aish Kodesh in Woodmere, NY is one of the main attractions and protagonists in this movement. He never shies away from talking about the health of our souls and our need to constantly build on our relationship with the Almighty. This was the message of so many of the Chassidic leaders in Europe when that movement began in the 17th and 18th centuries. Its impact on non-chassidic Jewry is enormous.

For me, the connection to the Divine can also be found through music. Our sages have always identified music with the soulful spirituality.

"אין השכינה שורה לא מתוך עצבות, ולא מתוך עצלות, ולא מתוך שחוק, ולא מתוך קלות ראש, ולא מתוך שיחה ולא מתוך דברים בטלים אלא מתוך דבר שמחה של מצווה שנאמר 'ועתה קחו לי מנגן והיה כנגן המנגן ותהי עליו יד ה'" (שבת ל:)

“The Divine presence does not come to rest upon a person through gloom, and not through laziness, and not through levity, and not through ridicule, and not through chatter, and not through idle conversations, but it is rather through the joy associated with a mitzvah that the divine Presence comes to rest upon a person, as it is written, ‘and now, bring for me a musician; and it happened that when the musician played, God’s hand rested upon (Elisha)” (Shabbos 30a).

And it’s no coincidence that Purim and the month of Adar have become a rallying call for the Neo-Chassidic groups. After all, The Gerer Rebbe writes that the month Adar shares a root with the Hebrew word adur, to dwell, a reference to the Shechinah in this world (Sfas Emes, Terumah 5632). The Midrash teaches us that the Mishkan was completed on the first of Adar (Midrash Tanchuma, end of Pikudei).

On Thursday afternoon, I saw a live video of 600 young men in Jerusalem spending their Thursday night listening to Rabbi Moshe Weinberger at YU in Israel. They were swaying and singing with eyes closed, listening to Rabbi Weinberger’s every word. At YU he is called the mashpiah, he who influences or inspires. An apt appellation!

These millennials are spending their post high school year studying Torah in Israel. Jerusalem is a city which helps people connect to God. We may not have a Temple today, but if we stress our relationship with God through Torah and song, we will fill people up with Divine inspiration that will hopefully lead to the Messianic era and the rebuilding of our Holy Temple.

The Ramban would be proud.