In his 1998 lecture on Exodus 25, Dennis Prager says: The first area of the sanctuary is copper, then silver, then the holy of holies is gold.
This teaches that there are gradations of holiness.
There are at least two themes to the sanctuary. One is order and symmetry, which represents that God, an orderer, makes order. There is order to the universe and to the dimensions of the sanctuary. The other theme is gradations. It always works from cheaper to expensive, from less holy to more holy.
That is also true with life. That is the essence of Korach’s rebellion against Moses. Aren’t we all equally holy? No.
We are all created in God’s image but some people have reached levels of holiness that others have not reached.
It helps us to experience God if we build a place where we feel Godly, but God isn’t there.
A problem in modern life is that we don’t let God in because we’re so busy.
I am moved to experience God in Europe’s cathedrals. I don’t experience God at Dodger stadium.
I need a bridge to experience God.
We experience God through holiness. Modern life has no holiness. That is why taking a day of the week to make a holy day is so important.
People ask me, make me a good argument for God. I can make excellent arguments to you for God but either you experience God or you don’t.
I can give you excellent reasons to listen to Mozart but either you will experience Mozart or you’ll go home and listen to pop music.
God must be experienced, not intellectually argued for.
Today we are addicted to words. The Torah understood that we learn from behavior more. If you had said to the Jews, the God that we worship is not physical, it would’ve meant nothing, nothing as dramatic as the priests eating the showbread.
Do you know how you raise religious kids? You make religion fun. Why should fun be the monopoly of hedonists?
Judaism believes in revolutionary ideas but not revolutionary forms. It doesn’t work.
The Torah’s sacrificial system was to get close to God, not to get favors from God.
