February 14, 2010
Chavurat Lamdeinu
Madison, NJ
30 Shevat 5770

Wedding of Jon Golden and Priscilla Sanches-Salles
Yonatan Moshe Itzhak bar Kalman v’Peninah bat Avraham Avinu

Parashat Terumah

We, the members of Chavurat Lamdeinu are so honored that you have chosen to be married
here. It is such joy for us to witness the wedding of two of us – this is a first for us. We are
thrilled to be able to celebrate this simcha with your family and friends.
This is a pretty awesome day to be married on – It’s Valentine’s day, of course – how clever that
your anniversary and Valentine’s Day will always coincide – one bouquet of roses and a box of
chocolates can do double duty. But this is also Rosh Chodesh – the celebration of the beginning
of the month, the new month of Adar, and many of us know the saying “When Adar comes, joy
increases.” And what could be more joyful than the wedding of two people, born in the same
hemisphere but thousands of miles apart, who somehow found each other?

The Torah reading for this first week of this joyful new month is Parashat Terumah, the
chapters from the book of Exodus that describe the creation of the Mishkan, the portable
sanctuary for God’s Presence during the Israelites’ wandering in the desert.
Our parashah tells us that the desert sanctuary was a magnificent creation, lovingly and
painstakingly crafted and decorated with gifts offered from every person, man or woman,
whose heart so moved him or her to contribute something.
The sanctuary and its beauty came into being only through the loving offerings of the heart. And
just as the desert dwelling place for God was created through loving gifts, so too, I hope your
home, your sanctuary that the two of you have been working so hard to make together is and
will be filled with gifts of love.

What kind of gifts? The toaster oven, the coffee cups, the rugs, lamps, all those are important –
they allow you to live together in comfort and to take pleasure in your surroundings. But
obviously I mean different kinds of gifts that I pray you give each other – the gift of laughter, of
tears, of compassion, of kindness, of friendship, of being together, of being apart, of silliness, of
study, of silence, of song, of telling, of listening, of memory and forgetting,  of anger and love,
and, maybe most of all, the gift of forgiving each other.

   With those gifts, like the Israelites in the desert, you will transform any home into a mikdash
me’at, a lesser holy place, but a sacred space nonetheless. All the loving offerings of your heart
down to the smallest ones, maybe a loving look, maybe going out and buying milk on a cold
night, all contribute to a holy way of life that yields something much greater. So this is what I
pray for you on behalf of all of us: Take the gifts you give each other, they are holy gifts. Build a
home with these gifts for the two of you, and I pray the children that God will grant you, make
your souls chambers for divine. And may God bless you and watch over you now and always.
k.y.r.
Chavurat Lamdeinu
Prayer - Study - Community
 Wedding of Jon and Priscilla