My body is a temple

Woman praying at Western Wall (© 2011 Shelly Lubetkin. Used by Permission)
Woman praying at Western Wall (© 2011 Shelly Lubetkin. Used by Permission)

“My body is a temple, ancient and crumbling.” How many times have I seen that cartoon on Facebook? Why have I never seen a post that says, “My body is a temple, it’s filled holiness”?

I thought about this as I walked out of the gym today, singing Sanctuary, a Shaker hymn based on this week’s parashah, Terumah. In Shemot/Exodus 25:8 God tells Moses, V’asu li mikdash v’shachanti b’tokham, “Let them build me a sanctuary and I will dwell within their midst.” What a beautiful commandment to engage in such holy work! God further tells Moses to instruct the people whose heart moves them, to bring gifts of various items that will be used in the building of this dwelling-place on earth for the Divine presence.

“Oh Lord, prepare me,
To be a sanctuary,
Pure and holy, tried and true.
And in thanksgiving,
I’ll be a living sanctuary to you.”

Decades after the hymn became popular, the Hebrew was added by Cantor Mia Cohen– v’anachnu n’vareikh Ya, may atah v’ad olam, “And we, we will bless Yah/God, from now until forever.”

I could chant this all day; it reminds me of my worth as a human being in all my glory–or not! The chant reminds me that if I don’t nurture my body, I can’t nurture my soul. As one of our morning blessings reminds us, Elo-hai n’shama shenatata bi t’hora hi, “God, the soul you have put into me is pure.” Interestingly, we recite this after the blessing acknowledging that God fashioned our bodies with wisdom, etc., because if any of our parts wouldn’t work properly, we “wouldn’t be able to stand before God.” The Sage who arranged that must have been an elder!

Turning 60, and more recently 61, was a wake-up call; I had to accept that there were things I couldn’t do like I used to, and I had to learn to be kind to myself physically and emotionally. This has been good. I’ve established care with specialists so I have baselines moving forward, and I’ve learned (often the hard way) what my body can and can’t handle.

I walked out of the gym marveling at the body that carried me through my workout and will carry me throughout my day. My body doesn’t always cooperate, and there are days I barely make 20 minutes on the treadmill, and when that happens, it happens.

Just as the Mishkan in the wilderness was built by those who “volunteered in their hearts”–asher yidbenu leebo, my body was built with love (and Ben & Jerry’s, because we do need to feed our souls!). Parshat Terumah is a reminder to treat myself and my body as a vessel for holiness. It took years, but I’ve learned to care for and respect the temple I call my body, so I can nurture God’s presence within me.

 

Rabbi Susan Elkodsi's avatar
About Rabbi Susan Elkodsi 13 Articles
Susan Elkodsi is the rabbi and spiritual leader of the Malverne Jewish Center in Long Island, New York. She was ordained by the Academy for Jewish Religion, the country's first pluralistic rabbinical and cantorial seminary, in 2015, fulfilling a life-long dream. Her goal is to help Baby Boomers and older Jewish adults create meaning and purpose in their lives, in a Jewish context, but not the one they might have been traumatized in growing up. Rabbi Elkodsi recently completed a Certificate in Gerontology and Palliative Care through Yeshiva University's Wurzweiler School of Social Works, and looks forward to incorporating this new knowledge into her current work. She and her husband David have two grown children, Phillip and Jacqueline, and in her spare time enjoys knitting and spinning her own yarn.

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