19 Terumah: Day 6 (Friday)

Today's reading is Exodus 27:1 to 27:8.

This is the link to Daily Chumash with Rashi at Chabad.

The Daily Wisdom from the Lubavitcher Rebbe is titled "Consecrating Our Inner Animal."

On 20 February 2026 at 6:21 AM EST, Jonathan writes: 

Exodus 27:1 is our focus verse in today's reading. 

“You are to build an altar of acacia wood. The altar must be square, five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high." (BSB)

From the Bible Hub study notes, we read: 

"God’s straightforward instruction to Moses establishes that worship never begins with human ideas but with divine revelation. An altar is a place of sacrifice, atonement, and fellowship with God. Here, the Lord commands - not suggests - the building of a physical structure that will define Israel’s worship life in the wilderness and beyond (Exodus 20:24; Leviticus 17:11). The command underscores that forgiveness and relationship with God require a God-ordained mediator and sacrifice, anticipating the ultimate altar of the cross (Hebrews 13:10)."

"Exodus 27:1 details more than carpentry; it reveals God’s precise blueprint for reconciliation. A divinely commanded altar, built of incorruptible wood, shaped in perfect symmetry, and raised to a reachable height, preaches that holy worship is God-initiated, durable, orderly, and accessible - ultimately fulfilled in the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ."

Ultimately, I do not see a conflict between this summary of Exodus 27:1 from Bible Hub and the wonderful teaching from the Rebbe.

A cube has 12 equal-length edges. This corresponds to the twelve hours of the clock-face and the 12 months of the year. This shows us that the contemporary altar of our sacrifice is our calendar. Whether we are living an active Christian family life or a contemplative Christian monastic life, we are sacrifices on the altar of time. 

The horarium is a cubic cruciform altar.

The tables where we eat our meals are also cubic cruciform altars of sacrifice.

Whether we are vegan, vegetarian, or flexitarian, we should consider carefully the admonition in Hebrews 13:9-14.

"Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace and not by foods of no value to those devoted to them. We have an altar from which those who serve at the tabernacle have no right to eat. Although the high priest brings the blood of animals into the Holy Place as a sacrifice for sin, the bodies are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate, to sanctify the people by His own blood. Therefore let us go to Him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace He bore. For here we do not have a permanent city, but we are looking for the city that is to come." (BSB)

Regulating our lower drives and instincts, eating low on the food chain, having disciplined compassion for our inner animals, we learn service at the altar in the outer courtyard as a prerequisite and corequisite for entrance to the Holy Place.

Shalom.