Rav Joseph B. Soloveitchik zt"l noted that the grouping of the vessels of the interior of the Mishkan, the Tabernacle, in the Torah portions of Terumah and Tetzaveh - the isolation of the Aron (ark of the covenant), Shulchan (showbread table) and Menorah (candelabrum) from the Mizbeyach HaZahav (golden incense altar) - highlights the dual nature of the Jewish sanctuary. At once, the Mishkan is a house of God in the most literal sense, a residence containing an ark (a chair or bed of sorts), a table and a lamp for, as it were, His use, and at the same time, it forms the focus of Jewish existence. Concomitant with serving God, the Mishkan serves the Jewish people; the sanctuary is of supreme significance as the sole site for our service and sacrifices, the exclusive platform upon which the Jew can most directly demonstrate his devotion to his Deity. His home ought to become our home, and we aspire that ours may become His; hence, the Jewish Tabernacle forms a nexus between the 'upper realms' and each individual Jew and Jewish home.

Each of the Korbanot (sacrifices) convey a different expression of devotion to God, and even the two Mizbachot (altars) of the sanctuary represent two variant aspects of the human existence that must be offered to the Almighty. Lectures and writings of the Slonimer Rebbe shlit"a, the Netivot Shalom, express the idea that while the Mizbeyach HaNechoshet - the outer, copper altar upon which sacrifices were brought - represents man's consecration of his physical body and capabilities, the Mizbeyach HaZahav - the inner, golden altar which was reserved for ketoret, incense - represents man's consecration of his soul, his spiritual, intangible inner being; man must muster both his spiritual and physical talents in the service of God.

Seforim Sale 2000 has provided, perhaps, a perfect portrayal of the Slonimer's ideal. A committed cadre of individuals have dedicated their bodies - shlepping boxes, labeling books, and engaging in all forms of manual labor - and souls - assisting customers, ordering and reordering titles, and arranging books in a logical and aesthetically pleasing manner. Led by Amichai Erdfarb, Jeff Weiss, Shmuel Popper, Shaya Potter, Alan Boshnack, Yehoshua Kramer, Ephraim Shapiro, Gary Snitow, Simcha Fuld, Josh Swedarsky, Yevgeniy Gokhman, Stephen Tolany, Yonah Berman and Uri and Simcha Goldstein, a group of highly talented men and several women (with special thanks to Shlomit Zauderer and the Torah Activities Council of SCW) have consecrated themselves to the glorification and expansion of God's current sanctuary, His Torah - mi-yom she-charav beit ha-mikdash ain lo le-ha-kadosh baruch hu be-olamo ela daled amot shel halakhah.

Another aspect of human consecration exists, one that represents perhaps the highest level of dedication to the Divine; we are bidden to express our love for God be-chul levavcha, u've-chul nafshecha u've-chul me'odecha, with all our hearts, souls and... monetary resources! Me'odecha seems, at first, somewhat anticlimactic; Rashi already noted the difficulty in offering the comment yesh lekha adam she-mamono chaviv alav mi-gufo. One might, perhaps, suggest that even greater than sacrificing one's being, or the representative thereof, is offering one's hard-earned accomplishments; man's true self is revealed in the fruits of his labor, the nature of the works into which he has poured his sweat and tears. No more appropriate formulation could serve to begin the Tabernacle portion than viyikchu li terumah, the directive to collect private donations, to channel the ultimate concretizations of the varieties of human personalities - man's handiwork - into the service of the Divine.

Perhaps the best paradigm of this phenomenon may be seen in the example of the President's Circle, whose generous gifts to our organization betray the deepest love and commitment to Yeshiva, its students and the furtherance of Torah and its values among them; in sharing their own resources with the student organizations, they have formed the adanim of our Mishkan, the foundation-sockets (derived from the machatzit ha-shekel contribution) upon which we hope to build a legacy of innovative programming and services for ours and future generations of talmidim.