Parshat Terumah/T'rumah, 5772/2012 notes

You can read the basics here.

Here's the e-mail that I sent to my husband yesterday:

"Is this another case of Documentary Hypothesis? :)

http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0220.htm
Exodus Chapter 20 (Yitro)
כ מִזְבַּח אֲדָמָה, תַּעֲשֶׂה-לִּי, וְזָבַחְתָּ עָלָיו אֶת-עֹלֹתֶיךָ וְאֶת-שְׁלָמֶיךָ, אֶת-צֹאנְךָ וְאֶת-בְּקָרֶךָ; בְּכָל-הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר אַזְכִּיר אֶת-שְׁמִי, אָבוֹא אֵלֶיךָ וּבֵרַכְתִּיךָ. 20 An altar of earth thou shalt make unto Me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt-offerings, and thy peace-offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen; in every place where I cause My name to be mentioned I will come unto thee and bless thee. כא וְאִם-מִזְבַּח אֲבָנִים תַּעֲשֶׂה-לִּי, לֹא-תִבְנֶה אֶתְהֶן גָּזִית: כִּי חַרְבְּךָ הֵנַפְתָּ עָלֶיהָ, וַתְּחַלְלֶהָ. 21 And if thou make Me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stones; for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast profaned it.

http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0227.htm
Exodus Chapter 27 (Terumah)
א וְעָשִׂיתָ אֶת-הַמִּזְבֵּחַ, עֲצֵי שִׁטִּים: חָמֵשׁ אַמּוֹת אֹרֶךְ וְחָמֵשׁ אַמּוֹת רֹחַב, רָבוּעַ יִהְיֶה הַמִּזְבֵּחַ, וְשָׁלֹשׁ אַמּוֹת, קֹמָתוֹ. 1 And thou shalt make the altar of acacia-wood, five cubits long, and five cubits broad; the altar shall be four-square; and the height thereof shall be three cubits. ב וְעָשִׂיתָ קַרְנֹתָיו, עַל אַרְבַּע פִּנֹּתָיו--מִמֶּנּוּ, תִּהְיֶיןָ קַרְנֹתָיו; וְצִפִּיתָ אֹתוֹ, נְחֹשֶׁת. 2 And thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners thereof; the horns thereof shall be of one piece with it; and thou shalt overlay it with brass [copper?].

[End of e-mail.]

So nu, is the altar suppose to be made of earth or uncut stone, or is it supposed to be made of brass-plated acacia wood?

See also:

• Parshat Terumah, in one word: Blueprints (Wednesday, February 02, 2011)

Highlights: " . . . one of those "vocabulary parshiot."

Re haftarah, "That was one heck of a "draft" that Shlomo haMelech/King Solomon instituted, sending thousands of men to L'vanon (Lebanon) to help in preparing the raw material for the construction of the Beit HaMikdash/Holy Temple. (See I Kings, chapter 5, verses 26-32). Note that the haftarah conveniently fails to mention whether or not the draftees got paid for their hard labor."

• Parsha puzzles: Out of the blue (Thursday, February 03, 2011)

Highlight: "Where did this "ephod" thing come from, all of a sudden? What is it, or, better yet, why are we expected to know what it is without any explanation, . . . "