Does God need a House? - Torah portion Teruma
"House of YHVH" ostracon c. 800 BCE The obvious answer to most modern religious believers is clearly an emphatic no , God does not need a house. In standard Jewish theological terms, God has no "needs." God is whole and perfect. Not only does God have no physical body to "reside" anywhere, but God is infinite, existing in all places at all times. In fact according to the Maimonidean school of thought, God is so ineffable that one cannot even speak about what God "is," only what God is "not." And yet this Torah portion describes the plans for what sounds like an abode for God, the Mishkan or mobile sanctuary. The purpose of the Mishkan is stated explicitly at the start of the instruction: "Make for me a sanctuary, and I will dwell among them." (Ex 25:8) And again toward the end of the instruction: "And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and [the Mishkan] will be sanctified by my glory... And I will...