Our Torah portion this week, Naso (Numbers 4:21-7:89), contains 18 mitzvot (commandments). Each day Rabbi Woznica is choosing one of the 18 mitzvot to explore.

Male and female alike shall you expel them, so that they should not contaminate their camps among which I dwell. (Numbers 5:3)

This mitzvah is to prevent impure people from entering the temple. It ensures that even the area (camp) for the Tabernacle (the portable sanctuary) containing the Divine presence was made worthy.

The mitzvah teaches that we should treat our holy sites and the ground on which they stand with respect.

I hope you see Stephen Wise Temple and its grounds (our “camp”) as both your spiritual home and a sacred area. I hope when you drive up our hill, you feel elevated. And I hope when you enter our sanctuary, where the Torah is kept and where we worship, you feel you have entered sacred space.
We are exceedingly fortunate that Stephen Wise Temple and its schools were built on such a beautiful property (thank you Rabbi Zeldin and the members of our congregation who made it possible). It is entrusted to us today to keep it spiritually beautiful.

— Rabbi David Woznica