February 19, 2010 | 11:49 am

Building the Mishkan and Hollywood

Posted by  Joan Hyler

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How appropriate that today we are reminded in the Torah to make a sanctuary that is portable and where we speak to Hashem and get responses from the sacred space between the two Gold Cherubim.  It is almost Purim, almost the Oscars (which my longtime friend and client Bruce Vilanch writes) and on Oscar night the Chai Center is having their annual fundraiser at the Olympic Collection in West LA.

The Mishkan was built by the newly minted Israelites with materials that were brought out of Egypt as we were told to ‘despoil the Egyptians’ in the Torah.  Many equate Hollywood with Egypt - I do not.  Hollywood gold is shimmering but not real - although there are few Queen Esthers at the Oscars this year - there is some substance and a real opportunity on Oscar night to donate to the Chai Center which yearly leads us out of Egypt to help us develop ourselves and our community toward a real Jewish consciousness so maybe next year there will be more than just one Israeli film nominated for Best Foreign Film - there will be a real intersection between Jews and Hollywood - we can only help prepare this by learning more about who we are and entering the Jewish Sacred Spaces in our own lives.  Thank you Rabbi Schlomo and Mendel Schwartz and the Great Mother.

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