Each year, our schools auction off “Rabbi For The Day.” A young student receives the opportunity to follow the rabbi throughout the day. When I prepare for this moment, I think to myself, “What do I want a young person to see in the life of a Rabbi?”

This year, I purposefully chose a Friday to experience Shabbat. We traveled from class to class singing Bim Bam, and we took a tour of the synagogue to see how the staff prepares for Shabbat at Sinai Temple. We met with the other clergy to learn how Rabbis prepare to teach and gather a sacred community.

The awe of this young person was magical to witness. With articles being written about the dry Rabbinic pipeline, to see a young child saying, “Maybe I want to do that one day” uplifted my soul.

Perhaps it was not a coincidence that “Rabbi For The Day” occurred on the Shabbat when we read about the construction of the Mishkan, the Tabernacle, a place for God to swell among us.

There is a debate between Maimonides in his Guide of the Perplexed,. And the Or Hayyaim about the intricate details the Torah gives us to build the sanctuary.

Maimonides tells us we cannot answer the question of why. Why do we sacrifice a ram over a lamb? Why are there seven lambs and not eight? He teaches that while these instructions are divine wisdom, the details are not as important as the message.

Or Hahayyim differs. Each direction is intentionally given so that the building of the sanctuary parallels the world, and through our engagement within the sanctuary, we merit sustaining the world.

Perhaps both are correct. While we may not completely understand Divine Wisdom at all times, we can value the meaning behind the detail the Torah gives us to celebrate our sacred spaces.

Today, I consciously thought of how to spread that message to our next generation. My prayer is that each of us can have the awe of our sacred spaces and the intent in which we enter as the young student who decided to be “Rabbi For The Day.”