Parashat
Terumah discusses the building of the Mishkan, and the materials necessary for
it.
The
parasha starts off with Hashem telling Moshe to tell Benei Yisrael,
וְיִקְחוּ־לִ֖י
תְּרוּמָ֑ה
Bring
Me gifts.
Then
it says,
מֵאֵ֤ת כָּל־אִישׁ֙
אֲשֶׁ֣ר יִדְּבֶ֣נּוּ לִבּ֔וֹ
תִּקְח֖וּ אֶת־תְּרוּמָתִֽי׃
You
shall accept gifts from every person who dedicates his heart,
And
then again it says,
וזאת התרומה
And
these are the gifts.
The
word Terumah/gifts is mentioned 3 times.
Rashi
says that this refers to the three different types of donations:
The
first was the general donation people gave, comprised of the materials needed
for the Mishkan, such as purple wool, blue wool, leather, wood etc.
The
second Terumah/donation was the half-shekel coin that was collected, which was
used to build the silver sockets for the wooden pillars.
The
third type of Terumah was the yearly half-shekel donation (that we give today,
in memory of the half-shekel) that they gave annually towards the buying of the
korbanot/offerings.
Of
these three donations, one was voluntary, and the other two were mandatory.
The
one- time silver half-shekel coins that were donated in the desert, and went
toward the sockets, and the annual half- shekel collected for the korbanot,
were both mandatory. But the building supplies for the Mishkan were donated on
a voluntary basis.
Why
were the building materials voluntary while the money for the korbanot and
sockets was mandatory?
There’s
an explanation given based on a story:
Rav
Meir Shapiro, founder of the daf yomi, also founded the very first modernized Yeshiva
(in Lublin) to include dormitories and other facilities (such as a barbershop
and dentist) on the premises, so that boys could learn, undistracted by outside
needs.
At
the time, there was an emergency meeting held in Europe, because all the
yeshivot were in dire straits and had no money, even for food for the boys.
Among
the many, great rabbis gathered at the meeting was a secular reporter, who was
antagonistic toward religion. He asked how Rabbi Shapiro, with his beautiful
building, could possibly claim poverty.
Rabbi
Shapiro answered based on this parasha.
He
asked the same question about why some donations were voluntary while others
were mandatory, and explained that human nature is such that people will gladly
give toward the building, because they like to see that their money is going to
something everlasting. Contributions toward the korbanot/offerings, which went toward
the purchase of a cow to be slaughtered, seems fleeting. There’s no plaque for
that. Likewise, the Yeshivot needed a mandatory drive for the maintenance and
up-keep, but not for the building itself. This tendency is well known even
today.
Then
someone asked Rabbi Shapiro why the silver socket contribution was mandatory,
if that too was for the building. And he explained (perhaps in jest) that until
people see that the foundation is laid, no one wants to give. They force people
to get the foundation in, then have a building drive.
There’s
a great lesson here for us:
Human
nature is that we like to see accomplishments. Unless we see something
tangible, we don’t feel like we’re doing anything.
In
truth, the sacrifice of the korbanot is really more important than the Mishkan
itself. The Mishkan is a building, but the sacrifices are the end goal of the
building. People like things that are tangible, but that is really contrary to
Emunah and Bitachon.
Having
Emunah and Bitachon means that we are able to see with “emunah eyes” what we
can’t see with our physical eyes.
While
it’s true that we can’t actually see the impact of the Korbanot in heaven, or the impact of any of our day to
day activities, we shouldn’t be any less impressed by these actions, which are
the end goal, than the brick and mortar of the building that we can touch
and feel.
This
should be a source of hizzuk for us: We can’t always see our growth and
success, but it’s impact should not be underestimated. Don’t make that mistake
of human nature, of preferring to give to the building, rather than the
offering.
Have
a wonderful day and a Shabbat shalom.
