The beginning of Parashat Terumah says, “Speak to the Jewish people,
וְיִקְחוּ־לִי תְּרוּמָה מֵאֵת Take the Terumah/donation for the Mishkan, from
כׇּל־אִישׁ אֲשֶׁר יִדְּבֶנּוּ לִבּו
anyone who’s heart gives a generous donation,
תִּקְחוּ אֶת־תְּרוּמָתִי
you will take My Terumah.
This is seemingly redundant. Why does it say take the Teruma, and then again at the end say My Terumah, and why does it insert generous heart in the middle?
The sefer Shelah HaKaddosh, Shnei Luchot HaBrit, in Parashat Terumah tells us that following-
Something miraculous happened: If there was a man who only had a gold coin, but really wanted to give a gold bar, then when he gave the gold coin, it miraculously expanded and filled to the size of a gold bar.
So when it say, “You take the Terumah,” it means you take the donation that the man gave (like the gold coin) but because his heart donated, and his heart wanted to give a bar, “You’ll take My Terumah and it will come out to be what I need.”
This is an unbelievable miracle! God measured not the actual material that was given, but the heart and the generosity, and that is what built the Mishkan.
The items expanded and grew based on the generosity of the person‘s heart.
As an aside, there is an Or HaChaim HaKaddosh that is related to this- the pasuk says that when they collected for the Mishkan, there was enough, and there was too much. How could there be enough and too much at the same time? He explains that if God needed a ton of gold, but the Jewish people gave 2 tons of gold, there might be surplus, and people would feel bad.
As a mashal, think of the cakes left over at the end of a bake sale that did not get sold. How do the ladies, who went to the trouble of making them, feel when their cakes sit there at the end, unsold? If a lady walked in at the end of the day and saw her cake still sitting there, she would feel quite bad
So too, God did not want that to happen in the Mishkan, so he made a miracle. The 2 tons of gold shrunk into 1 ton. But it was their heart that was in the Mishkan, regardless of the amount that they gave, and regardless of the amount that was needed. God doesn’t need a coin or a gold bar and there is no such thing as surplus. God works out all the physical and material aspects. Our job is only is the spiritual generosity. This is a phenomenal concept.
That was all the times of the Mishkan, but we can take the step further.
The sefer Me’il Sedaka, a sefer written about charity from the same author as the Shevet Mussar, Rav Eliyahu from Izmir, says that if a man is collecting. Kent because needs $10,000, and you only have $101 to give him, but if you had the $10,000 you would have given it to him, you get rewarded as if you had given the $10,000, because, he says,
“That little bit ($101) that the man received will bring him the blessing of the $10,000.”
It is blessed money and it has in it the power of the $10,000.
If you had a heart for $10,000 the $101 will become the $10,000. Just like the gold coin becomes a gold bar, because you gave with a full heart. This is unbelievable.
Sometimes you see poor people who suddenly become successful. There are stories about people who borrowed money to open a business, and the business goes viral. You might think that the person just had good luck, but when he took the money from someone who would have given him much more money if he was able, that money was money of Beracha.
What an unbelievable concepts, from the Shevet Mussar.
Thank you Rabbi Golub from Lakewood, who sends out a weekly Hebrew email called Binat Zekenim, with gorgeous Hiddushim.
To receive it, email
Torasmaz@gmail.com
If you are a Hebrew reader, it’s wonderful source of information.
Have a Shabbat Shalom.