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| Fri, 10 May 2024 14:39:53 -0500 — |
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D'var: Parashat Terumah 5783
Commentary by Michael Goldstein Friday, February 24, 2023 |
| Exodus 25:1 — 27:19 |
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Exodus Chapter 25, Verses 1 and 2. The Lord spoke to Moses saying: Speak to the children of Israel, and have them take for Me an offering; from every person whose heart inspires him to generosity, you shall take My offering. In Parashat Terumah, God commands Moses to gather materials for building the Tabernacle... the Mishkan. God also gives Moses extremely precise directions for its construction; He requires that it must be easy to dismantle and reassemble. God further describes the ark, the showbread table, the menorah, the tapestries, the beam structure, etc. in agonizing minutiae. Terumah means donation or contribution or offering. Some rabbinical authorities including Rashi have maintained that to be Terumah, donations must be made for a sacred purpose… such as contributions to God for a Tabernacle where He might live. Terumah is a whole different concept from Tzedakah. Tzedekah, after all, is required by God… for example, here is Leviticus Chapter 19, Verse 10. And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you collect the fallen individual grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger. Terumah, on the other hand, is a voluntary act of giving. You can find it in the second verse of this Parshah where it says: from every person whose heart inspires him to generosity, you shall take My offering. God has Moses collect what’s necessary to build the Mishkan that will be used while the Jewish people are wandering in the desert so that God may live among them. Rather than commanding each household or each tribe to contribute a certain amount, Moses is commanded to tell everyone to contribute as they wish and as they are able to. No one was keeping track of contributions, of who was able to give more and who was only able to give less. In the end, the Mishkan will belong to everyone equally. The supplies to create the Mishkan, to build this place of holiness, must come from those who give their gifts of their own free will, not because they are ordered to provide the materials. That’s the difference between Terumah and Tzedakah. There is an old Yiddish folk tale of Yankel The Cheapskate that I’m fond of… Yankel the Cheapskate would not give money to anyone, for any reason. It didn’t matter how important the cause. No one could get him to contribute. He just wouldn’t. One day, Yankel was crossing the river in a small boat. Suddenly, a huge storm broke out, and his boat capsized. Luckily, another boat was nearby. The sailor called out to him: “I will help you. Give me your hand. Give me your hand. I will help you.” Yankel could barely hear him over the thunder, the strong winds, and the roaring waves. He heard only two words, over and over: “Help, Give, Help Give…” And good old Yankel couldn’t stop himself. He yelled back: “No. I don’t give. I don’t give.” The sailor again: “Yankel, I’ll help you. Give me your hand! Give me your hand!” And again Yankel screamed: “Never. I don’t give.” Finally, in desperation, the sailor yelled: “Yankel, one more time. I’ll help. Take my hand.” And Yankel said: “Oh, take? Sure.” It is said that when we give, we get back more than we give. When everyone gives, the image one gets is of a community that is dynamic and interdependent. All those who can contribute, contribute to the community. No one feels bad for contributing less; no one feels smug for contributing more. This kind of shared concern permits everyone in the community to depend on each other, allowing everyone to contribute when and what they are able, and to receive when they are in need. It recognizes that at different times different people will be in different places. If everyone gives, then we benefit from living in a society where everyone’s needs are met, and no one is in need. To live in such a society benefits all the people in it. And for all that we give, we benefit much more. To live in such a society is a privilege. Michael Goldstein |
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