Wednesday, Adar 3, 5777 / March 1, 2017
This Shabbat we read Parshat Terumah,which is about the contributions which G-d commanded the Jewish people to give toward the construction of the Mishkan (Tabernacle).
The Mishkan was the sanctuary which traveled with them throughout their forty years in the desert. It was dismantled when they had to travel and re-constructed wherever they camped.
The Parsha begins with G-d commanding Moshe, “Speak to the Children of Israel and they shall take for me Terumah.” G-d tells Moshe which items to take so that, “They should make a Sanctuary for Me and I will dwell among them.”
Q. A contribution in Hebrew is, “Nedavah.” The word “Terumah” is “to lift up.” Why, when telling them to contribute, the Torah uses the word “Terumah” (“to lift”), instead of Nedavah?
A. Rabbi Schneur Zalmen, first Rabbi of Chabad said, “G-d gives us physical matter, for the purpose that we should transform and elevate the physical into spiritual.”
The Torah teaches us an important lesson here about giving Tzedakah (charity). When one gives his/her hard earned money for Tzedakah, they elevateit from physical into a much higherrealm - into spiritual. This is why G-d called the contributions for building the Tabernacle, Terumah, which means to lift up, because that’s exactly what takes place when one gives Tzedakah (charity).
Q. Why does the Torah say, “They shall taketo Me.” It should have said, “They shall giveto Me.”
A. Here, too, the Torah teaches us a very important lesson on how one should view contributing to charity. Instead of thinking that Tzedakah is giving, one should think of it as “taking.”
Our sages say, “More than the rich person, who gives the charity, does for the poor person, the poor person, who gets the donation, does for the wealthy person.”
In other words, the one who gives the charity gains in return much more than what he gave. It’s a great business deal. Every dollar given to charity is worth much more in the account of the one who gave it away!
Giving is really getting!
Thus, the one giving charity is in fact taking; for they receive much more in return for the Tzedakah they gave. It is the giver who is the real taker!This is why the Torah interchanges takingfor giving!
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY