Parshas Terumah
דַּבֵּר֙ אֶל־בְּנֵֵּ֣י יִשְּרָאֵֵּ֔ל וְּיִקְּחוּ־לִִ֖י תְּרוּמָָ֑ה מֵּאֵֵּ֤ת כָל־אִיש֙
אֲשֵֶ֣ר יִדְּבֵֶ֣נּוּ לִבֵ֔וֹ תִקְּחִ֖וּ אֶת־תְּרֽוּמָתִֽי
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. (Shemos 25:2)
The Midrash explains that the construction of the Mishkan was a tikkun, a rectification, for the Eigel, sin of the Golden Calf. What is the connection between the two?
The Terumah was given by the yidden. Therefore, why does the pasuk use the terminology וְּיִקְּחוּ־לִִ֖י -take for Me when it should’ve written “give Me”?
Further, why does the pasuk need to mention that “every person whose heart inspires them to generosity”?
The Midrash, to explain this pasuk, quotes Shir HaShirim (5:2): אֲנִִ֥י יְּשֵּנִָ֖ה וְּלִבִֵ֣י עֵָּ֑ר -I am asleep but my heart is awake. The Midrash continues and explains that when the pasuk says “I am asleep” it is alluding to the spiritual state of the yidden after the Eigel. During that moment of weakness, the yidden were spiritually ‘asleep’. But, they didn’t realize that within their hearts, Hashem was awake, as it says in Tehilim (73:26), “Hashem is the rock, my heart and my portion forever.”
There is an aspect of each of us that is never spiritually asleep.
The Seforim HaKedoshim explain that within every yid is a spark of kedusha, a portion that is literally from Hashem that remains pure regardless of what a yid does or how they behave. The “pintele yid” remains intact constantly yearning to draw closer to its source, to Hashem and
His Torah. The neshama remains pure goodness and that kedusha within every yid remains untouched and forever connected.
We find ourselves in a constant struggle, a war of countless battles with victories and setbacks. The Yetzer Harah is relentless and is constantly challenging every person; wittingly taunting us with temptations and seductions desperately hoping that we will succumb to his trickeries.
However, even when a person makes a mistake, when they have a lapse in judgement, the Yetzer Harah doesn’t define that sin as his victory. Rather, that is the first step and the very beginning of an effort to pull that person even further into the darkness dragging them further and further away from Hashem.
Despair and desperation is the Yetzer Harah’s ultimate endgame. When a yid allows failure to define them, the Yetzer Harah is truly winning. If they feel like there is no way to return to Hashem, to repair that relationship, when he forgets the powerful potential pent up within his neshama, then the Yetzer Harah begins to not only win that battle, but the war.
Life is a compilation of ups and downs, growth and setbacks, successes, and failures. However, when we are in those moments of failure or disappointment, we must cling to the reality of who we are, to search out the cries of our neshama echoing in our hearts, and realize that the neshama, that connection to the source of all Goodness, that piece of Hashem within each of us, can carry us forward and through any moment of weakness.
A failure is temporary. Feeling like a failure can become permanent.
A yid is never totally lost, they are never without hope. Realizing this enables us to move beyond a sin, a moment of weakness, an indulgence, and to seek out the holiness, the light, in the world that surrounds us.
This is the lesson that the Midrash is teaching us. We may feel dormant, like we are walking through life like zombies infected with the plague of temptation from the Yetzer Harah. However, our hearts are “awake”. Our neshama is always ready to fuel our comeback.
Why is that relevant here? What does the mitzvah of Terumah teach us about this path to personal redemption?
Chazal taught (Yuma 86b) that there are two categories of teshuvah, repentance. There is Teshuva M’yirah, teshuva motivated by fear, fear of punishment and the repercussions of their actions. When someone returns to Hashem with that motivation, his previous sins – even those ones done intentionally - become less severe.
The other category is Teshuva M’Ahava, repentance from love, to return to Hashem from a deep, powerful love. When a yid wants to have a relationship with Hashem and they want to reconnect, then the sins of the past are transformed into zchusim, merits.
The Eigel was very intentional. The yidden indulged in one of the gravest sins imaginable. But, even at such a low point, when everything seemed lost, hope
remained. Not only is there hope, but even the gravest acts can not only be forgiven but transformed into zchusim.
The Mishkan would be the beginning of having a physical space in this world where the process of bringing sacrifices and teshuvah could materialize. A place where the yidden could reestablish their relationship with Hashem despite their behavior. The numerical equivalent of the word for love, אהבה , is 13. There were 13 different materials used in the construction of the Mishkan. The building of the Mishkan represents the rebuilding of our lives, the rectifying of our past, through Teshuva M’ahavah, repentance out of love for Hashem.
The pasuk specifically uses the language terminology וְּיִקְּחוּ־לִִ֖י -take for Me when it should’ve written “give Me”. What were the yidden taking?
The process of building the Mishkan, of returning to Hashem from Tehsuva M’Ahavah, by “giving” the yidden were able to sift through their past and “take” those sins and transform them. Those moments, those thoughts, those deeds, can be taken and repurposed. And this is within the capabilities of any yid regardless of how distant they might feel as the pasuk continues, every person whose heart inspires – every yid who listens to the pintele yid can elevate his past, rebuild his present and work towards his future. And in that process, as the parsha continues, “They shall make for Me a Mishkan so that I will dwell among them.” Every Jew can feel the presence of Hashem and reconnect.
ב.
דַּבֵּר֙ אֶל־בְּנֵֵּ֣י יִשְּרָאֵֵּ֔ל וְּיִקְּחוּ־לִִ֖י תְּרוּמָָ֑ה מֵּאֵֵּ֤ת כָל־אִיש֙
אֲשֵֶ֣ר יִדְּבֵֶ֣נּוּ לִבֵ֔וֹ תִקְּחִ֖וּ אֶת־תְּרֽוּמָתִֽי
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. (Shemos 25:2)
Rashi explained the words heart inspires is an expression of good will ( a רָצוֹן טוֹב ). What is Rashi adding to the simple understanding of the pasuk?
In last week’s parsha the yidden declared Naaseh V’Nishmah ,we will do and we will hear as the pasuk says, All that the Lord spoke we will do and we will hear (Shemos 24:7). The Tanna D’Bei Eliyahu explains that immediately upon saying this, the yidden were commanded to take for Me an offering. What is the connection between that declaration and Terumah?
Additionally, the Zera Kodesh asks a very basic question: how could Hashem “dwell” in the physical space of the Mishkan? Shlomo HaMelech taught (Malachim I 8:27), But will Hashem indeed dwell on the earth? Behold the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You; much less this temple that I have erected.
Hashem is infinite and beyond measure. Even the the heaven of heavens cannot contain Hashem! How could a physical structure, a finite structure, contain and hold that which is infinite?
When the yidden brought these gifts for the construction of the Mishkan it was with tremendous love and yearning. These feelings were and are without measure and limitation.
Love is boundless. They didn’t just give their physical possessions, but their entire being, every ounce of who they were. And that is where the dwelling of the Shechina was: within this wanting, this yearning, this desire which was burning for Hashem limitlessly. In this infinite love, Hashem in all His infinity could reside.
This, explains the Zera Kodesh, is what the pasuk is teaching us. Hashem instructed the yidden to take the Terumah, an offering, from everyone whose heart inspires him boundlessly.
Specifically, through those emotions, could Hashem dwell in a physical space in this corporal world.
The R’ Shlomo from Bobover, zt”l, quotes a similar insight from the Alshich. The pasuk says (Shir HaShirim 3:9-10), Shlomo HaMelech made himself a palanquin of the trees of Lebanon. Its pillars he made of silver, its couch of gold, its curtain of purple, its interior inlaid with love…
How did Shlomo HaMelech make a physical structure for Hashem? Specifically with love. The silver, gold and other materials were just the conduit for the yidden’s love and desire to have a relationship with Hashem, to be close to Him. Those emotions are what create the space for the Shechina.
Hashem finds a home in our emotional connection, in our love for him. This is what Rashi highlights when he says that this a “good will”. The yidden gave their ratzyon.
The declaration of Naaseh V’Nishma was a powerful expression of the boundless love that was burning in the depths of their hearts. Therefore, immediately upon obtaining their emotional and spiritual plane, Hashem commanded them to harness that love and, through that, create a space for the Shechinah in this world.
