Dear Friends;

I hope that you will enjoy the following Parsha summary followed by a Dvar Torah;

” Parsha in a Nutshell ”

G-d commands Moshe to build a Mishkan (Sanctuary) which would serve as a “resting place” for Hashem’s presence amongst the Jewish people.
The Children of Israel are asked to contribute precious metals and stones, fabrics, skins, oil and spices. In the Mishkan’s outer courtyard are an altar for the offerings and a basin to wash these sacrifices. The Tent of Meeting is divided by a curtain into two chambers. The outer chamber is accessible only to the kohanim. It contains the table of showbreads (the 12 loaves of bread placed every Sabbath on a table as an offering by the priests to God), the menorah, and the golden altar for incense. The innermost chamber, the Holy of Holies, may be entered only by the Kohen Gadol, and only once a year, on Yom Kippur. In this section, the Ark is held which contains the Ten Commandments inscribed on the two tablets of stone that G-d gave to the Jewish nation on Mount Sinai.
All of the utensils and vessels, as well as the construction of the Mishkan, are described in great detail.

” Dvar Torah ”

“Mishkan”, G-d’s mobile sanctuary, is the main topic of discussion in this week’s Parsha and the following four Parashiot. The Torah describes in great details the way it was built, the way each vessel was made and the exact location of each object. The materials used in the Mishkan were of the finest quality; pure Gold, finest cloth for the curtains, best quality wood were among some of the materials used to built the glorious Mishkan. And the Torah tells us that the way they gathered all the materials were by “donations” only.

So, at the beginning of the Parsha, the Torah describes to us how everybody was welcomed to donate whatever they could to build the Mishkan. Hashem says to Moshe: ” Speak to the children of Israel and let them take for Me a portion, from every man whose heart motivates him you shall take my portion.” Once again, most commentators are puzzled by the use of the words in this verse. Why does it say “let them TAKE for me a portion”? Shouldn’t it say ” let them GIVE to me a portion”? Isn’t it true that when you are donating something, you are “giving” rather than “taking”?!

The Chachamim give the following explanation. When one gives to the Mishkan — or, when one donates to a House of Worship or a Torah institution, for that matter, — he is not really ‘giving’, but rather, he is actually ‘taking’ or benefiting himself. More precisely, he is taking more than he is giving. You see, for building a house for Hashem, or for doing any other holy tasks, G-d picks his agents. Only if you have the “Zechut” (merit) and you are worthy of the task, then you’ll become an agent of G-d. And the reward for being G-d’s agent far exceeds the amount of your donations. That’s why Hashem says “take for me a portion”, because when you give to the Mishkan, you are actually taking far more for yourself.

Later on, in Parashat Vayakhel, we read about the donations of the Princes of each tribe to the Mishkan. They, very generously, offered to make up the deficit, after everyone else brought their contributions. According to Rashi, the Torah was unhappy with this offer. But you may ask yourself, why? If one were to question any fund-raiser as to whether he would be pleased or displeased to receive an offer such as the one made by the Princes, undoubtedly he would be thrilled with the offer. He would certainly snap at the opportunity to have someone guarantee any shortfall that remained after the collection effort was concluded. Yet, the Torah was upset at the attitude of the Princes. What was wrong with their offer? Well, financially, it may have been a great idea, but ideologically, it was a horrible concept. What were they thinking when they raised the issue that the Mishkan is going to have a ‘deficit’? Did they think that the Mishkan might not be built without their coming to the rescue? That was a wrong way of thinking. G-d has no deficits. G-d did not need their help to build the Mishkan. If the Princes wanted a portion of merit in the building the Mishkan, they should have enthusiastically jumped in and offered their donations up front.

There is a story about Chafetz Chaim who once had a Yeshiva in Radin. A philanthropist came and offered to write a check for the entire expense of the Yeshiva. The Chofetz Chaim declined the offer. He said that he didn’t want to remove the merit of supporting the Yeshiva from the rest of the congregation. He said that he would rather run an institution that had to rely on $18 and $36 dollar donations because he wanted everyone to have a portion in the merit of supporting the institution. He therefore looked at a man who was willing to underwrite his entire budget and told him “Thanks, but no thanks”, since the concept of “They shall TAKE a donation” implies that G-d has no deficits, and whoever donates is the one who gains.

Yes my friends, when you donate to a house of worship or a Torah Institution, you are actually not giving, but rather, you are gaining a lot more for yourself. It’s a great privilege to be able to donate to a House of G-d. You have a great Zechut to take part in this great mitzvah. Hashem says to Moshe to take anything from anybody to build the Mishkan, whether it’s gold, silver, copper, goat hair, oil or even spices, not because they have a deficit, but in order to give EVERYONE the opportunity to take part in this great cause.

I am proud to announce that in our Mashadi community, we comply to this ideology at its best. Although we don’t have any membership fees for our Kanissas, but still, everybody tries to donate as much as they can to support the cause. It seems that everyone knows already that they are not just giving, but they are actually taking more! And as far as the affluent ones of our community, they never repeated the same mistake as the Princes of our tribes. They are always the first ones to step forward and make their generous donations. May G-d bless them all, and may all those who participate in donating to the kanissas be rewarded a thousand times more.

In English language “give” and “take” are two contradictory words which tend to oppose each other, but when it comes to donations, however, they do live in perfect harmony!

Shabbat Shalom and Regards;

Martin