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The rabbi started his speech by saying he had good news and bad news. Which one did they want to hear first? “The good news”, everyone answered. The rabbi told them that the money that was needed to renovate the synagogue was found. All were very happy and then asked what were the bad news? It was that the money was inside their pockets…
In this week’s Parasha Teruma, G-d asks everyone to make donations in order to build the Holy Tabernacle: gold, silver, copper, wood, precious stones etc. We immediately ask ourselves why G-d, to Whom everything belongs, needed to ask humans for donations? Second question, why did Moses have to go through the whole procedure of collecting even small donations from all Jewish people, 35 grams of gold from one, 2 precious stones from the other? It would have been easier and faster to get a few large donations from the wealthy ones.
G-d indeed did not need donations from anyone in order to have material goods. He wanted it for everyone to feel part of the Tabernacle. The motto was simple: “I give, therefore I belong”.
A mere 40 days after the Giving of the Torah, the Israelites sinned with the Golden Calf. How was it possible for them to do such a thing, so shortly after hearing from G-d Himself “I am the Lord, your G-d”? The answer is simple. Since the Jewish people did not have an active role at Mount Sinai, the great enthusiasm could not truly and deeply change them. This is the reason the donations to the Tabernacle were needed. Because only with active participation in Jewish affairs do we truly change.
Let’s take an active role in our Judaism: attend a Torah class, organize at home a Shabbat dinner with Kiddush, financially support Jewish initiatives or spend some of our precious time to visit someone elderly or sick.
Thus, we will really feel that we belong. Finally, the rabbi may have been wrong when he said that the bad news was that the money was inside their pockets. This was good news, since it gives us the opportunity to participate actively. I give, therefore I belong.
Shabbat Shalom,
Hanna