“Take for Me”
The opening words of this week’s parsha are:
“Speak to the Children of Israel and let them take for Me, from every man whose heart motivates him you shall take My contribution.”
Several questions have been raised:
First, why does it say “take for Me a contribution?” It should have stated “Give me a contribution.”
Second, why does the text repeat itself? In addition to saying that they shall “take for Me” it says, “you shall take My contribution.”
Third, why is it that the end of the verse refers to the contributions as “My contribution“ whereas the beginning of the verse leaves out the word “My?”
Repetitive Giving
The following explanation is based on a contemporary work, Avnei Chefetz, which refers to the Torah’s commandant (Deuteronomy 15:10) to give charity:
“You shall surely give him, and let not your heart feel bad when you give him, for in return for this matter, G-d, your G-d, will bless you in all your deeds and in your every undertaking.”
A more precise translation of the opening words “Nason titein” would read, “Give, you shall give.” Why the need for repetition?
Rashi explains that the repetition is intended to drive home the command to keep on giving “even a hundred times.”
There is, however, a novel way of explaining the repetition with regard to giving tzedakah.
When a person gives tzedakah there can be negative or ambivalent feelings that can reduce the intensity and purity of the Mitzvah.
On one hand, we might feel uncomfortable parting with our hard-earned money so we give reluctantly. To be sure, there is a spiritual advantage to forcing ourselves to give because it helps us suppress our egos and selfish character. However, the Torah wants us to perform Mitzvahs with joy. When we have to struggle to help others, we are challenged to keep on giving until we have refined our character and can give with joy.
Maimonides alludes to this point when he explains that repeated giving of smaller sums is preferable to giving a single lump sum because each individual act of generosity has the felicitous effect of refining our character.
This may well be the underlying meaning of the verse “You shall give and give, and let not your heart feel bad when you give him.” By giving repeatedly we gradually chip away at our selfish natures and are able to reach the point where our heart no longer feels bad when we donate.
Sophisticated Selfishness
On a more sophisticated level, we may be so moved by the plight of the pauper that we feel the need to alleviate our own discomfort by assisting him.
In this model, our contribution is actually motivated by our discomfort, not because we care for the recipient of our largesse.
As in the first model, where we give reluctantly because of our egos and selfish nature, this second model too is tainted by our selfish interests; it is our reluctance to feeling pain that motivates us to give.
The difference between these two models of egocentric giving is that in the first case we give despite our selfishness, while in the second model we give because of our selfish desire not to be pained by the suffering of others. Our self-interest actually gets us to do something that, objectively speaking, is selfless.
The remedy for the selfish reluctance is, as stated above, to give repeatedly to break our selfish streak and refine us to feel sensitive to the needs of the other.
However, the second impediment to the performance of the Mitzvah of Tzedakah, assuaging our discomfort at being comfortable can be overcome by dividing the performance of the Mitzvah into two segments.
We should first set aside money for the poor and needy individuals and causes. For the time being, this money remains in our possession. Later, when the opportunity arises, or a poor person or needy organization calls on us, we then take the money that we have already allocated to tzedakah and give it to the cause.
Dividing our giving into two stages can actually remedy both shortcomings that stem from our selfishness. First, since the money was already allocated, we no longer have to force ourselves to give when the need arises.
Second, since the money was given before we were exposed to the suffering of others, the giving is pure; that is the ideal way of doing any Mitzvah: to do it for its own sake, with unmitigated joy.
We can better understand now why G-d commanded the Children of Israel to “take for Me a contribution” instead of directing them to “give” me a contribution. G-d was instructing them as to the optimal approach to generosity to needy others. Before the act of giving, first segregate (the word terumah which is translated as “contribution” also means “separate”) your gift and keep it in your possession, but dedicated to G-d.
Then, the Torah continues: “from every man whose heart motivates him you shall take My contribution.” Once the person has made the initial contribution, he no longer has the feeling of being forced to part with his money because he had already dedicated it. In a very real sense, the money is no longer his. Furthermore, when he initially set it aside it was without a selfish need to alleviate a feeling of ego-centric pain at the distress of others. Hence, his motivation to contribute will be straight from his heart.
The Answers
We can now answer the three questions posed at the beginning of this meditation:
The reason the Torah says “take for Me” rather than “Give me,” is that at the outset the people were not asked to give their contributions to the Sanctuary fund in that moment but merely told to set it aside for later.
The reason the text repeats itself is because the contributions to the Sanctuary were to be made in two steps. The first part of the verse speaks of separation and the second part it refers to the actual donation.
The reason the Torah refers first to “a contribution” and later to “My contribution” is because initially it was not given to G-d. Only after one separated it but kept it in his possession would he then contribute it to G-d.
Application to Our “Contributions” to the Third Bais Hamikdash
When we prepare for the coming of Moshiach, who will rebuild the Bais Hamikdash, our final and eternal Sanctuary, we are called on to prepare ourselves for that momentous event by our contributions of prayer, Torah study and Mitzvah observance.
However, there can be two impediments to these efforts:
The first barrier is the Galus mindset that tricks us to believe we are comfortable with the status quo. As a result, we have to force ourselves to focus on the momentous changes that await us in the future.
The remedy for this impediment is repetition. The more we pray for, and learn about, our contributions for the future Redemption, the more sincerely we will desire the profound changes that will occur then.
The second impediment to our efforts arises when our desire for Moshiach and Redemption is only as a way to escape the pain of exile. To be sure, this approach is more sophisticated than one who is comfortable with exile and has to force himself or herself to prepare for the change to come. However, wanting Redemption solely to alleviate the suffering of exile is not enough. We must endeavor to want Moshiach and Redemption because the world will then experience the full revelation of G-d’s presence and goodness and the world will realize the purpose for which it was created.
The means to appreciate Redemption for its own sake is to introduce and experience a taste of that future in the present. Just like the first stage of the contribution to the Sanctuary, where the thing of value remained in the donor’s possession, so too we introduce the future into our current “possession.” By living the future now in these last days of exile, we not only want to escape Galus, we also feel passion for and yearn to embrace the future of Moshiach, the Bais Hamikdash and Redemption.