A thought on Parshas Vayakhel
...kol n'div libo yivi'eha es terumas HaShem..."
"...each motivated donor should bring it, the offering for HaShem..." (35:5)
The Torah tells of the communal instruction to donate precious materials for constructing parts of the Mishkan. Gold, silver and copper, fabrics and colorings, fragrances and gemstones, were to be brought by all who had them, and these were gifts from the heart.
The curious wording here is the extra hae in the word yivi'eha. The Torah might have written yavi and the verse would have the identical message. Had it said, " each donor should bring the offering for HaShem", we would understand the instruction. Why does it say "bring it?" That extra letter (which is a full word pronoun in Hebrew) seems superfluous. What does it teach us, or worded more accurately, what does "it" teach us?
The Recanati offers this insight: The Torah asks for more than the donation of material. The Torah asks that we donate our very selves. It is not enough for you or I to give money or other belongings "for HaShem's sake." In building the holy Mishkan, the collective heart of the nation needed to be built into the structure. This Sacred Shrine was the worldly connection between the Upper Realm and the lower world. It was the place of convergence, into a dimension beyond tangible reality, between HaShem's people, and HaShem's Presence. It required more than our materials. We needed to put a precious part of our selves into it.
In donating things, the real donation was the heart and soul of a people united, Knesses Yisroel, in reaching out and upward and in every direction in a yearning gesture to connect with the Above. To the degree that mortal beings can transcend their narcissistic selves and forge a harmonious presence in search of the Highest Presence, they needed to let go of their riches and wealth as if to demonstrate that "all of this is secondary to us; what is real and primary is what happens when we ascend past all material things." That is when the Jewish people are ready to give up every thing, and give over their collective heart, as one.
This is the "it" of our verse. It is the motivated heart of the donor which must be brought forth in the process of giving away things. "It" refers to the collective heart of Knesses Yisroel. Our heart is given over and infused with HaShem through our immersed devotion to the Word of HaShem which we adhere to by living by His Torah. This is why, writes the Recanati, the Torah begins with the letter "bais" (in Bereishis) and closes with the letter "lamed" (in Yisroel, the final word in Devarim.) Those letters together spell lev which is the word for heart noted in our verse above. The fusing of self with Torah is the melding of the collective heart with the bridge between this world and Above. That connection is where the heart belongs. We must put ourselves into that connection in donating our selves.
This even helps us understand a verse in Psalms (Tehillim 147:20, familiar to us from morning davening) "the nations do not know His teachings" - which in Hebrew is "mishpatim bal yida'um" - which is those same two letters together in reverse order. The nations look at Torah as some nice ideas, and may fulfill its ideals at times because they seem moral and sensible. The get "it" backwards. The Jewish nation knows that the zenith of the bais and lamed is when it is formulated as lev, as the total fusion of Yisroel v'Oraisa v'Kudsha B'rich Hu - of the Am HaShem with Dvar HaShem l'maan HaShem.
While each of us can strive to give of our personal selves as we rush to fulfill the words of Torah, the Recanati teaches us that the goal is not that of martyrdom or sacrifice, but of fusion and converging with the entire Jewish nation in its quest to ascend. That is what it is all about.
Good Shabbos. D Fox
"...each motivated donor should bring it, the offering for HaShem..." (35:5)
The Torah tells of the communal instruction to donate precious materials for constructing parts of the Mishkan. Gold, silver and copper, fabrics and colorings, fragrances and gemstones, were to be brought by all who had them, and these were gifts from the heart.
The curious wording here is the extra hae in the word yivi'eha. The Torah might have written yavi and the verse would have the identical message. Had it said, " each donor should bring the offering for HaShem", we would understand the instruction. Why does it say "bring it?" That extra letter (which is a full word pronoun in Hebrew) seems superfluous. What does it teach us, or worded more accurately, what does "it" teach us?
The Recanati offers this insight: The Torah asks for more than the donation of material. The Torah asks that we donate our very selves. It is not enough for you or I to give money or other belongings "for HaShem's sake." In building the holy Mishkan, the collective heart of the nation needed to be built into the structure. This Sacred Shrine was the worldly connection between the Upper Realm and the lower world. It was the place of convergence, into a dimension beyond tangible reality, between HaShem's people, and HaShem's Presence. It required more than our materials. We needed to put a precious part of our selves into it.
In donating things, the real donation was the heart and soul of a people united, Knesses Yisroel, in reaching out and upward and in every direction in a yearning gesture to connect with the Above. To the degree that mortal beings can transcend their narcissistic selves and forge a harmonious presence in search of the Highest Presence, they needed to let go of their riches and wealth as if to demonstrate that "all of this is secondary to us; what is real and primary is what happens when we ascend past all material things." That is when the Jewish people are ready to give up every thing, and give over their collective heart, as one.
This is the "it" of our verse. It is the motivated heart of the donor which must be brought forth in the process of giving away things. "It" refers to the collective heart of Knesses Yisroel. Our heart is given over and infused with HaShem through our immersed devotion to the Word of HaShem which we adhere to by living by His Torah. This is why, writes the Recanati, the Torah begins with the letter "bais" (in Bereishis) and closes with the letter "lamed" (in Yisroel, the final word in Devarim.) Those letters together spell lev which is the word for heart noted in our verse above. The fusing of self with Torah is the melding of the collective heart with the bridge between this world and Above. That connection is where the heart belongs. We must put ourselves into that connection in donating our selves.
This even helps us understand a verse in Psalms (Tehillim 147:20, familiar to us from morning davening) "the nations do not know His teachings" - which in Hebrew is "mishpatim bal yida'um" - which is those same two letters together in reverse order. The nations look at Torah as some nice ideas, and may fulfill its ideals at times because they seem moral and sensible. The get "it" backwards. The Jewish nation knows that the zenith of the bais and lamed is when it is formulated as lev, as the total fusion of Yisroel v'Oraisa v'Kudsha B'rich Hu - of the Am HaShem with Dvar HaShem l'maan HaShem.
While each of us can strive to give of our personal selves as we rush to fulfill the words of Torah, the Recanati teaches us that the goal is not that of martyrdom or sacrifice, but of fusion and converging with the entire Jewish nation in its quest to ascend. That is what it is all about.
Good Shabbos. D Fox
posted by Rabbi Dr. Fox at 10:25 PM
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