Terumah - Giving Back

you're listening to the weekly paraa podcast recorded with hashem's never ending assistance in R Israel 5775 2015 this week's paraa is para's truma in the para this week we have hashem's command to the Jewish people God asks them to bring donations to start constructing putting together the pieces and ultimately construct the Mishka and the Tabernacle which would be the the Pinnacle the point of connection between the Jewish people and God the place where the Jewish people would serve God in the way that God would prescribe there's a me here in 33 number eight it says like this the tells us that the Jewish people are to bring a donation to the temple so the M explains that this m is understanding that when the T says shall bring for me a truma the word Lee doesn't only mean for me it can also mean M for my things Hashem is saying to the Jewish people I want you to bring something of mine which you believe or looks like it's yours but I want you to bring it to as as a donation for the temple for the Tabernacle the sages say as follows when it came to the Mana this amazing miraculous food that hasm gave to the Jewish people for 40 years when they were in the in the wilderness so alongside the man as the Mana would fall from the heavens for the Jewish people alongside it there would be precious stones and those indeed who merited to have these precious stones along to their Mana were the great ones the sadim the righteous individuals so they would collect them and they would hide them away you should know says me that this is so as the verse says in referring to the generosity of the Jewish people when it came to their truma when it came to the donation to the Tabernacle it says that they brought another donation in the morning in the morning now what does this mean what they were only bringing in the morning but not in the afternoon it's referring to something that has to do with the morning they were bringing donations that they had received themselves in the morning alongside the Mana which fell in the morning there's a it's a reference to the fact that they received in the morning these precious gems these precious jewels that they brought as a donation to to the Tabernacle so it's very interesting it comes out that the Jewish people when they brought these Don Nations they were actually bringing back so to speak that which belonged to God that which God had given them as a gift they recognized the sadik and the righteous individuals recognized that the gifts that Hashem had given them were indeed to be brought back and returned so to speak donated back to the temple to the Tabernacle which represented their relationship with Hashem and it's very interesting and there's another piece in this mes that also needs explanation but we need to understand why is it why would it be that Hashem would give them a gift that's only for them to return so to speak to Hashem in in as a donation to the Tabernacle now let's look further in this Mages because there's another very interesting idea teaching that this me brings usum Theus tells us this is the donation that they brought says when it was time for Jacob to pass on from the world so many years ago so many years before The Exodus so caran he called his sons together and he said to them Mish that God is going in the future he's going to tell your great great grandchildren to make a tabernacle but I want you all to have ready in your hands so so that your great grandchildren will also have ready in their hands all of the materials that will be needed Shar we see this in the verse in Genesis in 48: 211 God will be with you why is he saying God will be with you what is the what is the reference could you think wasn't with them what he's saying is only going to be with you in the future what's the reference this is what yob was referring to Jacob referring to this concept that we said in the future hasem is going to be with you this is a reference in the fact that Hashem is going to ask you to do something to create a tabernacle so that he will be with you and as a result of creating that Tabernacle hasm is going to bring down his divine presence and he's going to dwell amongst you as the verse says you shall make for me a tabernacle a dwelling place and I will dwell amongst you say a measure very interesting there were those there were those who prepared themselves they held on to those items that Jacob had instructed his children to hold on to to prepare and there were those who forgot about it when Moses came and the Jewish people were instructed to make this Tabernacle there were those who didn't who no longer had the items that were handed down from generation to generation so they had to bring their own things but there were others who maintained that tradition that which was given over from Jacob to his sons and they still had those items from way back when from many generations previous they were able to bring those items finally at the command of Moshe shu this is that this is what we find that it says in the verse there were those who brought these different colored dyed wool blue purples from that which they had in their hands what does it mean from that which they had in their hands it refers to the fact that the there was gopher wood that they had with them what does it mean that they had with them so it's a reference to those items which they had with them which had been passed down from generation to generation that had been prepared by by the a by the by the sh by the original tribes the fathers of the tribes Ru shim Le Yehuda Etc which had been instructed by yob by Jacob himself now this Mish is remarkable it's really interesting and the question is why is it necessary why was it necessary that yaku aino instruct his children to prepare these items for a future time so many hundreds of years later why was it necessary why was it something that he thought of that was in that he was inspired by that Hashem gave him that Vision to be able to see what was going to happen in the future why was it necessary for that preparation to be made so many years in advance so many hundreds of years before and what is the message for us now looking at it it seems clear to me that these two different things these two different statements in the measure are interconnected one statement is the one we just said that yob even instructed his children to prepare these items that are going to be used in the mishkan more than 200 years later but the other statement of the mes I think is a parallel statement is a parallel idea and that is that hasem gave the Jewish people gave the righteous people these a these precious stones alongside the man the Mana he gave it to them for what reason they would hide them they would put them away they would store them and then sometime later when Mosin when Moses requested donations these righteous individuals had that which to donate I think this is a parallel it's like there's something that's being given previously that's being given at a at an earlier time that's being stored away it's being that's being left for a later time and at that time when it's when the moment is Right Hashem instructs the Jewish people to bring out the item that they had previously stored to be used now in the construction of the mishon in the construction of this Tabernacle in their relationship with Hashem now in thinking about this idea I I was reminded of a question an interaction that I had with a with a friend who we talk about spiritual things we we talk about our relationship with God with Hashem and one of the conversations that we've had has to do with the concept of savings with putting putting money aside money Hashem gives me money he gives me the the the money I need to pay my to pay for my groceries to pay for my my mashanta my mortgage you know all the different expenses that come along in my life God provides me with my needs but what about savings what about putting money aside is that something which is in line with hash with the Hasa is that something which is in line spiritual values or does a person say look Hashem provides for me now Hashem always provides for me why do I need to put away money now for a later time why is it necessary and during this discussion I was reminded I had this discussion this week I was reminded of what we spoke about last week with the day borrowing from the night the night borrowing from the day the Stars borrowing from the Moon the Moon borrowing from the from the stars that there are times when Hashem gives a person something a person you knowem hasem gives me money right now sometimes he gives me more money than I need sometimes it gives me less money than I need there are times you know I work my work personally is in music so there are times when there's no music happening during during uh during the Omare during the three weeks and so what do I do then I need to have money set aside from from before if I want to be able to pay my bills or I need to find other work in in another in another area but the but the idea is that sometimes I borrow so to speak for myself sometimes Hashem gives me more now so that I can have what I need later and in Saving and putting money aside there's a recognition of the fact that Hashem takes care of me it it doesn't always work exactly the way I think it's going to work I would like to think that Hashem takes care of me every moment of course it's true but sometimes Hashem gives me now something that I need later and the the concept of putting away money let's say into savings there is room for that in the tire there's room for that in a spiritual practice because it's a recognition of this idea that hashm gives me something now for later and as I was learning this Mages as I was reading this I couldn't help but see that this it seems to be the very idea that this man is teaching the same idea of of borrowing the day barrowing from the night the night borrowing from the day sometimes the way Hashem works the cycles of reality that's is that sometimes Hashem gives something now for later sometimes Hashem gives an inspiration to a yob to a Jacob and says to him in at a later date 200 years from now I'm going to ask my children your children your great grandchildren to enter into relationship with me to build a tabernacle so that I can enter into their homes so that I can dwell amongst them but I want you to start preparing now I want you to put aside those items that they're going to need and it was the same thing with the Mana the the M fell and alongside the M fell these very precious stones and the sadikin put them away they put them away what does it mean they put them away they recognize that they didn't need them now but obviously if Hashem is giving them to them they obviously will need them at some point in the future so what does what does the righteous person do with it the sadic puts it away he hides it he he stores it away and then at the future moment when it becomes clear that those items Hashem wants them back so to speak so they pull them out and they say here they are here are these items I will now donate them to the Mishka and to my relationship with Hashem now think about the power of this this amazing measur this amazing idea I mean can you imagine if you were one of the great great grandchildren in the time of the of the Wilderness where Hashem instructs the Jewish people to now bring out all of those items that they had stored away all the way from the time of yobu Jacob had told his children his children had set aside these items and those children gave them to their children to their children to their children they held on to these items they stored them away throughout their time in Egypt they come into the Wilderness and now says bring out those items that you've been storing for 200 years and now is the time to act activate those items to bring them into your relationship with hem and you bring that item out this is the this is the yusha This Is The Inheritance that you have all the way from Jacob from theim from from your forefathers it's an old item you you it's it's been handed down from the generation through the generations from one generation to another and you finally bring out this thing that it was a legend it was a legendary item in your family and you bring it out and you donated it to the mishkon wow isn't that incredible it's it's powerful it's so powerful but what's what's even deeper to me and thinking about it is like it's look Hashem instructed yobu God said to Jacob God gave him this inspiration put aside these items now because you are going to need them your great-grandchildren are going to need them in the future in their relationship with me when that sadic brings out that precious stone he put it aside he hid it he knew that Hashem is giving the s for a reason and now becomes clear it wasn't it wasn't just happen stance that alongside the Mana came these precious stones no it was because Hashem wanted him to have something to give back how powerful how beautiful it's it's as I bring out that item which Hashem gave me so many generations ago or or a while ago alongside the Mana as I as I bring out that item there's a recognition that hasm gives me what I need Hashem constantly continues to give me what I need right now I'm bringing out that item and I recognize that Hashem gave me then what I need for now and here it's even more beautiful it's not just about savings yeah you know if I put aside money and I recognize that Hashem gave me this money for some later moment it's beautiful when I bring it out but but in this mes is even more beautiful because it's like Hashem gave me these things these items and I held them in my family for Generations so one day I would be able to donate them and feel like here's something I'm giving of mine here's something that I'm giving to Hashem so to speak I'm giving it back I'm part of this relationship wants me to be involved in this relationship and here is this item which Hashem gave me so many years ago so many hundreds of years ago so that I can be able to have this item and give it back to God give it back into my relationship with Hashem and be able to to build a tabernacle a place a space for my relationship with hem you know there's a really famous concept thatal or sages teach us and I've shared this before that that when a teik when a child is inside of its mother's womb our sages tell us G that when he the child is inside the womb it learns the entire Torah and as the child's about to come out of the womb that Malik that angel that spiritual being who taught him the entire Torah causes him to forget Taps him on the lip causes him to forget all the Torah that he learned child comes out doesn't know anything but he spends his life relearning so to speak that Tor that he learned those spiritual teachings that he learned inside of the womb and as he learns those items as he learns those spiritual teachings they're not new they ring they ring is true because it's still inside of him he's forgotten it but he learned it once and and so he brings it out and he and he and he learns it and he reconnects to that which he had before and I was thinking how this meas this statement of our kazal this gamar is really exactly the same statement of this magish that we spoke about with the with yobu with Jacob giving his sons the instruction to put aside these items and and the the margolus tus these precious stones that the sadik and the righteous set aside as well that they receive with their M here's this child this human being being born into the world before he comes into the world he receives he receives those items which he's going to use to build his mishon to build his personal Tabernacle where he's going to to bring the he's going to bring the divine presence into his life he receives those words of Torah he receives those spiritual teachings he forgets them they're they're still there though in the background there's still inside of his heart such that when he learns them again he's not learning them for the first time they're ringing with truth but again like we said this child this person this human being now as he learns these spiritual teachings he is bringing back that which he received so many years ago he's bringing that back and he's offering it back to God and he's using it as a vehicle to build that relationship with Hashem it's so beautiful it's so it's so powerful and it very much parallels what we spoke about last week as we said that there's a borrowing that occurs that child in the womb that child borrows the Tyra he doesn't really earn it he hasn't really worked for it he borrows the spiritual teachings forgets them he gives them back so to speak he forgets it but then he gets it back and there's this Con continuing cycle this continuing movement receiving giving back receiving giving back and there's a recognition that what I I have is not mine Hashem gives me my soul as we spoke about last week Hashem gives me my body at some point I need to return that soul to my Creator at some point I need to return that body back to the ground from which it came but what is the teaching why do I have to go through this process and the answer is that by going through the process I become a partner in the relationship when I bring these items when I bring when the sadic when the righteous individual brings back the gems that hasm gave him alongside his Mana what's he really giving to God he's not really giving anything to God it wasn't even his it was it rain rained down from the heavens or when that person brings these ancient heirlooms that he's given you know that that were passed on from generation to generation what's he really giving to God it's not even his thing it's something that was passed down from before or or there's another me that describes the ter as a myha it's an inheritance it's something which you know like like when a father g a father passes away and he gives his child an inheritance what did the child do to earn that inheritance didn't do anything it's not his but the answer is that that's not true that by putting it away by by putting it aside by hiding it by placing it by by taking that precious gem and recognizing that what I have he doesn't just throw it away and say oh what do I need this for he doesn't just give it to someone else he he he stores it away he recognizes by holding on to it that this is something which is part of hisem part of his service of God by maintaining giving over that that item from generation to generation that heirloom there was a recognition that this is mine and this is something that I need to hold on to that I'm going to give back to God at some point in my service of Hashem when I live in this world and I go through my life and I recognize that the soul that God gave me the body that God gave me were given to me so that I can serve God so that I can go through the process of giving back to God I can protect my soul I can keep it in such a way that that it doesn't get tainted it doesn't get doesn't get tarnished by going through that even as I give it back after 120 years so to speak even as I return my soul to my Creator even as I give back my body to the ground from which it came there's a recognition that by using it properly I was involved Hashem wants me to be a partner in in my own creation hasem wants me to be a partner in the creation of this mishkon of this Tabernacle where I serve hasem where I create that relationship they shall create a tabernacle I will dwell in their midst God says Hashem wants us to be part of this relationship part of this uh hasm wants us to activate create the vehicle to create the vessel where he's going to be part of our lives and it starts with recognition that all that Hashem gives me is to be used for my service of God Hashem sometimes will give me more hasem will sometimes give me less and sometimes I need to take that extra that Hashem has given me and I need to recognize that it's going to be needed for later at some point it's going to be needed for my service of Hashem and sometimes Hashem places into my life something from Generations back which I'm going to need now and everything is part of hashem's plan and everything is for me to utilize in my relationship with hem so that I can be part of that relationship and activate and create a vehicle create a vessel for hasem to come into my life should bless us hasm should bless you please bless me has should bless me and all of us hasem should help us to be able to recognize all the places all the things that he gives us all the items that are meant to be used in our in our service of God we should be we should Merit to be a true vehicle true vessel for God to come into our lives thank you so much for listen listening have a wonderful shabus this podcast was made possible through 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