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"The L·rd spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the children
of Israel, that they take for Me an offering; of every man whose heart
prompts him, you shall take My offering." (25:1-2)
A person should seek ways to transform his mundane desires -- all that
"his heart prompts him" -- into good qualities. From his habitual,
bad traits, he should learn how to serve the Creator with the same passion
and desire, even more intensely.
(Tiferes Shlomo-Toldos, in Sefer Baal Shem Tov, translated by Dr Eliezer
Shore for //baalshemtov.com)
"..and have them bring Me an offering.." (Ex.25:2)
With regard to prayer (which is reckoned in place of the sacrifices all
the while that we do not have the Holy Temple), it is said that a little
with intent is preferable to a great deal without intent. The opposite
is true of charity, where the main point is how much assistance has been
given and how much good has been wrought. The intent here is secondary.
(Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi)
"Of every man whose heart prompts him to give you shall take
My offering." (25:2)
In order for the Divine Presence to rest among the Children of Israel
within the Sanctuary, the Jews needed to exhibit a strong love and desire
to cleave to G-d. Yet love cannot be commanded; love must flow from a
feeling of good will. Contributions to the Sanctuary, therefore, had to
be voluntary, without coercion.
(Rabbi Avrohom of Sochtchov)
"They shall bring Me a contribution." (25:2)
The Torah portion of Teruma (literally Contribution) follows that of Mishpatim
(Laws or Ordinances), to teach us that a person must acquire his wealth
honestly and lawfully. Only then does his contribution to tzedaka have
any value.
(Mekor Baruch)
"They shall take to Me an offering." (25:2)
Our Sages stated: "Money is more dear to the righteous than their
own bodies." At first glance this seems wholly inappropriate. How
can wealth be so important to a truly righteous person? However, the Maharam
of Lublin explained that only the righteous perceive the true power of
money and the great good that can be done with it. How many mitzvot can
be accomplished, how many poor people fed and Jewish educational institutions
maintained!
(Maayana Shel Torah)
"This is the offering you shall take from them, gold and silver
and copper." (25:3)
G-d gives a Jew material possessions so he can turn them
into spirituality.
(Rabbi Shnuer Zalman of Liadi)
G-d commanded that the Tabernacle be built not only of precious
metals, such as gold and silver, but also of copper. We learn from this
that even a very learned person must not consider himself above the "average"
Jew. For, without the simple people, the "copper," the Tabernacle
could not have been built. By the same token, the average Jew - even if
he is not at all learned - should not hesitate to approach G-d and holiness,
for he must remember that the Tabernacle was built also of copper.
(The Lubavitcher Rebbe)
"They will make me a Temple and
I will dwell in their midst." [25:8]
In the heart of each Jew is a spiritual
'temple'. This is the Jewish spark that exists in every Jew. This spark
stays whole forever, but it is our task to reveal and awaken this spark
so that it will burst into a big flame.
(Rabbi Yosef Yitschak Shneerson translated
from Sichat HaShavua 113)
Throughout the long exile, the site of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem always
retained its holiness, as it states, "The Divine Presence never parts
from the Western Wall," for the destruction only damaged the upper
building and not its foundation. Likewise, the sanctuary within every
Jew, the holy Jewish soul, always remains whole and untouched. Only the
"building" is subject to spiritual defilement.
(Hayom Yom)
The "indwelling" of G-d in the Sanctuary is directly proportional
to the amount of effort we invest in sanctifying our personal lives. When
a Jew brought holiness into his daily routine and mundane affairs, it
caused the holiness in the Temple in Jerusalem to intensify as well.
(Avnei Ezel)
"They shall make an ark of shittim wood, two-and-a-half cubits
its length, one-and-a-half cubits its breadth, and one-and-a-half cubits
its height." (25:10)
The dimensions of the ark were measured in "halves" to teach
us that a Jew must be humble and "brokenhearted" when learning
Torah, as the Talmud states (Sukka): "Words of Torah endure only
in one who makes himself as if he does not exist."
(Rebbe Moshe Leib of Sasover)
"They shall make an ark...two and a half cubits shall be its
length, and a cubit and a half its width, and a cubit and a half its height."
(25:10)
Our Rabbis tell us that a wonderful thing occurred when the ark was in
the Holy of Holies: It didn't take up any space! When the ark itself was
in place, and when the ground around it was measured - from the right
side to the left side of the Tabernacle - the measurements remained the
same as before the ark was put in. We learn an interesting lesson from
this: A person who is truly learned in Torah, one who has Torah within
him (in much the same way as the ark contained the two Tablets), does
not "take up space." He is humble, considering himself as nothing,
and does not require that any special honor be paid to him.
(HaDrush Ve-Ha'Iyun)
"Within and without shall you overlay it." (25:11)
A true Torah scholar is one whose "inside" matches his "outside."
Merely learning the lofty principles contained in the Torah is not enough
- its lessons must also be internalized. That is why we say in Psalms
(45:14), "All the glory of the king's daughter is within." The
splendor and glory of the Torah is the internal purity it leads to.
(Kiflayyim L'Toshiya)
"You shall make two cherubim." (25:18)
The wings of the baby-faced cherubim were spread over the ark which
contained the Tablets of the Law. We learn from this that the continued
existence and perpetuation of Torah depends on the "cherubs"
-- the very youngest Jewish children who study Torah and follow its ways.
(Likutei Sichot)
"You shall set upon the table showbread before Me always."
(25:30)
The Hebrew expression for "showbread" is lechem hapanim-literally
"bread of the faces." Its appearance was different to each individual
as the person's own nature was reflected in what he saw. A person with
strong faith in G-d perceived the bread as fresh and steaming hot even
days after it was set on the table; a person with little faith saw it
as cold and stale, for it reflected his own coldness and indifference
to Judaism.
(Rabbi Avraham Mordechai of Gur)
"You shall make a candlestick of pure gold...its cups, its knobs,
and its flowers." (25:31)
Symbolic of the entire Torah, each element of the menora represents a
different part of the Torah's teachings. The six branches of the menora
stand for the sixty tractates of the Talmud. The knobs and flowers represent
the baraitot and meimrot (teachings of the Sages outside the Mishna).
The cups allude to the esoteric teachings of the Torah, for cups are used
to hold wine -- wine being the inner part of Torah, referred to as the
"wine of Torah" (also alluded to in the saying, "When wine
enters, secrets emerge."
(Ohr HaTorah)
"[The menora] all hammered out of one block of pure gold."
(25:36)
The Hebrew for "hammered," mikshe, is of the same root
as "difficult." The hardest thing is to attain the level of
pure gold - that all one's gold and silver should be acquired from a pure
source, through righteous dealing without any hint of deception or fraud.
If one conducts himself properly, he becomes a pure candelabra which illuminates
the heavens.
(Rishpei Eish) (from L'Chaim #809)
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"They should take for me (li) teruma" (Ex. 25:2)
Our sages taught that wherever G-d says "for me", it means that
it will last
forever. It is also written "li" regarding the kingship of the
House of David, the Holy Temple, the altar, the anointing oil, and Teruma.
When Mashiach comes, we will give Teruma in order to build the third Holy
Temple.
[Adapted from Discover Moshiach in the Weekly Torah Portion (by
Rabbi Berel Bell and the students of Bais Chaya Mushka Seminary of Montreal),
as published on www.mashiach.org]
"..and have them bring Me an offering.." (Ex.25:2)
The opening verses enumerate the donations that The Jewish people gave
to build the Sanctuary in the desert and the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.
The Temple protected the Jewish people from exile. Now, when the Holy
Temple is currently not in its place, charity serves like the Temple to
save us from the exile. By giving tzedaka, we bring closer the
revelation of Mashiach, as our sages said, "Tzedakah mikarevet
et Ha-geulah". "Charity brings the redemption closer."
[Adapted from www.Mashiach.org]
"The offering that you shall take from them shall consist of…cedar-
wood…" (Ex. 25:3-5)
The building of the Sanctuary in the desert required cedar-wood. Where
would they get cedar-wood in the desert? Rashi quotes the Midrash: Our
patriarch Jacob prophetically foresaw that the Jewish people would need
to build a sanctuary in the wilderness. Thus he brought cedars with him
to Egypt and planted them there. He commanded his sons to take these with
them when they leave Egypt.
By planting cedars in Egypt, Jacob did not simply show foresight to provide
an eventual need for the Jewish people. With his action he also encouraged
his descendants of the later generations. It strengthened them with an
ability to contend with the darkness of Exile. It strengthened the hope
and courage of Israel at all times. For even in the very thick of the
Exile we have in our midst the "cedars" that our forefather
Jacob planted in every generation.
(From "Living with Moshiach" by Rabbi J. Immanuel Schochet)
"This is the Terumah donation which you should take from them:
gold, silver and brass,…." (Ex. 25:3-6)
These three materials represent the 3 nations of Babalonia, Medea and
Greece, which enslaved the Jewish people. However, iron, which represents
the nation of Edom, was not mentioned. Why? To teach us that when Mashiach
comes and all the nations will want to bring him gifts, Hashem will tell
Mashiach not to accept from Edom, since they destroyed the Beit Hamikdash.
[Adapted from Discover Moshiach in the Weekly Torah Portion (by
Rabbi Berel Bell and the students of Bais Chaya Mushka Seminary of Montreal),
as published on www.mashiach.org]
"This is the Terumah... gold and silver and copper... and ramskins
dyed red... and oil for the light..." [Ex. 25:3-6]
Gold, silver, copper and ramskins dyed red refer to the four nations
who were to enslave the Jewish nation. In the same verse G-d
reassures us that the suffering in exile will lead to the "oil for
the
light". This refers to Moshiach, as it says (Psalms 132:17), "I
have
prepared a light for Moshiach."
[Adapted from www.Mashiach.org]
"You shall also make a table ("shulchan")"
(Ex. 25:23)
The numerical equivalent of the Hebrew word "shulchan" is 388,
the same as the phrase "l'Moshiach," "for [the era of]
Moshiach." In the Messianic era, all of the Temple's vessels and
implements that have been plundered or hidden away will be restored for
use in the Divine service.
(Chomat Anach)[Reprinted with permission from L'Chaim Magazine
(www.lchaim.org).]
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