Put Your Gold Money Where Your Love Is Baby; Before You Let My Deal Go Down (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia - "Loser")

            Earlier this week, my wife and I brought our fifteen-year-old daughter to the airport bound for Israel. She joined approximately sixty-five classmates to form “Team Shalva” a participating non- profit sponsor organization for the Jerusalem Marathon. In order to be on the “team” and run in the Jerusalem Marathon, each “team member” committed to raising more than $3000 USD for Shalva, an Israeli non-profit that provides support, education, and training for special needs children and their families.  For the past several months, our daughter asked our family and friends for donations, she babysat, and she ran a winter break camp for little children. She also put in her own birthday gift money that she received from family and friends over the course of the year.  I was curious what her rationale was for contributing her own money. She explained that she did not feel comfortable raising money for a cause if she wasn’t willing to contribute more than just her time. Smiling, she reminded me that I am always telling our children about authenticity and integrity “putting your money where your mouth is” and “being able to walk the walk if you are going to talk the talk”.        

This week we combine the final two Parshiot, Vayakahel-Pekudie, and complete the Book of Exodus. Following the sin of the Golden Calf and Teshuvah (repentance), B’nai Yisroel begins executing God’s instructions for the Mishkan, the Ark, and the Tent of the Meeting. You will recall that when God gave these instructions to Moshe, God started from the middle of the Mishkan – the Aron and worked out to the walls of the Tent of the Meeting.  When B’nai Yisroel begins the building process, it begins with walls of the Tent, and then concludes with the altar and finally the Ark. After the destructive behavior of worshipping the Golden Calf, B’nai Yisroel comes together and shares a common constructive experience bound by a common goal.

 Their goal is to complete the construction of the Mishkan. The common experience is their contributions of raw materials. V’Yavo’u  Kol Ish Asher Nasahu Libo V’chol Asher Nadvah Rucho- Every man whose heart inspired him came; and everyone whose spirit motivated him brought the portion of God for the work of the Tent of the Meeting, for all its labor and for the sacred clothing (Ex.35:21). The Or HaChaim explains that there were types of givers: those whose “spirit motivated them” to give what they could afford, voluntarily and wholeheartedly. However, there was a second category and perhaps an even nobler category of people whose “heart inspired” them to do more than they could afford since their desire to share in the building of the Mishkan was so incredibly powerful. Their desire to undo the damage of the Golden Calf was so strong they were inspired to an even greater degree. Whether part of the first or second category of donors, everyone who gave was considered to have participated in this constructive process. Everyone had an opportunity to repent for the sin of the Golden Calf and for their lack of faith. If viewed as a process, B’nai Yisroel began on the outside of its relationship with God, struggling to connect to God by means of idolatrous behavior.  After its repentance and with the completion of each aspect of the Mishkan and the Ohel Moed; Bnai Yisroel began moving towards the Holy of Holies. They started with the walls of the Tent of the Meeting and finished with the ark. They started where they were capable of starting. However their goal was to be spiritually worthy enough to approach the Aron, and the Ark of the Covenant.

 When a group, a team, a community bound by a common goal, a common purpose or a common desire to experience that which is authentic; then something very special happens. Our people build a Mishkan. They experience a closeness to God that they were unable to experience either as individuals or at a lower level of spiritual development. Our children raise money for a worthwhile cause, participate in a spiritual and physical deed that tests them. They share the experience together and something special happens. They learn not only something about themselves but what it means to be part of something more than just themselves. They understand the importance of not only their personal relationship to God but the community’s relationship to God. The result, of course, is that God will dwell among the community that built the Mishkan and God will dwell among those teenagers who raise the money and run in a marathon for the sake and welfare of others.

Peace,

Rav Yitz

Learn To Speak, Speak With Wisdom Like A Child Directly To The Heart (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia - "Foolish Heart")

Our ninth grade daughter has been involved in a major fundraising project for SHALVA, an Israeli charitable organization that helps special needs children and their families. Our daughter chose to participate in a fundraising project that, if she fulfilled her quota, she would be able to participate in the Jerusalem Marathon in a couple of weeks.  She canvassed, she had a bake sale, she helped to operate a day camp for elementary school age children during the recent winter vacation, and she and a friend sold Shabbat desserts. She raised funds in small increments: $5, $10, and $20. She raised funds in larger $100 increments. She sent emails, and she created a website for her project. She learned about SHALVA and how this organization helps special needs children and their families. She even began an exercise regimen involving running and walking so that she could complete the Jerusalem Marathon. No, she won’t be running 26.2 miles. She will be running/walking a 10k (6.2 miles) through the streets of Jerusalem.

This Shabbat we read from Parsha Terumah. In it, Moshe has re-ascended the mountain in order to receive the laws, and the blueprint, if you will, for the construction of the Mishkan, the portable tabernacle that will eventually permit B’nai Yisroel to gather, to make offerings to God and to provide a physical dwelling for God. If you are an architect, or if you are an interior decorator, this Parsha goes into tremendous detail about Mishkan’s construction and decoration. More than anything, this Parsha is all about fundraising, financial development, and a  community getting behind a concrete common cause as opposed to the shared experience of revelation or shared words of law.

Before all the detail are presented for construction and decoration, God commands Moshe to tell B’nai Yisroel that the funding for this vital public works project will come from each individual V’Yikchu Li Terumah Mei’eit Kol Ish Asher Yidvenu Libo Tikechu et Terumati – They shall take for me a portion, from every man whose heart motivates him, you shall take my portion (Ex. 25:2). The holiest spot within the community, the most sacred area is based upon each and every individual apportioning a percentage of their assets to the construction of, decoration of, and maintenance of the Mishkan. How incredibly equitable! Everyone is involved and everyone has a stake in the outcome. All this fundraising success occurs as a result of Yidvenu Libo- literally, he will donate according to his heart. This is not a tax. These funds were to be raised by voluntary donations. The Or Hachayim (Rabbi Chaim Ibn Attar 18^th century Moroccan Talmudist, Torah Commentator and Kabbalist) explains that three phrases, three expressions correspond to three degrees of “gifts”/ “donations”.  He explains that the phrase: Mei’eit Kol Ish, from every man appears superfluous. The verse could have easily be written without it so that the new verse would have read: They shall take for me a portion from anyone whose heart motivates (from anyone willing to donate), you shall take my portion. Why is the phrase necessary? The verse speaks of “Terumah -gift” and “Terumati – my gift.” The term “my gift” cannot be used except when the donor has done so willingly. The donor could not have been coerced. According to the Midrash, this Mishkan, this “mobile worship station” was a form of atonement for Golden Calf (Jerusalem Talmud Shekalim 1:5). This phrase “from every man” indicates that each individual person donated this project above and beyond the designated “atonement tax”.  “From every man” also indicates that economic station and social status was irrelevant. The motivation was based upon “one’s heart” and not some external authority.

As our daughter showed us her SHALVA website which tracked the funds that she raised, I noticed something different about her. She appeared more mature. She seemed to have a sense of self confidence that did not exist prior to this accomplishment.  She also seemed to exude a type of integrity that didn’t exist prior to this project. Our daughter donated several hundred dollars of her own money before she even began asking others to give Yidvenu Libo –according to motivation of one’s heart. She gave whole heartedly touched by the mission of the organization, touched by the children, and empowered to make a difference. Probably the chance to earn a trip to Israel and participate in the Jerusalem Marathon also contributed to her sense of urgency and her passion. Clearly, our daughter was basking in the glow of Terumah, the glow of a gift. Her sense of accomplishment was her gift, and the money raised was SHALVA’s gift. However our daughter also gave us a gift. Our daughter gave us the gift of watching her grow up a bit, mature a bit and begin to blossom into a thoughtful, passionate, committed, intelligent and resourceful young woman. Indeed, as a father of three daughters, I can’t imagine a better gift from than that.

Peace,

Rav Yitz