A higher Purpose — Giving and Taking
In this week’s Torah(Bible) reading of Trumah — The commentators ask why does the Torah say “Let them ‘take’ unto Me,” instead of “let them ‘give’ unto Me” as we would have expected?
We are all recipients- from the food we eat to the breath we breathe, from our health to our wealth, from our families to our friends, from our senses to our intelligence. As such we need to learn to raise it all ‘for the sake of God’
How does one translate Trumah? The answer lies in a more accurate translation of the word Trumah. While the common translation is a gift or an offering, there is a higher translation. It derives from two separate roots that mean both separate and elevate. To explain, in essence, the contributions to the Mishkan (Temple) were not just a means to an end. True, there was a need for a Temple and Moses conducted a fund drive for contributions towards its construction. But there was much more than that. The process of giving for the Mishkan had intrinsic importance in and of itself.
Human acts derive their meaning and value from context and intention. Therefore, it says ‘let them take UNTO ME a Trumah’; let them be sure to take and bring the Trumah with the right intentions.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe zt”l explained that from this choice of words we learn that it is particularly the recipient of the Trumah’ who needs to be made aware of the obligation to ‘take it’ for the sake of God. The contributor is likely to think about the mitzvah (commandment) he is doing. But the recipient is likely to think that the contribution he received was destined for himself and his family. Therefore, it is the recipient who must be reminded that he is to ‘take it’ for the sake of God.
Let’s Ponder on this — We live in God’s world and are recipients of all kinds of Kindness and Blessings. Fortunate are those who see the Hand of God. Life is not a straight road.
Despite all the blessings, there is much suffering in the world — Health, poverty, and abuse of both people and The Environment.
We are seeing in the world today a force for Tikkun Olam — Repair of the world — through the principles of ESG, Environment, and Sustainability.
On a recent Webinar on the changing way Companies are adopting these principles — I want to share few takeaways — in the 20th Century Natural Resources and People were abused for the sake of Shareholder Profit — In essence, they stole Natural Resources from the People and God for their self interest. Similarly, Tax Avoidance is another form of theft and abuse from people and God. In the Webinar, Prof Mervyn King stated that Today Tax Evasion is frowned upon and not acceptable. Companies and large Conglomerates need to understand this and hopefully, their ESG ratings will reflect this too and they will pay Taxes to the Country, and Governments, in turn, invest wisely for the sake of its citizens.
In essence, the world is becoming more sensitive and caring. There is now a global movement and almost every public-facing company the Sustainability or Integrated Report is gaining more prominence than the Financial Statement. I urge you to look at my recent blog called “ Accountants can save the Planet”
References
Rabbi Sholom Brodt z’l- https://www.shlomoyeshiva.org/
https://www.chabadwestside.org/templates/articlecco_cdo/aid/113928/jewish/Terumah.htm
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Reb Shlomo Carlebach on Parshat Trumah shares a similar message
“ Let them take a portion for me” -Shemot 25:2
This Shabbos we read that G-d told Moshe tell the children of Israel to give gifts to build the Holy Temple. This gift is called Teruma.
Now open your hearts like mad. Do you know what Teruma means? Trumah means a gift, but it has two more meanings. Trumah comes from the word Leromem, to raise high. Trumah also comes from the word Litrom, which means to separate. On a simple level, it means that if I have ten dollars and I give five dollars for the Holy Temple, so I separate this five dollars from the other five dollars. And when I am giving it for a high purpose it means that I was able to Leharim, to make it high. Okay, this is all beautiful, but it’s got to get a little deeper than that.
I want you to open your hearts friends. What is the deeper meaning of the word ‘to separate’? Imagine I am very wealthy, everybody knows about all my riches. I give money here; I put money there. I am sending my donation for the Holy Temple, and then I pay the rest of the bills. How does this giving sound to you? What is missing here? I might be giving two million dollars for the Holy Temple every week, but with this kind of money, you can’t build a Holy Temple. You can build an apartment somewhere, but not a Holy Temple, because it has to be separate. You don’t knock off a telephone bill, a credit card bill, and money for the Holy Temple.
You see what it is, there are a lot of people who believe in G-d, but the G-d they believe in is not special. You know something, a lot of people are married and sometimes they stay in the Hilton in Istanbul, sometimes in the Hilton in Tel-Aviv, and then they come home… but it’s the same feeling, just another place to stay. By some people, when they open the door to their house it is so special… so special. Some people have two cars, two houses and two children; one maid, maybe two maids. Some people might have all of this also, but you know what? They have two children. When they think of what they have, all they see is that they have two children!
So, my darling friends, ‘separate’ does not only have to do with money for the Holy Temple. Everything you do for G-d has to be separate, it has to be special. If you do it in the same sentence as you are doing something else, forget it.
Forget it, don’t waste your time, don’t waste G-d’s time
Chevra I bless you and me that when we talk to G-d,
we talk with a full heart. When we pray to G-d,
we pray with a full heart, our relationship with
G-d has to be so special!
Good Shabbos!
Further Teachings
https://www.souldoctorstories.com/single-post/2020/02/27/even-shlomo-psrsha-trumah