The soul of giving

We are asked to give. Give of our possessions. Give to a higher, common purpose. This represents a big switch here in the narrative of the Torah. The Parsha is called T’rumah means a gift.

There is a famous question?

Who benefits more when we give? We or the receiver?

שמות כה׃ב

Exodus 25:2

דבר אל־בני ישראל ויקחו־לי תרומה מאת כל־איש אשר ידבנו לבו תקחו את־תרומתי׃

Speak to the people of Israel, that they bring me an offering; from every man that gives it willingly with his heart, you shall take my offering.

The Torah is devoting 450 verses to building the Mishkan. The building of the Mishkan is an act of doing. An act of building.

We teach our kids to build lego. We are much more attached to something when we build.

There is a greater value here. My father by trade was a carpenter. He built a few nice items of furniture. These are now items of high sentimental value.

This same applies when we, my wife makes a nice meal or bake something special.

There is the attention to detail, the enjoyment of doing, the pleasure we have when others appreciate the quality and effort.

So, we have two concepts we are looking at:

1. Giving to a higher cause or to those who need it.

2. A physical doing — doing something constructive with a sense of purpose.

I believe this is the secret of life and there is a much deeper message here.

Today, there is a phenomenon of mental health challenges. Many people including children are struggling with mental health.

Everybody in some way suffers from sort of low self-esteem. We question what is the purpose of life?

While the answers to this are complex, I believe that if we meditate over the value of giving and doing as I have tried to explain briefly, this could be a meaningful place to start.

Let’s also look at:

Effort vs. result

What is more important is the effort or the result? Our Efforts in building, trying to improve ourselves are very important. This is not necessarily always so obvious. Also, all the inconveniences, struggles are part of the process of life. These are opportunities for growth.

Communal Giving

Everybody was asked to contribute with their ‘heart” and with their abilities to give, There is a sense of common purpose and doing this together.

We have seen the use of cause match in matching donations. While we can skeptical of the approach, one can argue that is an opportunity for little me to give my NIS 180 shekels to a cause that I identify with. It is an opportunity to give back to an organisation that I have benefited from or a cause I want to be part of. An opportunity to be part of a greater cause.

Philanthropy — A Jewish calling — a Global Call?

Indeed, Citi Bank posted this study

Going into more detail,

In the next few weeks, I would look to explore some of these questions:

1. Giving vs Volunteering?

2. What is the Ideal form of giving?

3. Can Business (making money), giving, and doing good go hand in hand.

4. Not all charities (causes) are good or equal.

5. Impact Investing vs. Philanthropy

I will end with this spoiler

“The highest form of charity is to give a gift, loan, or partnership that will result in the recipient becoming self-sufficient instead of living upon others”

The 12th Century Jewish Sage the Rambam (Maimonides)