Weekly Dvar Torah: Three Contributions; Torah, Prayer, and Mitzvos
When G-d instructs Moshe to build Him a Mishkan, a sanctuary, G-d asks the Jews to contribute:
דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְיִקְחוּ לִי תְּרוּמָה מֵאֵת כָּל אִישׁ אֲשֶׁר יִדְּבֶנּוּ לִבּוֹ תִּקְחוּ אֶת תְּרוּמָתִי.
“Speak to the children of Israel, they shall take for Me a contribution; from every person whose heart is benevolent, take My contribution.
וְזֹאת הַתְּרוּמָה אֲשֶׁר תִּקְחוּ מֵאִתָּם זָהָב וָכֶסֶף וּנְחֹשֶׁת.
And this is the contribution that you shall take from them: gold, silver, and copper;
G-d mentions three types of contributions; “for me a contribution”, “take My contribution” and “the contribution”.
The first one is for Hashem, the second one is described as Hashem’s contribution, and the third one is a contribution from the Jews for the construction of the Mishkan.
Further on G-d says:
וְעָשׂוּ לִי מִקְדָּשׁ וְשָׁכַנְתִּי בְּתוֹכָם.
And they shall make Me a sanctuary and I will dwell in them.
The highpoint of the sanctuary was not just the physical structure, but rather G-d is looking to dwell in the midst of every Jew.
And this comes about by way of three types of contributions.
The first one is “take for me a contribution”, it should have said “give to me a contribution”? But when a Jew studies Torah, he takes G-d wisdom and draws it down from the loftiest levels to his own physical brain, this is a contribution by taking from G-d and making a dwelling place in your mind for Him.
The second one is “from every person whose heart is benevolent, take My contribution (for the service in the temple)”, worshipping G-d from the heart is the service of prayer, when a Jew prays, it’s like a ladder whose bottom is grounded, and the top reaches the sky, you are contributing by reaching upwards to get close to Hashem.
Finally, the third one is “the contribution that you shall take from them; gold, silver, and copper”, these are plain simple contributions to build a physical dwelling place for G-d, and this is what we accomplish by doing Mitzvos with physical matter, like giving money for charity, lighting a candle for Shabbos, enjoying a festive Shabbos meal, and using parchment for Tefillin.
When comparing the three, the last one seems like the lowest level of contributions, but in reality, this is the most important one.
The first two contributions are in the spiritual realm, we connect to G-d with our minds and our hearts, intellectually and emotionally, but when we do a Mitzvah we draw G-dliness down into the material and the mundane, and this is the ultimate purpose of creation, to make for G-d a place in the physical that He can call home, that’s why it is the contribution from them, from us, and not G-d’s contribution by Him coming close to us, or our spiritual contribution for G-d, this one comes completely from the people manifest in the material.
And this contribution from the people, is the sanctuary that G-d is asking for; “make Me a sanctuary and I will dwell in them”, in the people who are giving of themselves with their physical wealth and their physical actions.
Invite G-d into your home when you prepare a delicious Shabbos meal, this is the home that G-d is looking for.
Until Moshiach comes and he will build the Third Temple in Jerusalem, and then we will all see G-d’s glory revealed in our midst.
Have a deliciously contribute-full Shabbos,
Gut Shabbos
Rabbi Yosef Katzman
