Hello Friends...and welcome to Torah Thoughts from Adas Israel the Jewish Congregation of Northern Iowa which is based in Mason City. A word about our service schedule: We will meet for Erv Shabbat on Friday the 10th of March at 7:00PM and then our Midrash (Learning Session) will be on Shabbat the 11th of March starting at 10:00AM. The Torah Portion for that Shabbat is Ki Tisa (Ex. 30:11 - 34:35). We hope to see you in shul.
Parsha Terumah
The portion for this Shabbat is Terumah (Ex. 25:1 - 27:19). The word "terumah" means gift or offering as we read in the first sustenance: "Hashem spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the Children of Israel and let them take for me a portion (gift), from every man whose heart motivates him you shall take My portion." Why was this happening? The offering or gift is meant to start the building of the Mishkan (dwelling place) which you may know as the Tabernacle.
But wait! If this were meant to be a gift or an offering why does the Torah say "take" rather than "give"? The rabbis tell us that this commandment was meant for the leaders who were to "take" or make collections from the masses. They were not to levy a tax on the people but to request voluntary contributions.
But the surprising thing was that the people responded and in just two days the people flooded the treasury with their contributions. In addition when we contribute to G-d's causes we do, indeed, take for ourselves the benefit of being generous. To give to others is what we are commanded to do. In Hebrew, the word for charity is “tzedakah” and it is best translated as “righteousness” or “justice.”
The Giving Heart
This is a central theme of being Jewish. Look at any donor wall of nearly every non-profit that deals with doing good or enhancing the arts or the education of others and you will find many Jews there. While we are not alone in our gifting we are also commanded to have that giving heart. In this portion we are doing so to build the dwelling place for G-d. And in doing so the Children of Israel would know that G-d would actually dwell among them.
Why?
So, why would Hashem wish to actually have a dwelling place and actually live among the Jews? If you remember the story of the Golden Calf then you know that Israel, for a time, fell away from their special status of being treasured by G-d. This action of building a dwelling place for Hashem brought Israel back. The other issue is that the people were constantly faced with the pagan rites of others and G-d knew that far too often there was that desire or temptation right in front of them. So to, in a way, protect and remind them...He was right there.
Even today G-d speaks to us...if we are listening. For example if you go to say Applebee's for dinner you might be tempted to order those golden, encrusted shrimp that we see advertised on TV. Or perhaps you are at an event and that ham sandwich looks pretty darn good and as you reach for it you can hear G-d saying in both cases. "Nope, not for you...now or ever."
But the key is...we must listen.
Some Personal News
The past several days have been tough. On Wednesday of this past week, Adar 1, 5783, I received a message that my rabbi and close personal friend Aaron Schwarzbaum had died that morning. He was not only a spiritual leader and a wise and loving person he was responsible for lighting the fire or aish of Torah Learning in me and hundreds of others. We had quite the run when he was the Rabbi of Beth El Jacob here in Des Moines and I served as the president there. Our Shabbat adventures, traveling to other communities to learn and teach the events in Israel and here were all wonderful experiences. I will treasure them forever. Rabbi Aaron and I would visit by phone and while I knew he was ill he would always answer by concerns by saying, "Baruch HaShem, it is all in G-d's hands.". Before coming to Des Moines Rabbi Aaron was the founder of Torah Life and Living a non-profit dedicated to helping Jews, who may have strayed, come back to Judaism as well as The Shabbos Challenge which encouraged Jews to complete an entire Shabbat and enjoy its beauty.
On Thursday of this past week several of his family members traveled to Israel, where Aaron was born, for his burial.
You can read more about Rabbi Aaron and, if you are moved to assist in the costs of his care and burial here is a link to the Chesed Fund.
Thank you for reading and Shabbat Shalom!
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