The parsha starts off:
דבר אל בני ישראל ויקחו לי תרומה
The מפרשים all ask: why does it say ויקחו they should take, and not ויתנו,they should give?
The מדרש רבה says: אמר הקב”ה לישראל מכרתי לכם תורתי כביכול נמכרתי עמה. The מדרש is saying that הקב”ה is כביכול saying that He is given together with the תורה, and that by living a life of תורה, we are taking the רבונו של עולם with us. The מדרש continues with a famous משל of a king who married off his only daughter and told his new son in law” make me a room to stay in, wherever you go with my daughter.” So too the רבונו של עולם wants to be with us as we follow the תורה.
This explains the word ויקחו- we are so to speak taking הקב”ה with us in the building of the משכן.
This is true for the physical משכן, but its also true for the spiritual משכן as well, as חז”ל say, ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם-בתוך כל אחד מישראל The רבונו של עולם dwells inside of us as long as we’re willing to allow him in.
And that is the עבודה of a Yid, to remember to take Hashem with him in his daily life. How do we take Hashem with us?
on the Passuk אחרי ה’ אלוקיכם תלכון it says in חז”ל
-מה הוא רחום וחנון אף אתה הוי רחום וחנון
To follow Hashem means to emulate his giving ways in our daily conduct. Indeed we are told that שלשה סימנים יש באומה זו רחמנים, ביישנים וגומלי חסדים These are the integral traits of כלל ישראל.
The אור החיים הקדוש points out that in the order of the donations given to the משכן, the אבני שוהם and אבני מילואים are listed last, even though they were the most valuable of all the donations. He explains; חז”ל say that the ענני הכבוד brought the אבנים to the doorsteps of the נשיאים. Since there was no effort involved in acquiring it and donating it, it’s listed last in order. What’s most important in the eyes of the רבונו של עולם is the effort and difficulty involved in giving, not in what was given. As the פסוק says מאת כל אשר ידבנו לבו It’s the heart that matters.
And giving goes beyond just charity. The פסוק in משלי says כבד את ה’ מהונך, To which חז”ל say; מכל מה שחננך There are many ways to give. It can be helping out, or a kind word. And this too is included in the idea of taking Hashem with us in our daily life, and living a life of ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם
We’ll conclude with a powerful story told over by Harav Zev Smith שליט”א who heard it directly from the source. He had spoken in Chicago and after the speech was approached by a woman who told him her personal story. Several years earlier she had gotten a terrible diagnosis ר”ל. Still in a state of shock, and unable to prepare supper, she took her kids to the pizza shop. After sitting with her kids as they ate, she got up to leave, when a woman she did not know approached her and said. “I’ve been watching you engage with your kids. You’re a wonderful mother, and may you be Gebenched!” She told Rav Smith that it’s that comment by a random stranger that kept her going through the next 2 plus years of difficult treatments and pain.
We never know what impact our postive words may have.
May we merit taking the רבונו של עולם with us in all that we do and always follow in His ways.
Weekly Parsha Shiur 