Speak to the children of Israel, and have them take for Me an offering; from every person whose heart inspires him to generosity, you shall take My offering. (25:2). Chazal says in vcr arsn(t dk r"una)u tnujb, arsn (c erp) in allusion to this verse (c 's hkan): cU,Fv rnt J vz m¤k ̈l i ¦Y ©z ̈p a Ÿ eh g©w¤l i ¦M For I give you good doctrine; forsake not My teaching (Mishlei 4:2). The meaning in Posuk is that knowledge of the Torah and doing Chesed is a good deal offered to Klal Yisrael by Hashem. The question is asked by all commentaries, what is the connection of the Posuk in Mishlei to our Posuk of giving Teruma? However, the Midrash Tanchuma himself clarifies the connection with two Mashaals: R. Simeon the son of Lakish explained this verse as follows: Once there were two merchants who were traveling together. One of them held a a piece of silk material in his hand, while the other held some pepper in his hand. They said to each other: “Let us exchange our merchandise.” One took the pepper and the other took the silk. What one of them had previously owned was no longer his, and that which the other had owned was, likewise, no longer his. With the Torah, however, this is not so. If one man studies Tractate Ze’raim, and another Tractate Mo’ed, and they instruct each other, each possesses knowledge of both. Truly, is there any merchandise more valuable than this? Therefore, For I give you good doctrine; forsake not My teaching.
Another Mashaal: Once a Torah Scholar aboard a ship, on which many big merchants were traveling with their goods to be sold at a market, was asked by them: “What kind of merchandise do you possess?” He answered: “My merchandise is superior to yours.” Whereupon they searched the boat to examine his merchandise. When they were unable to find anything that belonged to him, they began to scoff at him. Shortly after, sea pirates attacked them, and carried the men and everything they found in the ship away. After some time they reached the port, and all the men were brought to the city, without food to eat or extra clothes to wear. What did the Torah Scholar do? He went to the first Shul he saw, and he sat and studied Torah. When the members of the Shul discovered that he was a Talmid Chacham, he was asked to deliver a sermon. Since the sermon was so beautiful, the people treated him with the greatest respect. They made a collection in his behalf, as was customary and proper for a man of distinction. The important men of the community would walk at his right and his left, accompanying him wherever he went. He was given a place to stay and received new clothing. When the merchants saw what was happening, they went to him and pleaded: “Please, we beg you forgive us for mocking you. Please help us, and speak in our behalf to the men of the city, for you know what has happened to us and how much we lost in the ship. We implore you to ask them to give us some bread, that we may live and not die of starvation.” He answered: “Did I not tell you that my merchandise was better than yours? Yours has been destroyed, but mine endures.” Therefore it says: m¤k ̈l i ¦Y ©z ̈p a Ÿ eh g©w¤l i ¦M For I give you good doctrine. End of Midrash Tanchuma.
From this Midrash we see that studying Torah is a great gift from Hashem and the best reliable business. The word d® ̈nEx §Y is two words 'n d ̈x Ÿ eY alluding to Torah which was given to Moshe after being in heaven for forty days. The word Eg §w¦i§e alludes to a business deal, as purchasing something.
The Kli Yakar, a commentary on the Chumash, answers the Midrash Tanchuma as to the connection to our Posuk with another question, Why do we find in this Parsha that the Posuk constantly uses the words Eg §w¦i§e which mean to “take” and not using the words "epzie” that means ” to give, since the Torah wants us to give and not take?” The Kli Yakar answers that there is a connection between learning Torah and giving Terumah.
The connection is Tzedaka. When a person gives Tzedaka, (Terumah) Hashem will repay him much, much more than he gave. Therefore, when one gives Tzedaka one is both taking and relieving from Hashem. The same concept comes into play when learning Torah. The Gemarah tells us you shall always learn with a partner if possible, yet the ideal learning is when one teaches someone else Torah. Chazal is telling us that by teaching someone else Torah, one will gain vast knowledge of the Torah by virtue of explaining the Torah to your students.
That’s the connection the Midrash makes between the study of Torah and Tzedaka -that with both mitzvoth a person gives something, yet he takes and relieves much more than he gave. Therefore it says: m¤k ̈l i ¦Y ©z ̈p a Ÿ eh g©w¤l i ¦M For I give you good doctrine. Teach someone Torah and you will derive a benefit for yourself more then you gave them.