In the middle of this week’s Parsha the Passuk writes about Terumos and Maasros that a person has to give to the Kohen and Levi from his produce. Then the Parsha continues to the Parsha of Sotah, about a married woman that her husband suspects that she is having a relationship with someone else. She has to go to the Beis Hamikdash and if she claims to be innocent she has to drink a special water which will check her. If she is guilty she will die, if she is innocent she will stay alive.
The Gemara asks what is the connection between the two?
The Gemara answers that it comes to teach us that if a person withholds the Terumos and Maasros that he has to give to the Kohen, in the end he will have to go to the Kohen anyways with his wife who is suspected of being a Sotah.
This Gemara needs an explanation. On one hand we see the Midah keneged Midah (the connection between the sin and it’s punishment) that the person that tried to run away from the Kohen in the end had to come to the Kohen. But where is the comparison between the severity of the sin to such a serious punishment? And if the man sinned why does his wife get punished? If it was a punishment to make him go to the Kohen why not punish him with Tzaraas, which needs to be judged by a Kohen?
Let us understand the Mitzva of Terumos and Maasros. The tribe of Levi and the Kohanim never received a proper share of land in Eretz Yisrael. They were given a few towns where they lived but they never received a share like the rest of Klal Yisrael. Instead their share was sort of divided out to the rest of Klal Yisrael and Klal Yisrael have to give them a small share of their annual produce. The Kohen receives Teruma and the Levi receives Maaser Rishon.
The Rambam (end of Hilchos Shmitah Veyovel) explains Shevet Levi was separated by Hashem to serve in the Beis Hamikdash and to teach Klal Yisrael the ways of Hashem. They are Hashem’s army and Hashem takes care of the Parnassa (to be provided by their brethren). They are busy teaching Torah to Klal Yisrael so they need to study and they need to teach, so Hashem takes care of their Parnassa. (Just like every country supports their army).
But this makes the question even greater. No country will tell their soldiers to go around collecting their food from the population. So why did Hashem set it up in a way that the Leviim have to go around collecting their Maasros. Furthermore, Hashem has so many ways of providing Parnassa, why didn’t Hashem provide them with easy Parnassa like the Mann?
The answer is that Hashem wanted to give Klal Yisrael the Mitzva and merit of being able to support the Leviim.
How?
A farmer works all year round. He plows, plants, works on the field, harvests and so on. After a year of hard work and reaping the fruits of his hard work he thinks to himself, “I have worked so hard, why do I need to share my earnings with Kohen and Levi, who never did any work at all in my field.”
But the answer is that there is a partnership between the Gashmiyus (materialism) and Ruchniyus (spirituality). Hashem wanted every Jew to understand that life isn’t just a cycle of working, eating, sleeping and worldly pleasures. There is a spiritual part to a person’s life too. We have a Torah and those that learn the Torah. We need that Torah study no less than those who are studying need our support. We need Rabbanim, Rebbis, Roshei Yeshiva, Maggidei Shiur, all of those that will help transfer the Torah to us, to our children, to the next generation. So I have to give them a small percentage of my earnings, of my produce to help them survive and they provide me, my children and of Klal Yisrael with a spiritual life. I provide them with food to stay alive in this world and in return, besides teaching me and my family Torah, I will receive reward in Olam Habba for the support I gave them and will have a share in the Torah they learned.
The person that understands this is happy to give Terumos and Maasros, happy to give charity to support Torah for their hard earned money. At the same time such a person explains to their family that work isn’t the only thing in life, money isn’t the only goal in life, there is a much more important part to a Jewish life, an eternal spiritual part. This educates a family to have appreciation to Torah and Torah study.
But the person who tries to avoid giving Terumos and Maasros, tries to avoid supporting Torah and Chessed, spends his life just accumulating money to enjoy life, the more the better, such a home has no spirituality, no ethics and no morals; it’s all about having maximum worldly pleasures. If that is the message that comes across in a home, then the family follows suit and in the end the husband had to come with his wife to the Kohen for suspicion of not following a Torah life.
A Chassid came to his Rebbi the Tiferes Shlomo and asked him for a blessing for success on his upcoming trip to the fair in the big city. The Rebbe asked him, “if you see a good pipe for a good price please buy me one.”
The man traveled to the fair and completely forgot about his Rebbe’s request. When he arrived back in his hometown he suddenly remembered his Rebbe’s request. He immediately went to the best tobacco store in his town and bought an expensive pipe for his Rebbe. He came to the Tiferes Shlomo and happily gave him the gift.
The Rebbe looked at the bag and the gift and immediately realized that the man had bought it locally. He looked at the Chassid and said sternly, “you fool. Do you really think I needed your pipe? I wanted you to keep me in mind whilst you were in the city and not to get carried away by everything going on in the city. But if you completely forgot about me there, so what did I gain by getting the pipe?”
