From the above elucidation, the differences between the phrasings of the three instructions for the offerings in the Mishkan can now be understood as well.
“Take (for) Me an offering” references Torah. The idea of Torah is expressed in the word “take,” as opposed to the word “give.” Being that Torah remains separate from man, it is a G-dly wisdom that a person takes and understands (to an extent) in his own mind.
When a person learns Torah he takes “Me.” When an individual studies the Torah, he takes G-d Himself, as Torah and G-d are completely one.
Text 9
... Because the Torah and the Holy One, Blessed be He, are one. The meaning of this is that the Torah, which is the wisdom and will of the Holy One, Blessed be He, and His glorious Essence are one, since He is both the Knower and the Knowledge and so on, as explained above in the name of Maimonides....For the Holy One, blessed be He, has compressed His will and wisdom within the 613 commandments of the Torah and in their laws, as well as within the combination of the letters of the Torah, the books of the Prophets and the Hagiographa, and in the exposition thereof which are to be found in the Agadot and Midrashim of our Rabbis of blessed memory.
Tanya, Ch. 4
The wording, “Take (for) Me” indicates that through the study of Torah one is actually “taking” the Almighty Himself, so to speak, in His essence!
This also explains why the words “vayikchu li,” (take (for) Me) are separated into two distinct words.
When a person “takes” G-d during his Torah study, it is not because the individual has accomplished any grand achievement. It is rather because G-d is enclothed in the Torah, that an individual who studies Torah is able to “take” G-d. The person who “takes” G-d through the study of Torah remains separate from G-d to an extent, as he did not truly merit on his own the awesome levels that he is “taking.”
“My offering” (terumasi) expresses the opposite point. When a person prays, he raises himself to the Heavens and he himself becomes one with the spiritual levels that he has reached.
It is for this reason that the word the Torah uses is “terumasi,” a composite word meaning “My offering.” This represents that when a person prays, he becomes united with G-d.
“And this is the offering that you shall take” describes the mitzvos. When the Torah discusses mitzvos, the reference to G-d is not even mentioned.
This is because when a person does the mitzvos, he does not focus on the spiritual and instead focuses on the physical. When a person fulfills mitzvos, the connection to G-d is not readily apparent, and therefore the verse makes no mention of G-d.
