Thought of the week:
What’s important is not how much you give, but how much you give of yourself.
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“Any man and woman whose hearts inspired them to bring... so brought the children of Israel a donation to Hashem.” (Shmos 35:29)
The Parsha goes into great detail about how the Jews responded to the call for building the Mishkan. Certainly, this was a moment where our people shone and deserved the spotlight. People were quick not only to donate money or items, but to work and produce what was needed. It happened so quickly that they covered the budget and got all they needed while people were still preparing to bring more!
Over the course of a number of pesukim, we are told that there who men who did such-and-such, and men who brought this or that. Then we are told that women brought certain things, while other women did intricate work for the Mishkan. It seems to delineate the various offerings by who was bringing them, praising the men and women separately for what they did.
In this posuk, however, the Torah combines men and women in a single statement of what they did. Why, now, does the Torah change and put them together? If it planned to do this, why make the other verses gender-specific?
Perhaps we can suggest that initially, the Torah outlined the various gifts each person brought based on their situation. Some were things men could offer, while others were things women could offer, and still others were things that only select individuals could offer. The diversity of the population enabled them to offer different things that would work together to complete the whole project. No one was able to take credit for doing more than anyone else, because each person had their own part to do.
However, our posuk is different. It speaks of the one thing that everyone can and should do equally. This verse, explains the Malbim, teaches us that the donations the people brought were not the main things Hashem appreciated. Instead, Hashem wants our hearts. It could very well be that some people brought nothing, but were included here.
A poor person who had nothing to donate, but felt in his heart and mind that he wanted to; that if he had the wherewithal, he would sponsor the entire Mishkan and all its vessels, such a person – man or woman – was giving Hashem exactly what He wanted. The donation Hashem seeks from us is our desire to be close to Him and to do good things. Whether we are able to bring them to fruition or not is irrelevant.
The person who brought nothing but wished he could, was more pleasing in Hashem’s eyes than those who donated because it looked good to their neighbors, or because “everyone is doing it.” Such devotion and dedication knows no bounds and is universally-approachable for any of us. Nothing can stop us from wanting to give, and this is the only thing Hashem can’t provide Himself.
Inspiration from R’ Paysach Krohn
R’ Paysach Krohn became a Mohel (ritual circumciser) at a young age and found it difficult at first to find work. Trying to support his widowed mother and orphaned siblings at the age of 21, he felt the strain of people not trusting his abilities because of his youth.
One day, a man approached him and said, “My wife is expecting. When she has a baby, YOU’RE going to do the bris!” R’ Paysach got tremendous chizuk and encouragement from this and was able to push on and find opportunities to perform brissim.
A few months later, the fellow had a baby - a girl! R’ Paysach was still grateful for the confidence the fellow had placed in him. He would later call it, “The greatest bris I never performed.”
©2024 – J. Gewirtz
