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כל איש ואשה אשר נדב לבם אתם להביא לכל המלאכה... הביאו בני ישראל נדבה לד'

“Every man and woman whose heart motivated them to bring for any of the work… Bnei Yisrael brought a free-willed offering to Hashem.” (35:29)

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The pasuk begins by pointing out how every man and every woman brought his/her offerings to the Mishkan. Why, then, does it seemingly reiterate its previous statement by saying, “Bnei Yisrael brought a free-willed offering to Hashem”? Horav Mordechai Rogov, z.l., explains that those who give of themselves and their possessions possess a pure and benevolent spirit of generosity which was imbued in them by those who educated them. Chesed, kindness, is taught. It is infused in a person by his rebbeim, teachers, who, along with the scholarly knowledge which they impart, also inculcate their students with ethics and responsibility to reach  out with loving-kindness to their fellow Jew.

David Ha’melech says in Sefer Tehillim 92:14, “Those who are planted in the house of Hashem will flower in the courtyards of our G-d.” It  is in the yeshivos and Torah institutions (“house of Hashem”) which these individuals attended that they were taught the meaning of chesed. When a person has developed deep roots while he is still in the yeshivah, he will flourish further when he leaves for the “courtyards”, when he is involved in commerce in the marketplace, when he interacts in the public arena. Likewise, as the courtyard leads to the house accessing entry into the home, these individuals view their secular/mundane endeavors as being close extensions of the bais ha’medrash – opportunities for applying the Torah values imparted to them in the yeshivah. It is through these endeavors that their avodas Hashem, service to G-d, flourishes, as they contribute “back” to support the Torah institutions.

Our pasuk tells us of the men and women who came forward wholeheartedly  to  contribute  towards  the  building  of  the  Mishkan. What inspired them to seize this wonderful opportunity and participate with such enthusiasm? It was because they had been raised in an environment that taught an appreciation of chesed, where it was common that “Bnei Yisrael brought a free-willed offering for Hashem.” The ones who had previously responded to support these institutions, in which educating their charges with a sense of responsibility and generosity for the Jewish People, provided Klal Yisrael with men and women of benevolence. They, in turn, then devoted themselves to the construction of the Mishkan. It has to start somewhere. The Torah recognizes the source.

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