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מקבץ נדחי עמו ישראל

Roberto Szerer
In Terumah, 5778

Mekabeitz nidchei amo Yisrael. Who gathers together the dispersed of His nation Yisrael?

Each and every Jew has spiritual potential. These spiritual energies or sparks of holiness, nitzozos, are mischanelled when we do not use our spiritual potential properly. Thus, we are unable to experience the full experience of life due to a limited supply of spiritual energy. We pray to Hashem that He gathers our personal sparks and brings back all of the spiritual energies to their proper potential. Similarly, when Adam HaRishon sinned, he caused the tzinoros hashpaah, Heavenly channels of holiness, to shatter, thereby spreading sparks of holiness throughout the world, where they are not imprisoned inside klipos ha’tumah, shells…

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Home -> 5778 -> Terumah

ועשית את הקרשים למשכן עצי שטים עמדים

Roberto Szerer
In Terumah, 5778

You shall make the planks of the Mishkan of shittim (Acacia) wood, standing erect. (26:15)

The Midrash observes that atzei shittim refers to wood derived from a tree that does not bear fruit. Chazal explain that, if in the future, a person would want to build a house of wood from a fruit-bearing tree, he would be prevented from doing so by applying a simple logic. If the King of Kings, Hashem, to Whom everything in this world belongs, said that His Mishkan should only be built from wood from a type that does not bear fruit, how can a human being make a different decision? We derive from here that whatever we do, regardless…

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Home -> 5778 -> Terumah

ויקחו לי תרומה מאת כל איש אשר ידבנו לבו תקחו את תרומתי

Roberto Szerer
In Terumah, 5778

And they shall take for Me a terumah/tithing/portion from every man whose heart motivates him, you shall take My portion. (25:2)

As mentioned earlier, the question on this pasuk is: Why does the Torah use the word v’yikchu, rather than v’yitnu? Would it not have been more correct had the Torah asked them to give a donation? After all, is this not what they were being asked to do? Horav Shlomo Wolbe, zl, explains this by applying the well-known Chazal in Meseches Kiddushin (7a) concerning the obligation that (in order to make a kinyan, halachic acquisition) the man must give the woman either a perutah, penny, or shavah perutah, value of a penny. By accepting the money, she becomes makneh, gives…

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Home -> 5778 -> Terumah

דבר אל בני ישראל ויקחו לי תרומה מאת כל איש אשר ידבנו לבו

Roberto Szerer
In Terumah, 5778

Speak to Bnei Yisrael and let them take for Me a terumah/tithing/portion, from every man whose heart motivates him. (25:2)

Nedivas ha’lev, a donation from the sincerity of one’s heart, is the loftiest level of generosity. It is easy to write a check – if one has the money to back it. Easy come – easy go. Generosity of the heart demands sincerity; it is not about the amount of money that one gives. It is how much of himself he gives with that money. The purity of money is based upon the sincerity behind it. When one seeks to establish an abode for Hashem, a place where the Divine Presence will repose, it must be the result of funds…

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Home -> 5778 -> Terumah

ויקחו לי תרומה

Roberto Szerer
In Terumah, 5778

And they shall take for Me a terumah/tithing portion. (25:2)

The command to build the Mishkan was not a one-time command, but rather, it is relevant to every Jew, every day of his life, at every juncture in history. The command begins with an ambiguous term, v’yikchu, “and they shall take,” when the correct vernacular should have been v’nasnu, “and they shall give.” Obviously, we can derive much from this. We will focus on the Midrash that equates the v’yikchu in this pasuk with the v’yikchu in the pasuk in Mishlei (4:2), Ki lekach tov nasati lachem, Torasi al taazovu, “For I have given you a good deal – My…

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