Parsha Terumah תְּרוּמָה

Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, of blessed memory, served for decades as England’s rabbi emeritus, and he would tell a very sweet story that I want to share with you.

As Rabbi Sacks remembers it, he was around seven or eight years old at the time, and he wanted to get his father something for his—his father’s--birthday.  The young Jonathan was pretty stumped, given that his parents had always given gifts to HIM and that he’d never thought about trying to reciprocate, and that he didn’t have much money. What could he possibly do for his father, the man who sacrificed so much to raise and educate four boys, of whom Jonathan was eldest?

So, the young man went shopping, and while in a store he found a really cheap plastic trophy.  On the trophy were written the words, “The World’s Best Father.”  And he bought it. Looking back, Rabbi Sacks tells readers, he is embarrassed to even think that he did such a cheesy thing.  He is embarrassed that his younger self could somehow think that an inexpensive piece of plastic could be an expression of love. An expression of gratitude.

But do you know what happened?  Sacks the elder thanked his son, and he put that plastic trophy on his nightstand by his bed. And after his father died, Sacks returned home and found that that little trophy was still right there by his father’s bedside.

What does this story have to do with our parsha this week, parsha Terumah?  I think it’s key to understanding the parsha.  In the Sedra, we will hear all the instructions that God will give Moshe and that Moshe will give to the people, instructions to build a Mishkan, a portable schul.  A home for God.

 Now let me ask you all:

• Does God need a home? 
• Is there any home that could accommodate God?
• Could God have built his own home if God had wanted to?
• Is there any material thing at all in this universe that God needs?

I think we all agree that the answer to each of these questions is a resounding NO.  God doesn’t lack for anything; therefore, God doesn’t need anything.  But the people need something. Like the young Sacks, the Israelites need to show God their love. They need to share a project, a building project, that will bond them as a community and enable them to express their faith in Adonai.  Does God need that? I don’t think so. But, like Sacks’s father, God accepts the love of the chosen people. God accepts the offering that B’nai Israel has made. Don’t forget that they have given up all their jewelry and much of their silver and gold to ensure that the Temple will be as beautiful as it can possibly be. Remember too that Moshe has to tell them to STOP because they have been so generous. 

Like the elder Sacks, God knows that the Israelites could never really give him something God needs. God has everything. But, like the elder Sacks, God allows the people to express their love and devotion. God allows the relationship to be reciprocal.

Let’s think about that, not only when we GIVE gifts, but also when we RECEIVE them.