Dvar Torah Parashat Terumah
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Dedicated in Honor of the Wedding of Elliot & Joanie LevyBy the Dweck & Levy Families _______________________________________________________ Parashat Terumah
Better Days Are Coming Rabbi Biderman says in his book, Torah Wellsprings the following beautiful message. In the beginning of this week’s parasha the passuk says, “This is the donation that you shall take from them: “gold, silver, and copper… and the woods of shitim—acacia." Rashi asks: From where did they have wood in the desert? Reb Tanchuma explains, “This is the wood that Yaakov Avinu saw with his ruach hakodesh—prophetic message that the Jews would build a Mishkan—tabernacle in the desert, so he brought cedar wood to Egypt, and he planted them there. He told his children that when they leave Egypt they should take the wood along with them. Why was Yaakov Avinu concerned specifically about wood in the desert? The other items that were needed for the Mishkan weren’t available in the desert either. For example, they needed precious gems for the eifod—apron, and they needed the skins of the techashim—multicolored animal for the curtains of the Mishkan. Hashem supplied them with their needs in the desert when they needed them. The Gemara (Yoma 75a) says that the gems fell with the mann, and Hashem created the techashim for that short period of time, and they were able to build the Mishkan. Just as Hashem provided the gems and the rare skins, Hashem could have provided the wood as well. Why did Yaakov see it necessary to plant them so that they would have them in the desert? Rabbi Yosef Greenwald and the Lubavitcher Rebbe zt'l answer that Yaakov Avinu planted these shitim trees in Egypt to give hope to the Jewish nation. While in Mitzrayim when the Jews saw the shitim trees growing it reminded them that one day, Hashem will free them, and they will build a Mishkan with these woods. Chazal say, "When Adar arrives, we should be very happy". The holy Ruzhiner zt'l teaches that one way to be in a state of happiness is to believe that Hashem will help us right away. Whatever a person is going through, he believes that salvation is just around the corner, and soon everything will become better. Hashem says (Tehillim 91:15), "I am with him in distress." Hashem suffers our pain together with us. Hashem is the most merciful, and He will certainly have compassion on us. The redemption from Egypt is the root of all other redemptions. Therefore, in our present exile, we must also remember that we won't be in galut forever. The time will come when we will be redeemed. This also applies to a person's personal galut, each person with his own package. He must know that the hardships won't continue forever. Better times will come. This awareness helps people have the strength to endure the hardships that they go through. The Holy Ark
Directly following the general command to collect materials to build the Mishkan, the Torah describes all the parts of the Mishkan and the vessels that are to be made with the materials. The first item described by the Torah is the Aron—Ark that held the Luchot—Tablets and a Sefer Torah.
The Torah gives exact instructions of how the Ark was built of acacia wood. “Two and a half cubits its length, a cubit and a half its width, and a cubit and a half its height. You shall cover it with pure gold, from within and from without you shall cover it, and you shall make on it a gold crown all around (25:10–11).”
According to Rabbenu Hananel, the phrase “From within and from without” symbolizes the Talmudic dictum that a talmid chacham’s inner character must match his public demeanor. His actions must conform to his professed beliefs. The Bet Halevi derives from the reference to the inner and outer coating of gold that the community should feel a responsibility to provide an adequate livelihood to its Torah teachers. They should be generous inside their own homes, as well as in their services to the public.
The following story was told in Torah Wellsprings. A community near Monsey was renovating their Bet Midrash. They decided, “If we're spending thousands of dollars to make our Bet Midrash more beautiful, we should also invest in checking and beautifying the Sefer Torah.” A sofer reviewed the Sefer Torah and discovered that it was passul—invalid. He said it would cost five thousand dollars to fix it.
The Rosh Hakahal refused to give so much money. “I'll pay you five hundred dollars, but not a penny more.” It didn’t really make sense. He was paying tens of thousands of dollars to beautify the Bet Midrash, but for the most important part – the Sefer Torah – he wasn't ready to spend money. The sofer explained the immense work involved in fixing a Sefer Torah, to no avail. The Rosh Hakahal refused to pay more than five hundred dollars.
The sofer called up a colleague and requested help towards correcting the Sefer Torah. He said, “This community is using a passul Sefer Torah, and if we don’t fix it, they will continue using it. Let's work together to make the Torah kosher. We will do it just for the mitzvah.” His friend agreed.
On the day they completed fixing the Sefer Torah, satisfied that they were able to do this mitzvah, they began their trek to Monsey. On the way there, they needed to make a stop to use the restroom. The only restroom in the area was in a Christian cemetery, so they went there.
The guard stationed at the entrance asked for their names, addresses, and telephone numbers. The men gave the information and went inside. A few weeks later, they received a phone call from a lawyer. At first, they were afraid that they were being accused of some crime, but the lawyer was telling them that they would each receive $62,000. The day they were in the cemetery, a funeral of a wealthy person was taking place. This wealthy man didn’t have any children, so he stipulated in his will that his money should be distributed among those who attended his funeral. Being that they had registered with the guard at the entrance, they were endowed with this large sum of money.
These men made a sacrifice to help a congregation have a kosher Sefer Torah, and Hashem paid them for their dedication. The word נתן – give is a palindrome; it reads the same way forward and backwards, because when you give, it comes back to you.
Keruvim
“And you shall make two golden keruvim… and I will speak with you from atop the ark cover from between the two keruvim (25:18-22).” Perhaps the most interesting objects in the Mishkan were the Keruvim—Cherubs that towered over the Aron HaBrit in the Kodesh HaKodashim—Holy of Holies.
While we do not have an exact picture of what the Keruvim looked like, we are given several descriptions of them. The Gemara (Sukkah 5b) says that their faces were those of children, and that one had masculine characteristics and the other had feminine characteristics.
Rav Avigdor Miller asks a question in his book Toras Avigdor. To fashion an image is a terrible sin, a violation of the second commandment. If this is the one exception in the whole Torah where images are permitted, of all the images to assign for this awe-inspiring spot, why did Hashem choose the faces of young children? Why not the faces of mature talmidei chachamim or tzaddikim?
Rabbi Miller explains that the answer is that the lesson that we’re expected to learn from these images is so important, so fundamental, that it’s worth it. Hakadosh Baruch Hu made this one exception to the law of making images because He wants us to study these images of when we come to serve Him. In the book of Kohelet, Shlomo urges us, saying, “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth (12:1).” Youth is the time when remembering one’s Creator will have the biggest effect. When we’re young, we have plenty of energy to serve Hashem! But we must learn from the keruvim that although youth may pass us by, youthful characteristics have no age.
Rav Shmuel Rozovsky explains further that Torah can be taught by the best Rabbi to the best student, under the best conditions, but the person learning it must have some childlike characteristics, like enthusiasm and innocence. Only enthusiasm and innocence will enable a person to accept the Torah wholeheartedly and integrate it into his persona. For those who really want to keep growing in learning beyond their teens, a childlike excitement must remain with them for their entire lives. The term we generally use to describe a Torah scholar is not just chacham, but talmid chacham. Even a great scholar must consider himself a student, not a fully developed sage.
Rabbi Shlomo Landai shared an incredible story with the organization of Vayimaen. He tells of a man named, Shalom who received two tickets for amazing seats at the Chicago Bulls vs Miami Heat basketball game. He was planning on taking his 13-year-old son to the game, but as the days got closer to the game, he began to doubt whether he and his son should go to the game. He was worried about the outside influences and immodesty that could affect them.
The morning of the game Shlomo wakes up not feeling good. He decides that they will not go to the game. When he picked up his son from school, he shared with him that they would not be going to the game that night. Shlomo’s son was very disappointed. Shlomo arranged for them to have some exciting quality father and son time, and they learned Torah together. About an hour or two into their time together the son said, “Abba, I’m telling you. We were not supposed to be at the game. I don’t know why, but Hashem orchestrated that we should not be there.”
As if prophetically they later found out that due to the recent weather the court was not ready for the game. After hours of trying to dry the court, the stadium declared that they could not have the game that night, and 22,000 fans went home disappointed that night,
It was so clear that Hashem approved of Shlomo and his son’s decision to remain holy and learn Torah. The Ark as a whole represented Torah. From the fact that its dimensions were in half-measurements, we learn that that there is no end to Torah learning. There is always more to learn. Chacham Ovadia, Rav Moshe Feinstein, and great Rabbis of previous generations and the present day continued learning their whole lives, keeping that innocence of talmidim with them until their last breath. We have gedolim alive today who have passed their 100th birthdays but are still talmidei chachamim, a title they will carry with honor until 120.
May we all be motivated to give as much as we can to others for altruistic reasons. May we maintain our synagogues with the highest level of decorum and kedusha so that we may be worthy of always having the Shechina rest among us. May we learn from Hashem to love Torah and never part with it. And may we always know that there is so much more to learn and keep our childlike enthusiasm when learning Torah! Amen!
Shabbat Shalom! Rabbi Amram Sananes, written by Jack Rahmey
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This book is a compilation of Divre Torah from the weekly parasha classes from Rabbi Sananes’ teachings over the last 10 years along with my own experiences in those classes which has stimulated my Torah growth. I’ve included many pertinent stories and life lessons to grow from at your Shabbat table. There’s also questions and discussion points at the end of each Parasha to stimulate a Torah conversation at your Shabbat table for the whole family to participate in. Also, included is a holidays section at the end of the book to use for all of our special holidays and Yomiim Toviim. Now available in all Jewish bookstores and Amazon! Scan the barcode on the right to purchase from Amazon. |
Rabbi Sananes and I look forward to hearing your feedback. Sincerely, Rabbi Amram Sananes and Jack E. Rahmey AmramSananes@me.com and jrahmey@rahmeyfinancial.com (917-226-6276) |
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