Feb 12/05 — Shabbat Terumah

Commentary by Chazzan Aníbal Mass

One man asked his best friend for a loan of $100,000 to save his house. His best friend told him: "Look my friend, I don't have any problem, but I have to call my accountant. If he tells me that I can’t afford that amount ... I’m sorry for you. Now, if he tells me yes ... I will change my accountant."

The wisdom of our Torah never stops surprising me. We can even learn an important lesson from this sequence of events. On one hand, God revealed the Torah to a free people. Then, the way to demonstrate the maturity that a free man possesses is to accept a code of laws and norms to regulate his condition. For this reason, immediately after the Revelation on Sinai, He gave the civil laws.

And then came the moment of truth. In the next Parashah, God tested the Jewish People's level of commitment to this new way of life revealed in the Torah.

God asked them to take out their wallets and extend a cheque to “Sanctuary Inc.” That is to say, God requested taxes for the first temple of the town of Israel. It meant that God requested a voluntary contribution to build a Temple.

This is interesting, since the individual's economic collaboration has been an effective method to evaluate the level of commitment of Jews to the causes they “believe” important.

Would they be able to give up some of their material possessions to increase the level of spirituality in their lives? Would those who said “Naase V’nishmah” (We will do and we will listen.) be able to reaffirm this theoretical commitment in practice? Would they be able to respond to the divine generosity by helping to build a sanctuary to God?

Don't worry, they passed the test. They gave generously, each one according to their ability, but all cooperated.

Since that moment, the Terumah (contribution) has been part of the daily life of the Jewish community.

A truly Jewish life is inconceivable without the personal commitment and material support to solve the problems of our Congregation.

Maybe for that reason, at the centre of the sanctuary, the Ark of the Covenant was crowned by two cherubs – two winged beings – that, according to the Torah, faced one another. However, we have a contradiction here, because in the book of Chronicles, where the construction of the Temple in Jerusalem is detailed, it is written that the cherubs had their faces facing to the walls of the Temple.

The Talmud, citing the Midrash, explains that when the Jews obeyed the will of God, the cherubs faced each other, but when they moved away from the will of God, a miracle happened and the cherubs faced the walls.

The message of this Midrash is fantastic: obeying the will of God means to face your neighbour and to keep in mind his necessities. But if we are looking only at our house, at our walls, that means we’re only worrying about ourselves and taking a selfish attitude. This reflects that we are not following the will of God.

Just as Rabbi Hillel expressed in Pirkei Avot: “If I am not for me, who will be? If I am for myself alone, what am I? And if not now, when?”

Hillel taught us that it is time to abandon excuses and to show concern for our neighbour's needs and the needs of our community.