Parshat Terumah

In the second verse of this week’s Parsha it says, “You shall accept gifts for me from every person whose heart so moves him. (Ex. 25:2)” The Hebrew word for gift in this context, and the name of the Parsha, is Terumah.  This word is linguistically similar to the Hebrew word, Romem – to elevate.

The 18^th century Hassidic leader, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, has an interesting lesson about this verse in his torah commentary which connects these two possible interpretations of the word Terumah.  He says that the gift being brought to God is really an elevation of God in our own thoughts and intentions.  When the verse talks about the gift being brought to God by “every person whose heart so moves him,” it is alluding to a person’s thoughts.  The gift to God is really an elevation of God in the person’s own mind, when that person is voluntarily thinking about God and letting God influence their actions.  The thoughts and feelings, which is what God truly desires, is made real when the person actually does an act that was motivated by their thoughts and feelings about God. 

The lesson for us is to remember that is not enough to want to do something nice for another person, or to want to act in a more religious way.  It might be the thought that counts, but the thought isn’t real unless we actually do something with that thought.