Rabbi Frand on Parshas Terumah
These divrei Torah were adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi Yissocher
Frand's Commuter Chavrusah Tapes on the weekly portion: Tape #272: Chazakah
B'Mitzvos: Is This Maftir Yonah Mine?
Good Shabbos!
Dedicated This Year Le'eluy Nishmas Chaya Bracha Bas R. Yissocher Dov -
In memory of Mrs. Adele Frand
Why Was A Special Collection Needed for the Sockets?
Our reading begins with, "[And G-d spoke to Moshe, saying,] Speak to the
children of Israel and they shall take for me an offering..." [Shmos
25:1-2]. Rashi cites a teaching of the Rabbis to the effect that the pasuk
[verse] is alluding to 3 different offerings. The first collection was
called the "Collection for the Sockets," which raised funds for the
receptacles into which the boards of the Mishkan, the Tabernacle, were placed.
The second collection was a collection for the altar and its associated
needs. Today we would call that an "operating budget". Money was required to
run the Mishkan: they needed to buy animals and flour for sacrifices, and
to purchase various accompanying libations -- all of which required money.
The third collection is the "Terumah" that we all associate with Parshas
Terumah -- the collection to pay for the construction of the Mishkan.
This is what we would call a "capital building campaign."
The latter two out of these three collections are readily understandable.
But why was it necessary to have a special collection for the Adanim
[Sockets]? Why weren't the Adanim included like any another item within the
overall building campaign? The Adanim were not even a particularly glorious
item within the Mishkan -- perhaps we could understand a special campaign
for those who wanted to earmark funds for the Ark or the Menorah. However,
there were probably not a lot of people who would want to have a special
plaque, as it were, for their contribution to the lowly Adanim.
The Beis Av writes that the Torah is delivering a very important message.
It is a message that bears repeating even if we are familiar with it.
Building the Mishkan required the highest level of intent and motivation.
If we want a place where the Divine Presence of G-d will dwell, it must be
proper and holy and pure from the word 'Go.' We are dealing with nothing
less than G-d Himself showing His Presence in that building. That is why
the Adanim needed a special collection. The Adanim were the foundation of
the entire structure, crucial to its vitality and viability. No matter how
magnificent or glorious a structure a person can erect, if the foundation
is rotten or weak -- the structure will collapse.
The Torah is hinting at the fact that the fund collection for the Adanim
had to be done in a most fitting and appropriate manner, even though they
were one of the least glorious and exotic of the Mishkan's components. The
foundation of a structure must be built properly!
The rule that no building is stronger than its foundation is a particularly
important lesson to remember when we are trying to raise children. We hope
that our children will grow up properly and go on to erect their own
buildings, so to speak. We must realize that if the way we raise them is not
correct, we will have a detrimental effect not only on their lives, but also
on the lives of future generations.
Our Sages tell us that Doeg HaAdomi was a great man and a wise scholar. But
if we read Tanach, we see that he was an evil, plotting, and very sinister
person. Despite his scholarship, he had very imperfect character traits
(Midos). He was a jealous person. He was a hateful person. His foundations
were not good. Consequently, as glorious as the building of his scholarship
became -- such that he was the premier Talmid Chochom [scholar] of his
generation -- it nevertheless all collapsed. The sockets were not right.
If the foundation is not good, the whole building is not good.
Torah Is The Foundation of Everything
The Torah gives us a general charge to build the Mishkan [Shmos 25:8-9].
Then the Torah specifies the details of the components. The first component
that is mentioned is the Ark. The Medrash comments that the reason why the
Ark is first is because the Ark represents the Torah - the Two Tablets of
the Covenant. Torah must precede everything else.
The Medrash comments further that we see a similar phenomenon in Creation.
The first thing created was Light. Light also symbolically represents Torah,
and on that basis it preceded everything else.
Look at the history of Jews in Exile. The very first time that we as a
people went into Exile (in Egypt), the Patriarch Yaakov sent his son
Yehudah ahead of the rest of the family. The Medrash comments that the
purpose of Yehudah going ahead was to prepare a house of learning before
the arrival of the rest of the family. The institutions of Torah had to
precede the Jewish people going into Exile. Without such institutions,
there would have been no survival.
Likewise, when the Jews were exiled to Babylonia, our Sages tell us that 11
years prior, there was an earlier relocation of the elite members of the
community. They set up Torah institutions in the Babylonian communities
where the Jews would ultimately reside.
Throughout our history, our survival in Exile has been conditioned on Torah
preceding us in Exile. Torah must be there as a foundation.
There has been one notable exception to this rule: The 'Galus of America'.
When the first significant waves of immigration came over from Europe in
the 1890s and early 1900s, there was no prior arrival of Torah. The entire
city of New York had only one Yeshiva. Bigger Yeshivos did not exist until
the 1920s or even the 40s. The first generation of immigrants were not
greeted by a pre-existing infrastructure of Torah institutions.
We lost that generation. The people who came over and had no place to send
their children to receive a Torah education -- for the most part -- 'lost'
their children. If Klal Yisroel [the Jewish People] do not prepare the
proper foundation, we cannot survive in Exile. This is the lesson of
history. It is the lesson of the Mishkan -- that the Ark comes first, and
that the sockets must be set in place correctly.
It was only in the 20s and 30s and 40s when, with tremendous self-sacrifice,
people built Torah institutions on these shores and a new beginning was
made, fortifying and guaranteeing the survival of the future generations of
the American exile.
Transcribed by David Twersky; Seattle, Washington.
Technical Assistance by Dovid Hoffman; Yerushalayim.
This write-up was adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi Yissocher
Frand's Commuter Chavrusah Torah Tape series on the weekly Torah portion.
The complete list of halachic topics covered in this series for Parshas
Terumah are provided below:
- Tape # 044 - Changing Nusach: Ashkenaz vs. Sephard
- Tape # 087 - Microphone on Shabbos.
- Tape # 135 - Living Above a Shul
- Tape # 182 - Davening Towards Mizrach
- Tape # 228 - Selling a Shul
- Tape # 272 - Chazakah B'Mitzvos: Is This Maftir Yonah Mine?
- Tape # 318 - Taking Out Two Sifrei Torah
- Tape # 362 - The Mechitza -- How High?
- Tape # 406 - Shul Elections
- Tape # 450 - Bais Hakeneses & Bais Hamikdash -- Differences & Similarities
- Tape # 494 - Bima in the Center of the Shul
- Tape # 538 - Preventing the Building of a Shul
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Also Available: Mesorah / Artscroll has published a collection of Rabbi Frand's essays. The book is entitled: Rabbi Yissocher Frand: In Print and is available through your local Hebrew book store or from Project Genesis, 1-410-654-1799.
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