Parshas Teruma 5775
In this week’s parsha Hashem commands the Bnei Yisrael to build Him a Mishkan so that He can dwell among them. The verse states: “And they shall take for Me a donation…” Commentators over the generations have asked: Shouldn’t the verse state that “they shallgive Me a donation.” Why the word “take?” Were the Bnei Yisrael commanded to take anything? They were commanded to give toward the construction of the Mishkan?
The Medrash (33:1) offers an answer by connecting these words to the verse (Mishlei 4:2), “A lekach tov (good acquisition) I have given to you, do not abandon My Torah.” The wordlekach shares the same Hebrew root as “to take,” and the Medrash therefore connects the idea of the Mishkan to Torah study. The lesson being: The only way Hashem’s presence can dwell within the Mishkan is through Jews’ studying Torah. There is no other way.
In addition, by studying Torah a Jew is in fact taking – he is taking Hashem, as it were, to himself along with the Torah.
The Medrash then offers a parable: A king had an only daughter, whom he married off to a prince of a different kingdom. As the couple was about to take leave, the king told the prince: “Your wife is my only daughter; I cannot separate from her. However, I cannot tell you not to take her back to your home; after all, she’s your wife. This much I require, though: You must make a room for me and wherever you will be, I’ll be there as well.”
So said Hashem: I gave you the Torah but I can’t separate from it. Therefore, wherever you go make a place for Me so I can remain together with you [and the Torah].
This Medrash seems to imply the impossible, that Hashem cannot exist without Torah and therefore is dependent on our providing a place for Him? Also, the analogy seems off the mark. The king appears to be a sentimental type who will be overcome with loneliness without his beloved daughter. Can we project such emotions onto Hashem?
Furthermore, just as one candle can light another and the yet the first candle is in no way diminished, so too after Hashem gave us the Torah, why should that change Him in any way? Does Hashem now lack the Torah above that He should need to remain with it below?
Rav Mordechai Gifter explains: The intent of this Medrash is that Hashem is an inseparable part of Torah. There is no such thing as Torah without Him. Learning Torah is more than learning a subject in a textbook; learning Torah means gaining closeness to Hashem. What the Medrash is implying is that through Torah study one can climb ever higher in closeness to Hashem and ultimately reach deveikus (clinging to Hashem).
The Ramchal notes (in Derech Hashem Chelek 4, Chapter 2:7) that reaching the level ofdeveikus requires that one must prepare himself beforehand. The first step is to purify and sanctify oneself. Only after this can the Torah have the proper effect. According to the level one purifies himself, that is the level of closeness with Hashem that he will achieve.
The Ramchal goes on to note that preparations before Torah study are what explain the vast difference between us and previous generations. Today, we study the same Torah that was studied in the period of the Tannaim and Amoraim. Nevertheless, when a bird flew over the beis medrash of the Tanna Yonassan Ben Uziel, it was burned by the fire of holiness that emanated from the Torah being learned below (Sukka 28a). Why doesn’t this happen today? The Ramchal answers that it all depends on how much preparation is put in to Torah study.
In Nefesh Hachaim, Shaar 4, practical advice is given for reaching deveikus: Every day before learning, one should contemplate Hashem’s greatness, reflect on his deeds and determine what needs to be corrected and what can be improved, make vidui for his sins and resolve to stop doing them. With these preparations one’s Torah study will bring him to deveikus in Hashem.
The Chazon Ish would say that since Torah study has such a profound effect on us, one should never let a day go by without it. One day with or without Torah can make an inestimable difference.
An avreich in Bnei Brak would travel weekly to Ramat Gan to give a shiur. Once, there was a severe storm and he asked the Chazon Ish if he could cancel the shiur, as it would be hard for him to make the trip, and he was doubtful if many would attend.
After the Chazon Ish asked how many people regularly attended the shiur, he asked: “Is there anyone who will definitely be there for the shiur?”
“Yes, there is one person who lives on the shul premises. He will definitely be there,” the avreich answered.
“Then you have to go,” answered the Chazon Ish. “One day of Torah can have a tremendous effect on that person.”
Another time the Chazon Ish commented that he could see on a bachur’s face if he had learned that day or not. Meaning, even one day of Torah study makes an indelible imprint on a person that a tzaddik is able to discern.
Rav Gedalia Shor points out a different aspect of this Medrash’s idea that Hashem is taken or “acquired” together with the Torah, so to speak. When a man sells a business, he usually stays on a month or two to show the buyer how to run the operation successfully. So too, Hashem remains with His Torah and is ready to help us in whatever we do not understand in our learning.
The Chazon Ish would advise people who find themselves before a difficult passage of Torah to pause from their learning and daven to Hashem that He help them understand. If they reach a state of actual crying, with tears in their eyes, it is guaranteed that Hashem will help them (Kovetz Igeros, 3:51).
After reaching Eretz Yisrael, Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz joined in the rebuilding of the Mir Yeshiva in Yerushalayim. Once, he was looking for a quieter atmosphere and went to learn in a shul in Yerushalayim’s Zichron Moshe neighborhood. There, he was overheard saying to himself: “Tatte (Father), I don’t understand what Abayei is saying. I simply cannot understand it …” Sometime later, he was overheard saying: “Thank you Tatte, now it’s clear. Thank you so much.”
May our Torah study and preparations for it bring us to deveikus in Hashem!
Exciting news! Rabbi Krieger will soon be publishing a sefer featuring the “best” of the weekly Parsha sheet. If you would like to share in this celebration, please go to www.bircas.org for further details.