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Drash
for Shabbat Terumah And The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Tell the Israelites to take me gifts, you shall accept the gifts for Me and they shall take for Me the gifts as much as their hearts so moves them. All the gifts were to be used strictly for building the sanctuary which belonged to all and not just for the very few. But why was the verb take used and not give. We learn that when we give we actually take. When we give we actually receive ten folds in return. Among the gifts were three metals of great importance. Zahav-gold, Kesef-silver and Nechoshet-copper or brass. Why those three metals and not iron? This was before the iron age. One interesting explanation is very profound. In the metal Zahav the numerical value of the letter zayin is 7. The numerical value of the letter hey is 5. The numerical value of the letter beit is 2. The 7th day of the week is Shabbat, the 5th day is Thursday and the 2nd day is Monday. On those days we chant the Torah. Lets address the word Kesef. The letter kaf stands for Yom Kippur. The letter samech stands for Succot. And the letter peh stands for Pesach. On those days we also chant the Torah. Let's address the word nechoshet. The letter nun is the first letter of the word neirot (lights). This represents Hanukkah. The letter chet is for Chodesh, more accurately Rosh Chodesh. The next letter is shin which stands for Shavuot and Shemini Atzeret, and the letter taf stands for Ta-anit, such as Tisha b'Av and other days when we fast. These three metals represent all the days when we chant the Torah which has found a home in the Sanctuary. In this portion we also read of one of the greatest miracles that took place in history. The people gave so much that Moses said "enough". Will there ever come the day when the Rabbi and our Board of Directors will say the same word? Let us not forget and always remember that the more we give to our synagogue the more we shall actually receive in return. Shabbat Shalom.
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