Yeshiva
Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Shmot
- Terumah
Yet I want to suggest that the term "Teruma" means more than "donation," & goes beyond silver & seal-skin, coins and copper. Oh, no; Teruma is a lot more than that. Consider a Pasuk in next week’s Sedra of Tetzaveh: Ahron & his sons take part in an elaborate inauguration ceremony, during which numerous offerings (sacrifices) are brought. And then the Torah says (29:28): "It shall be for Ahron & sons an eternal statute from Israel, it is a Teruma; & it shall remain a Teruma from Israel, their Teruma to G-d."
No less than three times – in the same pasuk! – the word Teruma is used, & all in the connection of sacrifice & offering. Not just a contribution – like the spare change we take out of our purse or wallet – but something apparently deeper & much more personal, more valuable than pocket money. What does this Pasuk tell us about the nature of Teruma? For a clue, let's turn to Hollywood.
The movie Casablanca is one of the all-time great films ever made. Richard Blaine, the expatriate owner of Rick’s Bar & Casino, is approached by Victor Laszlo, a Czech resistance leader opposing the Nazis. Laszlo is stranded in Morocco & desperately seeking transit visas so he might escape to the West to continue his vital work. At first, Rick is resistant & cynical, unwilling to help.
"Why do you go on fighting?" he finally asks Victor.
"Why?!" says an incredulous Laszlo. "You may as well ask why I go on breathing! If we stop breathing, we die. And if we stop fighting for what we believe in, then we let the whole world down!"
Rick - himself a former anti-Fascist activist – relents, &, well, you know the rest (or you must see the movie!). But here’s the main point: Teruma is not just about writing a check. It’s about what we stand for & what we believe in, what we, as Jews, offer to the world: A spiritual ideal & a path to G-d; & a bulwark against Amalek, be it in the form of anti-Semitism or Islamic radicalism. If there is ignorance, we Jews provide light & enlightenment. If there is evil, we are at the forefront of doing relentless battle with it, even at the risk of great personal sacrifice. That is our great national Teruma, & if we fail to offer it, if we stop fighting, then we let the whole free world down.
Here's looking at us, kid.
Rabbi Stewart Weiss
Was ordained at the Hebrew Theological College in Skokie, Illinois, and led congregations in Chicago and Dallas prior to making Aliyah in 1992. He directs the Jewish Outreach Center in Ra'anana, helping to facilitate the spiritual absorption of new olim.
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Various Events FOR WHOM NOT TO VOTE
Rav Zvi Yehuda Kook stressed that Israeli politics is G-dly, so I have no problem answering this common question on a Torani blog. Also, Free-Will is a G-d-given right and obligation, to "destine one's fate" (R. Soloveichik, Kol Dodi Dofek, 67), so I obviously don't tell others how to vote. But once not a few (especially young) have already asked, a couple of personal words from experience and thoughts from chazal & Rav Kook which may be of help to others, mainly for whom NOT to vote.
P'ninat Mishpat Fallout from Failure to Install Elevator – part II
based on ruling 85007 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts
