Terumá 5776

By Rabbi Dario Feiguin

B´nei Israel Congregation, Costa Rica 

“To Give Is to Give”

Parashat Trumah brings us face to face with the nature of giving.   Trumah means “contribution”, and it refers to the half a shekel that each one was supposed to contribute to the community.

To be more evenly balanced, the Nedavah was added to these contributions.  This was a voluntary contribution, where each one gave according to his own situation.

In addition to this, biblical law provided for a yearly contribution of 10%, known as Maaser, to provide for the poor and for the Leviim, who were responsible for worship.  In this way, even in the dry arid desert, one could still dream of creating a more just society, by the people and for the people.

Giving not only allowed an individual to “belong”.  It was not only a legal obligation.  It had to do with a religious precept.  Man is the one who must enhance his spirit through his Trumah, his Nedavah, his Maasrot and his Tzedakah. Only after achieving this, with sensitive individuals, it would be possible to create a Minian and a holy people.

I ask myself:  What does it mean to create a group by the people and for the people?  It occurs to me that each person would have to do his or her part, preferably giving the best of themselves, so that afterwards, among all concerned, they share the outcome. In this way, an incredible force is created, wherein the whole is always much greater than the sum of its parts.

That is why the rabbis developed the idea of the Minian and of the Kehilah.  We have to unite forces, talent and abilities.  We have to try to give our best to receive the blessing of feeling accompanied by our community, especially in times of difficulty, trial and crisis.  We need to give, in order to believe in a common dream.  And we need to give, to be able to receive.  

What are we talking about?  About money, but not just about money.

He who only takes and receives, without even thinking that it’s necessary to actually give something of himself, is missing the point.  It is as if he were stealing.

We cannot all give the same, but all of us without exception can give something.  Even so, money is not the only thing we can give.  Money is merely a symbol these days, idolized and worshipped.  But giving also takes the form of giving time, work, affection or that which one knows and can do.

La Trumah is money, but it is much more than that:  it is to stop demanding, or at least to accompany the demand with the conviction that you are giving the best of yourself.

We need to become imbued with the spirit of those who give, whose Trumah has not ended, but rather continues and will continue to show us the path that speaks to us of how to live as a society.

Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Darío Feiguin