Weekly Torah Portion according to the Kli Yakar Parasha Trumah Ex 25 vs 2 and 3

all right good evening everybody we're going to start in parous truma chapter 25 verse 2 we'll start with we'll read verses 1 through3 just to get some background here hasem spoke to Moses saying El Isel speak to the children of Israel and you shall take for me a portion a gift she take from me whatever we're going to translate truma as as a gift a portion from every man whose heart gives willingly or we motivate him we're also going to discuss what Yu means every man whose heart motivates him you shall take that's you plural okay you shall take from him myum this verse three this is the portion or the gift which you shall take from them and then it lists a whole bunch of things of different materials used for the Tabernacle okay so a little bit of background here um what we're dealing with is the fact that there are three times the word truma portion or gift is mentioned that's one thing to keep in mind another idea that we're going to discuss now is that yes there are three there are three obligations there are three different types of gifts that we had to give then and we still give every year starting really starting now in the month of RAR for the new Financial year that starts at Nissan which is this the first month of the year so Adar is the 12th month of this cycle and the new Financial year for the upkeep of the temple starts in the following month in Nissa so Trad TR Al as the gor says that announcements were made during Adar to start this collection so that we would have enough to start the Kuran the daily sacrifices from The Collection was made by everyone as an atonement for the Jewish people on a daily basis that's also going to play some aspect here now so we discussed the idea that there are three times truma is mentioned also two of those trotes two of those we call attacks or gifts to the temple two of them are obligatory and they are also equal everyone doesn't matter if you're rich or poor you must give the same amount if your wealthy has the poor the poor still has to give the same amount as the wealthy call a half a she now that's in terms of the three types now there is part of the verse that we read that mentions Every Man's from every man whose heart will motivate him May well that's stuck in between two of those true and we're going to discover that it's only the last one that discusses the different type of materials that anybody who let's say had those type of materials and wanted to give more or less which materials they wanted to give it was their free choice but the other two trotes meaning out of three trotes two of them are equal one is definitely a free will offering that is given willingly and the amount is determined by The Giver not by the collectors or by God okay so now that we have that stray we're also going to discuss the idea that the word right the concept what is the c you should take well we also have to understand this is actually a giving this is a gift so how is a gift taken a gift is usually given not taken so we're going to discuss the idea of what is behind the word now also twice it says and one time it says T so we're going to discuss the difference there as well okay and also the order two of them two out of the truma it always says take the truma but on the third one it's the truma should be taken so we have to understand why is it like that and also so let me discuss that okay also the idea that two of them this is really going to be the first question so maybe we'll start with that but the idea that you're taking it to me or taking my truma God speaking twice he refers to him as call him receiver and once it's talking about just the regular portion that is being taken from them so two of the takings are referenced to the the receiver and one of the takings or one of the truma is reference to The Giver so now we'll start explaining the cart's questions he has five questions the rest of the verses which we have already read three gifts three givings three portions are mentioned here there is regarding this idea many questions one why are two of the portions two of the gifts actually two first ones related or our relation to Hashem himself as it says in the first one in the first one it says as if you're taking it if should be taken from me so that's God talking the second time Trum is mentioned it says take my truma my portion again those two first tumas are relating to God the receiver but the third time truma is mentioned it's not a language of Lee or truma relating to God quite the opposite then it says in it or regarding it from them okay and if we're talking about it should be taken from them it's certainly relating to it's relating to the giver not necessarily the receiver so that's the first question why is why are are two of the Trum relating to God and a third one relating to the giver second question why is it that the first time the first two times the TR mentions so why is it that the language of taking preceed the language of the gift meaning taking the gift taking the gift and then in the third mention of the gift that the word gift procees the word taking okay sounds like we're nitpicking but every word every letter of the Bible of the Torah is Holy and meaningful and there has to be meaning behind it you don't don't get this when you read the English third third question is going to be how is it that the statement was placed I would to explain placed between these two first Trot how is this statement placed the statement ofo from each man right right from each man is's willing to give from his [Music] heart like it doesn't make sense because there's toot are for sure these were given as a standard um an amount a standard amount for each head like we call a head tax it doesn't matter whether you rich or poor you paid the exact same amount as every other Jew a half a sheel and it was given for each person this was a complete completely obligatory it was a complete obligation Isel upon every Jew no T Cloud it was not dependent on the giving the voluntary offering of the heart of the one who gives it all right it was an obligatory tax that was could even be forced as we're about we're about to see but it is dependent on the obligation and not on the Free Will gift so how is it again how is it that those words and I'll say him again from every man whose heart will motivate him how is it why is it placed between the first true Mo when those true Moes were standard number one and they were not an option and they were as opposed to being obligatory they were obligatory whereas the third one when it came to the third time Trum was mentioned it's mentioned as regard says regarding it that's gold silver and bronze or copper so then it goes on to list all the other materials that were required to build the Tabernacle and we know for sure that this was as much or as little as you felt you wanted to give and there was no obligation whatsoever placed upon the giver he it came only through voluntary gifts so how is it that those words only of the Free Will offering appear in the first two Trot and not in relation to the third one at all okay the fourth question is why are we even mentioning how can you get away with mentioning the word that language is taking which which is it infers that it was that was forc you but you have a choice so when you come and give something willingly it's never you you never use Force there's no obligation and yet here it seems to be that way again we said that the words K the word K is a taking and yet in conceptually speaking if we know that one of them at least if not all of them should be conceptually speaking as the words are used from every man whose heart will motivate him okay and that's a little bit problematic cuz it should have said as opposed to a giving as opposed to a taken furthermore the fifth question so in the very first of the three true modes that are mentioned it says again the word is um that this sh they shall take they shall take it's not you shall take but they shall take it's who call that third person but the second and third time that Trum is mentioned that the gift is mentioned it says TI which is no the no we'll call that second person which means you shall take so why is it that the first time it's mentioned okay they shall take as opposed to the second and third time it's the no and second person you shall take what's going on here this is the questions these are the five questions that the cleart opens up with in parous truma so now we're going to delve deeply into the answers he the cleart begins it seems plausible for me to say it's close for me to say this when we're dealing with the concept of what we call this monetary tax called the shekel so what normally happens is so everyone gives it's part of the sensus everyone one gives a the same coin and we count the coins and now we know how many people there are there is a an a um it's forbidden to count Jewish people this is how we this is the the law and one is not allowed to count to Jewish people but there is a not everyone agrees with it namely we'll see it's the a barel it could be others but he brings down the Abel so first he begins by telling us that when we're dealing with counting the people through the money that they give there is a an argument regarding this so there are some that hold that one should not count Jews by head meaning by number you count the money that was given remember everyone is given the exact amount as a offering as a gift as a portion so you count the money and then you know how many people they worth the gain and why is [Applause] that in order to save them from what we call the evil eye when things are counted once you know exactly what there is and maybe there's a lot so there could be jealousy there could be an evil eye placed on it we'll discuss what exactly an evil eye is another time but in the meantime like if you leave over an un an estimate as opposed to an exact amount there remains place for a blessing and for positive results and consequences as opposed to Counting things to the exact number which could result in the a har and Evil so why did we count the coins and not the people so there should not be any rely on the Jewish people however he says the disagrees with this opinion and he holds that we actually counted the Jews by head meaning that we counted them outright and when the were given that was a way of giving charity we still count the Jews we just give the S we give the coins either just before we're counted or just after were counted and why is that as an atonement for their souls for each individual okay so that's a whole another thing we'll discuss another time but in the meantime we're going to go on we turn the page he says this is a proper place for me to bring the idea of the language as the word used in the verse Yu into two ways two options two ways to look at this word and it could mean this and it can mean that simultaneously let's see if the word is as it means in its most simplest form which means a gift or a voluntary gift now you can also learn it the complete opposite way as well according to thear what does he mean from the very fact that it does not have the it was not [Applause] written because that's really the root to volunteer meaning that if you don't read it if the fact that it does not say within n you can certainly read it and explain it as it sounds not as it's written necessarily because even though it's not written with a n it is written with a bet he says but it could sound and be explained which sounds exactly the way it is written yenu with a bet but he's about to explain there are certain letters that are exchangeable meaning the BET and the V they make the same sound when you do not have the do do in the bet it's a vet and the vet has a v sound sounds you know like a V so specifically the BET which is soft meaning without the dot it's a soft it's a b as it comes out from the mouth it certainly sounds like a V so this reflects this enlightens us about the word that upon somebody whose heart is means it means he's not happy about this gift that he's giving he's not necess stingy but it hurts him with he's depressed and he's hurt Al about the gift that he's about to give therefore the first two times that the word Trum is used we know this is the obligatory gift that according to everybody this was an obligatory gift to give upon every man even if he didn't want to give nevertheless nevertheless it was totally possible for the collectors to take it from him against his will therefore there before the word comes before the word truma in the first two times the TR mentioned because it's through the coming forth by the collectors to collect from him forcibly that he comes or brings him towards giving the gift so you see the comes first the taking comes first and then the gift comes because it's the taking of the Gab by the gab coming to take that's what causes the truma to eventually be given which is the gift but the third time truma is mentioned we know this is we're talking about coming to give a free will offering a free will gift we know there's no obligation or the third gift at all not in the amount and certainly not even the giving is if it's according to the will of the heart the will of the heart if the heart doesn't want to give they can't force if he didn't want to give who can force him therefore the word truma comes first precedes the taking and why would why is that to tell us see after the fact that he already voluntarily announce what he's going to give and that he's going to give from his money according to his own will if he does such a thing then and only then certainly the tax ctors can force him and to take from him against his will what he has already pledged I'm going to use the word pledged because we know that a pledge is through the mouth and giving is the Fulfillment of the Pledge whether it was a verbal verbal pledge whether it was the actual giv giving that's why it says this is the the gift the portion which you shall take from them so we have a few you know answers up a whole lot of things first of all the word truma comes before the taking because he made the pledge first and then the taking comes later and it's from them okay we also ask the question why is the third one relating to the giver whereas the first to relating to the taker so he wants to say basically saying after you made the pledge so only then are you able to take from them B with your arm with your hand meaning physically if in the meanwhile meaning in between the time they made the pledge and the time that the um Tax Collectors came to collect the person had regret he realized he offered too much he made a pledge that was beyond his means or he just decided he could use the money for something else that's called regret in a pledge and that the tax collectors had the right at that point point to force him but it's only only at that point after the pledge has been made Z this is what it means speak to the children of Israel and they will take for me appoint tax collectors and they will take that will take the truma from each person now before they can make the claim from others they themselves have to give their portion the concept of anoint um ornamenting yourself first they themselves have to be innocent of withholding how can you make accusations you're withholding when you yourself didn't give they must give first to be clean a clean slate for themselves and then they can go around and collect from others and only then can they go ahead and collect from others and this is reflective in the v which is like connecting the word and they it's only afterwards that they give first and and or maybe even including them and the they shall collect remember we mentioned these four five six words appear between the first two true mod which are not a free will offering nevertheless it appears there why sh because of the word which were reflecting on the the switch of the V and the vet so instead of a gift it's a it's a worry it's a concern it's not just regret but it's a it's some kind of you know a depressing situation on the giver because he's acting as AER and he's not giving with a full uh willingness or positive willingness and there is a concern that maybe they'll get in an argument with the tax collector so then you will call it you now we're saying you that Mo be own so the tax collectors are not successful in in retrieving uh the monies that they were out to collect so then so then you not they but you meaning Moses and Aon or maybe other leaders of the Jewish people perhaps the princes of the Jewish people leaders of their families certainly they will lift their heads in a positive sense and not get in a fight with them because these are the leaders that they recognize and no as opposed to the average Joe tax collector coming knocking on their door everyone respected Moses and Aon and the princes of the tribes remember also mean Free Will [Music] so exactly as we understand and to be a free will offering from your heart certainly a voluntary heart certainly then this is going on what we said above meaning the truma that was said before the it says right you should take from me they shall take from me who's they that's who should take for me and what is that Trum that which each person had you know motivated or given out of a free will offering from his heart so it's going to come out that we understand it to be like the following the fact that it says after the first one the second time it says right you shall take my Trum that's it refers you yourselves you will take you must speak with those people who does who do not have the motivating heart or the willingness to give for the reason that we are we about to mention however from what is mentioned if that anyone who has his WR heart will bring It Forward he's going to bring it what do we hear from that that they spoke here they spoke with people who had a depressed heart or a unwilling heart or a painful heart to give and from them they took you shall take against their will but someone who has the Willing heart the willingness he should bring it on his own the you have no need whatsoever to force him which is you shall take and that doesn't really make sense because that was mentioned by the third truma which certainly comes as a free willing offering so how do we answer this up there are other things that we can learn from this that if or when shall come the tax collectors so we're talking about very important tax collectors very important people in the community of stature they're coming to the one who made the pledge the one who's going to give so there's no doubt that they will you see meaning they'll respect them and they'll give more they give more than if they had just a regular tax collector come right if the that's I think that's what they do with fundraisers you get a very important fundraiser to come Roa comes to town all of a sudden he's able to get money out of the people that the regular fundraisers were not able to move they were not able to succeed and it's for this very reason the custom is to trying to get people to give in public perhaps they'll be more respectable in their giving the way that explains it even the coins themselves the amount of money even though yes it's obligatory it's an obligation nevertheless we say that it was acting as Charity as well as an atonement will be that statement which we said fits in between the first two right and from every man whose heart will motivate him meaning a free will gift it certainly sounds like we're talking about a free gift meaning it's going both on the truma that was said before as well as the Trum that said right after to teach us what that even those two true meaning the first and second out of the three was saying that that is still dependent on the Free Will of The Giver by the third time there was no it was not necessary to mention this why because it's absolutely clear it's so simple that that third M that that third truma came through came through a free will offering and there was no obl obligation at all and this was already mentioned was already hinted at in the fact that the truma comes before the taking only in the third we saw in the first two that the taking comes through the truma but the third time truma is mentioned truma is first and then take it so we see that it was not even necessary to mention because it's a free will offering whereas the words and from each man whose heart it will motivate him is placed between the first two therefore relating to both that it needs to come from a willing heart one should have a willing heart and since the first two Trot they are obligatory and they serve as an atonement for the soul commotion as it does say you can see in Chapter 30 verse 16 it serves as an atonement for their souls and it says in in four all the souls belong to me that's God [Music] talking it's only through the mercy of God that he's taking what he's taking this gift in exchange for the person okay he's taking the coin for in place of the person's skull or head now we understand why in the beginning it says Le is used we're talking about in relation to the taker and the second truma as well my TR God says because the name of God is called upon or placed upon those two true but the third time TR was mentioned since it's not obligatory so it doesn't relate to but rather it's dependent on The Giver as it says this is the tra which you shall take from them because it's totally dependent on them the fact it says from them and it was not from that this was even obligatory the CLE C now be introduces a very possible alternative explanation why God's name is mentioned relation the proximity to the first two cuz we said Le or Trum God's talking about me or my truma okay and not relating to the third TR all what do we saying since in every place where you have the name there is set up a protective fence of humility and submission B amongst the lowest of the worlds the lowest of the beings and there it's it's the humility and the shame that God places God rests with the Brokenhearted and the lowly of [Music] the but whenever there's a shaking up of cess God does not want to unify himself or live or unite there therefore those first two true that every man every human had an equal hand in it meaning an equal amount that had to give as it says in 30 verse 16 that a wealthy person should not increase and a poor person should not decrease there's no place for one person to glorify himself upon his friend by saying that my gift was greater than your gift that's where related and placed his name upon as we said it mentioned if they shall take from me to me for my sake and we already explained this in the beginning of the par of every place where my name is mentioned this you find in chapter 20 ver 21 that every letter of that makes up hashem's name great and awesome name relates to the concept of humility what he says over there if I'm not mistaken what mes if you take the alphabet so you have the letters and we know that each letter has a numerical value but there's many different ways to come to what the numerical value of every letter is okay meaning there's different systems the straight acat system Al is one bet is two on and on but there's also a way to spell out the word like Al Al is or bet is BET BET or you have tough sorry that you're tough on and on and on you you do you right you well so you can spell out a whole word with each letter so for example would be 111 Al l p 111 so you have all the letters are not just 1 2 3 4 5 but they're actually different values based on what they call the Malay you spell out the whole word so the and the the those letters are the lowest in value of the entire alphabet and you know every word has a root but even if you take you he you a and a and he which gos God's awesome name you still come out with one of the lowest in fact it is the lowest that value for any word in the entire um lexicon of Hebrew so God we say that where you find his greatness is where you find his humility in his greatness of being the UK the all powerful one and all merciful one you find the lowest denominator the lowest value in terms of the numbering [Music] system some of the things made from these two tros they are similar to The truma itself he shame since just like all of them were equal meaning equal in the beginning they were in half a shele there's no possibility for one person to make himself above through his own Holiness above his friend if he was rich he couldn't give more [Music] so this is what they made from this truma one of these tumas one of these two first two shumas was for the adim the adim are the sockets that are placed under the boards um for the so each one they're exactly the same you had 100 of these um sockets and every single one was squared with a hole so that the planks could be placed in them they would stand up it served to hold up the planks so each one of these were equal just like the [Music] other and they were on the lowest they were on the bottom right they were the solid um Balancing Act do the pl stood up because they were placed into these sockets the whole building stood um basically these were the um you know it was on the ground and you could basically tra you know we're using the word like trampling upon them that they were as the base the bottom of the Tabernacle now this was the foundation and they served as the foundation to the entire building just like they are that's what they did see just like they did this Free Will offering they were all equal in their giving there was not even one of them who was able to raise his head above and say how great he was more than his friend so to they made these sockets from that gift which reflects on the concept of humility and this was this no is the foundation the fundamental part of this building they mean the building is based on this that every Jew is is is proper and they're called by the name these sockets are called there is inferred in the language of the the language of AD and which is reflecting on Mastery and Authority so anyone who makes himself like a floor mat From Below God will make him the master above anyone who lowers him himself is the one who raises him up and they make it as the foundation and it carries lifts up the entire building just as these sockets act as the foundation and they carry the whole structure so too the actual language of which here we're talking about carrying also we understand it to mean as the princes because he lifts or he carries others because everyone can lean on them meaning you're carrying somebody people can rely on you and and you're your responsible person and you care about others from the second gift or the second time Trum was used they would bring the communal offerings they would buy the communal offerings with this money and so it's from those um animals which were brought on behalf of the Jewish people came Shel we also know that every single day two tat offerings two continual daily offerings were brought one sheep was born in the morning and the second one was brought in the afternoon you can find that in chapter 29 verse 39 and it's also written in helim in ch 51: 19 that the offerings of God come through a broken Spirit meaning to say the purpose of these offerings are to bring a person to a broken Spirit therefore these also says right you shall take my since that gift according to the accordingly that gift was made from it anybody and from all who reflected this idea of humility that's why God says this is my Trum serves as his gift but when it came to the third [Music] gift not everyone was equal they're actually giving whatever they wanted any one of the ingredients or materials to start with that they can exchange it was basically uh some can give less some can give more the wealthy person who gave more there there's a space there's a place for him to become a Hoy to raise up his head upon by saying that there is to me a greater portion in the house of God even greater than the poor person that's why through these materials all of the all of the vessels of the temple were used were made from just like the the ark the Candelabra the the the table The Altar and all the rest of the K there is there leaves no doubt so really is no doubt that there is an advantage to some upon others why why is there Advantage from one on another when it came to the crown around the ark which was connected K Torah which was parallel to the crown of Torah the Z the crown around the altar K as if it was parallel to the crown of priesthood Zer the the crown around the table can that would be parallel to the crown over kingship so even though according to the Holiness of these vessels there should have been foru to relate this giving upon himself so to speak nevertheless so after the fact there is an aspect of htin of The Giver so there is there a aspect of htin because he gave more than to increase more than the person uh who didn't give a lot that's why God did not relate his name to that third truma because it allows too much whether it's jealousy or Envy of of sorts um that people can become Hoy one over another so he did not attach his name to that third given and in this this regard I saw an answer to a particular question after the fact that there's a consideration of the gifts according to their levels as we saw it starts off with gold then silver and then copper and it goes on and on and on to a more inferior product um ingredient materials if that's the case why was it considered the why were the precious stones which are certainly more and more cons more important they were only at the end there's no doubt that these expensive stones or gems were more expensive than gold at least in weight even though you are able to answer by saying so since there was a reason and we'll see Rashi surely there was a reason since the Nim the princes they brought those those precious stones last so that's why they're last just like Rashi mentions pares vak so I'll just take a short break and read that Rashi this is in M 35 527 so it says then the the the princes brought these Stones says reab what is it that the princes saw that made them contribute first in the inauguration of the m so when it came to the uration of the altar so then they brought and they were responsible but when it came to the um the construction of mishan they only we saw we see here they brought last but the princess actually said the following let everyone else whatever we know contribute first whatever they are lacking we'll complete it we'll fix it up but guess what the everyone brought there was nothing left for them to bring right the work was sufficient it was enough so I guess at this point said whoa what is there Le us to do well they B these very expensive stones that had not yet been given the that's why they contributed first at the inauguration of but what do we see since they lagged at the outset meaning they the because they lagged they were lazy at the beginning of the um construction of the mishkan which is what we're dealing with here so anyway he mentions it was a letter deleted from their name and instead of the is written the scene meaning like this the singular form of n Prince and the plural constructed in CA princes with two Ys so are always spilled with a yud between the sin and the AL wherever they appear in scripture the regular plural form of the word however appears in a variety of spellings in some verses the word is spelled with both the ud of the singular and the ud of the plural in other verses it's spelled Nim just with one y in and one y out but here in our verse it's it uses neither there's no you at all okay so we got the picture his therefore it mentions their gift last nevertheless even according to the way we've discussing it so far you were certainly able to say God wanted to show them something whether it didn't matter whether you gave a lot or a little a little or a lot everyone is equal in the eyes of God that's why the most important valuable gift of the precious stones given at the end so there won't be this glorification of the wealthy over the poor by saying I gave the most expensive and that's why it's mentioned first no first of all the most expensive thing is given at the end and mention at the end so mentions their gift at the end because of the Hess in their hearts it came about that they ended up bringing only at the end as we said they said let the public bring and from whatever they're lacking whatever is missing we'll make it up this is certainly a [Music] Hess God will give us what to fill whatever they're lacking is therefore the mentioning of their gift comes only at the [Music] end anyone who tries to build himself up God brings him down as he says in and not only that we mentioned already right we mention that there's no you in the word princes out of all the four letters of God's holy and ineffable name there's only one letter that anyway appears in the name that would be the because they lifted themselves up to their words so God removed that letter from their name this teaches us we must guard ourselves against being Hy and to make sure that we remain humble as is mentioned in the verse that we'll see in a second in chapter 20: 21 any place that I mention my name that my name is mentioned God will appear there this is the fundamental principle of the Torah that the letter Y itself also reflects on the smallness and the humility in itself cuz it is the smallest letter it's barely recognizable it can look like just a thought on the page okay thank you very much I wish you all good shers to you