This week’s Miller’s Musings is sponsored on the occasion of Risa and Zalman Klyne’s wedding anniversary
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דבס''
MILLER’S MUSINGS
פרשת תרומה
Community Chest for Community’s Best
A dwelling place for Hashem in a physical world is not something to be taken lightly, nor is it something easily understood. The gravity of the occasion required that every Jew have the opportunity to contribute towards its construction. One famous question asked about the wording of Hashem’s command, is why the Posuk says “Speak to the Bnei Yisroel and they shall take for me a donation” rather than the more obvious alternative “and they shall givefor me…”? With the help of Reb Shimshon Refoel Hirsch zt’l, I would like to offer one more suggestion.
The power of a community to shape its future should never be underestimated. It has the potential to establish progress and foundations that can genuinely change life for the better. Our Posuk is however teaching us something crucial to be understood before any undertaking of this kind, that it is not for each individual to donate directly to the worthy cause, but rather that every contribution should be to the community as an entity, and then subsequently channelled towards the precise need. I believe that Rav Hirsch is perhaps explaining that the “they” in the Posuk is the community as a whole. ‘”They” should “take” the gifts from the individuals to become the property of the entirety, which is then brought for the Mishkon’s assembly. The message is clear, that something created to fulfil Hashem’s purpose must be a product of the entire community’s participation for it to truly succeed and flourish and not just the handiwork of one person and their sole input.
Every society and every period of history faces challenges uniquely relevant to that moment in time and its distinct qualities. It is unfortunately often only when these challenges become impossible to ignore that the community may be forced to act. Unable to hide from the reality any longer and shaken into a realization that things cannot continue as they were, people may be suddenly inspired and stunned into action. But impulsive conclusions and injudicious decisions are not the way forward. It is all too easy to point fingers and make assumptions that may not be based in reality. Rather careful consideration must be given to where the problems truly lie and what course of action is truly necessary for all. This is not to stifle the impetus to affect change, which may be long overdue and an absolute imperative. But we must remain focused on genuinely doing what is needed for the community and in doing so incorporate all of the community in its response. Once those decisions are made, in order to actualise Hashem’s wishes, we must all stand behind it, willing it on, fulfilling whatever our individual role may be. Everyone must feel and become part of the solution, because without each and every one, that solution will never become a reality.
*May Shabbos inspire change for the better*
לעילוי נשמת לאה בת אברהם
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