Congregation B'nai Torah
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Torah Portion of the Week
Terumah
This week's Torah reading is an architect's or interior designer's dream portion. It begins with the Almighty commanding Moses to tell the Jewish people to donate the materials necessary for the construction of the Mishkan, the portable sanctuary.
The Torah continues with the details for constructing the Ark, the Table, the Menorah, the Tabernacle (the central area of worship containing the Ark, the Menorah, the Incense Altar, and the Table), the Beams composing the walls of the Tabernacle, the Cloth partition (separating the Holy of Holies where the Ark rested from the remaining Sanctuary part of the Tabernacle), the Altar and the Enclosure for the Tabernacle (surrounding curtains forming a rectangle within which was a large area approximately 15x larger than the Tabernacle).
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Dvar Torah
based on Growth Through Torah by Rabbi Zelig Pliskin
The Torah states:
"And the Almighty spoke to Moshe saying, 'Speak to the children of Israel that they take for me an offering" (Exodus 25:1-2).
What lesson can we learn from the juxtaposition of the Torah portion of Terumah following the Torah portion of Mishpatim?
Mishpatim teaches that a person's money must be his own according to the dictates of justice and the letter of the law, comments Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik. Terumah deals with donations to charity. Before a person gives money to charity, he must be very careful that his money was not acquired by cheating anyone else. If a person gives charity by stealing from others, his charity is not considered charity. A mitzvah that someone would fulfill by means of violating other commandments is not considered a good deed.
When it comes to doing good deeds, the ends do not justify the means. Both the ends and the means must be in accordance with the dictates of the Torah.
* * * From: Aish.com
The Parsha of the Week