21 Feb TERUMAH: DESIRE

Let’s discuss desire to serve
Hashem, which is one of the
primary elements that turns us
into a Beis HaMikdash.
People don’t recognize the value
of desire. Instead, they admire
and respect deeds. “How many
blatt did you study?” is asked
more often than “How many blatt
do you want to study?”
If someone is working in kiruv,
people ask him, “How many
baalei teshuvah did you make?”
They don’t ask, “How many
baalei teshuvah are you striving
to make?” But in Hashem’s eyes,
desire is more important.

Rebbe Tzaddok HaKohen zt’l
takes note that the Torah discusses
at length Avraham Avinu’s
hachnasas orchim and the
Akeidah, although both were a
mere desire of Avraham. Avraham
didn’t really do hachnasas orchim
with the malachim, because
malachim don’t need to eat.
And Avraham never actually
sacrificed Yitzchak because a
malach came and stopped him.
Avraham is praised for his desires
and not for the outcome.
The love that Hashem has for the
heart of a Yid is expressed in
many places. As it states (Mishlei
,child My , “תנה בני לבך לי ,(26:23
give your heart to Me.” And
, רחמנא לבא בעי ,say Chazal

Hashem desires the heart.
Reb Hillel Kolemaya zt’l (Maskil
el Dal, vol.3 1:4) asks that the
pasuk at the beginning of the
parashah (25:2) refers to the
donations of the Mishkan, תרומה

and תרומתי. תרומתי means “My
donation,” which sounds like
Hashem donated. And תרומה is
the Jewish nation’s donation.
So, which one is it?
Reb Hillel Kolemaya explains
that Hashem saw the desire in
the Yidden’ s hearts and knew
that if they could give more,
they would. Therefore,
Hakadosh Baruch Hu placed a
brachah into their donations,
and the amount they donated
miraculously matched the
amount they wanted to give.
The Yid’s donation is called
תרומה . The parts that were
miraculously added on is

תרומתי , Hashem’s donation-
the amount that Hashem added

on, so it should equal the Yid’s
desires.
The lesson that we learn from
this pasuk is very encouraging.

Hashem doesn’t
only measure
what we do, He
also considers
what we want to
do, and He can
increase our accomplishments to
match our desires.

The Zohar (Korach
p.179) writes that
תרומה has the
, תורה מ ’ ,letters
alluding to the
Torah that was
given in forty days.
Reb Hillel
Kolemaya explains
that the Zohar
implies that the
same happens with

Torah and mitzvos.
He writes, “There are many holy
Yidden who constantly yearn and
pray with all their hearts to
connect to Hashem and to
understand Torah and to serve
Hashem properly and to praise
Hashem. Yet, many of them can’t
bring their desires to fruition.
The Torah says to Bnei Yisrael,
to means דבר and דבר אל בני ישראל
console. Tell them and encourage
them, ‘You are Hashem’s nation,
children of the living G-d; you
are the holy flock who desires
with all your souls to know the
Torah and to keep the sweet
mitzvos. Stop crying; there is
hope… I guarantee you won’t
only be rewarded for the mitzvos
you perform. I will combine your
pure desires and give you credit
as though you performed the
good deeds you wished you
could do.”