21 Feb PARASHAT TERUMA: SPIRITUAL CURRENCY

Parashat Teruma

begins with the com-
mand, “Ve’yikhu Li

Teruma,” instructing

Beneh Yisrael to do-
nate materials for the

construction of the
Mishkan. Curiously, rather than commanding
Beneh Yisrael to “give” or “donate” materials,
Hashem commands them to “take a donation.”
And the question is obvious: how does one
“take” a donation? Why did Hashem formulate
the command in this fashion?

David Ha’melech famously proclaims in Te-
hillim (49:18), “Ki Lo Be’moto Yikah Ha’kol”

– a person does not bring any of his material
assets with him to the next world. In Jewish

tradition, a dead body is buried in plain, sim-
ple shrouds with no pockets, emphasizing the

point that no matter how much wealth a per-
son accumulates in this world, he takes none

of it with him to the next world. He leaves this
world empty-handed. The currency in this
world, whether it’s the U.S. dollar, the Euro, or
the Israeli shekel, has no value whatsoever in
the next world.
The only thing a person takes with him in his
spiritual currency – his Torah and Misvot. This

cannot be seen, but it – and only it – accompa-
nies a person on his final journey to the next

world, where it has enormous value.
A king once asked Baron Rothschild how
much he was worth. Rothschild gave a number
that was around one-tenth of his true worth.
“What?!” the king exclaimed. “You’re trying
to fool me? I know you’re worth at least ten
times that!”
“No,” the Baron replied. “You asked me what
I am worth, not what my property is worth.
True, my assets are worth ten times as much as
what I said, but that is not my worth. All that
can be taken away from me in an instant. My
worth is only the charity I have given. Those
are the only assets that can never be taken away
from me.”

People bring their money to the bank for safe-
keeping. Rather than risk losing the cash, they

deposit it in their bank account so it will be se-
cure and they can access it later. This is what

we are doing every time we give charity. We
are depositing our money in the safest savings
account imaginable. It is ensured not by the
FDIC, but by the Almighty Himself. The Rabbi
or collector to whom we give the donation is
the like the teller. When we give money to the
bank teller, we know we are not really giving
it to him or her; the teller is just transferring
the funds for us into our account. Similarly, the
money we give to charity, every penny of it, is
deposited straight into our heavenly account.
The Ben Ish Hai (Rav Yosef Haim of Baghdad,
1833-1909) once asked, “If there are ten birds
on a rooftop, and we shoot two of them, how
many remain on the roof?”
Naturally, his audience replied that eight
birds remain on the roof.
The Rabbi noted that this is incorrect. The
moment the shots are fired, all the other birds
fly away. The only birds that remain on the roof
are the dead ones.
He proceeded to explain that this is true of
money, as well. Whatever money we have can
so easily “fly away.” It is said that money has
wings, and we have seen this happen many
times. People can go to sleep wealthy and wake
up poor if their assets devaluate overnight.

Ironically, the only assets that we really keep,
that stay on the roof, are the “dead” ones – the
assets we donate to charitable causes. These are
secure and guaranteed to remain with us for all
eternity.
In this vein, the Ben Ish Hai explained the
otherwise peculiar expression, “Ve’yikhu Li

Teruma.” When one makes a charitable do-
nation, when one contributes toward the

“Mishkan,” he is receiving, not giving. He is
depositing those funds in his own account in
the most secure and profitable “savings plan”
possible, and earning greater dividends than

any other investment could ever yield.