| Give First and Think About it Later |
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In Parshat Terumah (Shmot 25:1-2) it says “God spoke to Moshe saying: Speak to B’nai Yisrael and let them take for me a portion (terumah)…” According to T’na D’Bei Eliyahu, immediately following the words of B’nai Yisrael “Naaseh V’Nishma”, “We will do and we will listen”, God asks B’nai Yirael to bring Terumot, contributions for the Mishkan (tabernacle). The Ba’al Shem Tov said that if someone arose to do a mitzvah, we must help provide them with an opportunity to perform a mitzvah, otherwise they will loose momentum and they will never end up performing any mitzvoth. Sde Margalit adds that the excitement that a person feels about wanting to be involved must transform into the actual performance of the mitzvah. Therefore it was crucial for B’nai Yisrael to have the mitzvah of Terumah to perform immediately after they received the Torah. R.S Alter adds that the mitzvah of tzedakah must be done “naaseh v’nishmah”, without thinking too much. First you give and then you can think about it after because if you think about it too much about giving the money before you make a donation, you may never end up giving at all. Yesterday, I received an email from a family who will be participating in our Mishloach Manot/ Matanot L’Evyonim project (Gifts for Purim and Gifts to the poor- see below) which read: “I sent a donation for your mishloach manot project. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to make a difference in people's lives”. May we have many opportunities to help others on Purim and throughout the year. |