Seeing THROUGH, or Seeing IN…

Shalom,

The holiday of Purim is approaching,
and for ONE WEEK ONLY we will be offering special discounts on a variety of our online courses. 

Don’t miss those out. Please reply to this email or contact us to take advantage of these offers. 

In this week’s Torah portion of Terumah, the Torah discusses the building of the Tabernacle and the vessels that are required to be inside. 
The construction of the Tabernacle became possible due to the contributions of the Children of Israel.

דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְיִקְחוּ לִי תְּרוּמָה מֵאֵת כָּל אִישׁ אֲשֶׁר יִדְּבֶנּוּ לִבּוֹ תִּקְחוּ אֶת תְּרוּמָתִי.
 וְזֹאת הַתְּרוּמָה אֲשֶׁר תִּקְחוּ מֵאִתָּם, זָהָב וָכֶסֶף וּנְחֹשֶׁת. (כה: ב-ג)

“Speak to the Children of Israel and they will take for me a contribution, from every man whose heart volunteers him you will take my contribution. 
And this is the contribution that you shall take from them: gold and silver and copper.”
(25: 2-3).

Every person contributed to the building of the Tabernacle as much as he could, which is a fundamental characteristic of the Children of Israel, rich and poor – to contribute.

However, sometimes some people are reluctant to contribute or to give charity…

R’ Moshe of Sassov once called upon a rich miser and presented him with a mirror.

–         Who do you see in this mirror? the rabbi asked the rich man.

–         I see myself! – the man said

–         Now go over to the window and look.  What do you see now?

–         Now I see all kinds of people in the street, said the rich man.

Said R’ Moshe:

–         Pay attention: Both the mirror and the window are made from glass.  There is only a small difference. 
          The glass of the mirror is coated with silver on the backside. 
          And therefore, you don’t see through it.
          You only see yourself in it, and you do not see other people!

The rich man understood the hint and gave a large sum of money to charity.

In Hebrew ‘Silver’ – כסף (KESEF) means also ‘Money’. 

Wishing you a very joyous month of Adar, 
Yoel & Orly