Timeless Torah

Meander through the garden of Torah and you will discover a veritable Pardes, an orchard rich in taste offering a variety of choices suited for every palate. The first course always served in this spiritual oasis is the P’shat, the simple meaning of the text. Our menu of Divine delectables then calls for a little appetizer, or forshpeiz as we used to say in Yiddish, to tease and whet our appetites. That is why Remez, the part of the Torah that drops hints in alluding to further delights is the second stage of this mental culinary feast.

Finally we’re ready for some serious intake. D’rush which is the homiletical dimension of the Torah knows no bounds. You just never know what is going to be served on your plate. The Medrash is indeed so packed with unexpected ideas that one must be prepared to loosen the belt, not the one on your pants, the one on your imagination.

And if your head is not overloaded and spinning by this time, then you might be one of those souls with the constitution of a chassid. In that case, sit back and relax because you’re about to receive two scoops of Sod or Kaballah, a mystical treat packed with unlimited energy and heavenly flavors.

This week’s Fax of Life goes straight to the main course. Thus it is based on a Medrash, more specifically the Yalkut Shimoni, arguably the most comprehensive anthology of Biblical Midrashim. What delectable sweet does this 13th century example of scholarship offer? “That at the same moment in time that the Jews declared their willingness to ‘Do and Listen’, G-d Almighty demanded of His people that they offer up a Terumah, the necessary donations to build a Sanctuary.”

Unfortunately, Shimon Hadarshan who was the author of the Yalkut does not clarify why Hashem would choose that exact juncture to charge His nation with the decree that money and material be set aside for the construction of a desert Temple? After all, couldn’t He have picked another time, one less filled with declarations of faith, holiness and commitment?

Herein lies the beauty, depth and power of a Medrash. Displaying a profound understanding of the quixotic nature of the human condition, the Medrash is suggesting the following. After centuries of indescribable poverty and deprivation, the Israelites were liberated. Laden down with worldly goods ostensibly “borrowed” from their Egyptian neighbors and augmented by the rich spoils washed ashore after the miracle of the Red Sea, they suddenly found themselves quite well off.

Unfortunately, as is frequently evident among those who acquire wealth too rapidly, said wealth assumes the importance of an obsession. To part with it for any reason other than the banal satisfaction of selfish desires is unthinkable. It is precisely at this stage when Freedom from Want becomes a reality that G-d introduced servitude to a Higher Cause.

Obviously, G-d was not wholly taken in by the unprecedented Jewish outcry of Naaseh V’nishmah. To Him acceptance of the rituals and laws is no proof of unflagging loyalty. If sincerity is to be accurately measured, G-d asked that the Jews surrender some of their recently acquired possessions. “Make some sort of sacrifice,” He ordered. “Deprive yourself for My sake. Then and only then, shall I be certain of your unswerving dedication.”

Parting with objects that we can do without is no evidence of our fidelity to Hashem. Today the Jew stands at the economic apex of his long history. At no other time were our people granted such economic freedoms. But the opportunity of sacrifice is always with us. That is the eternal lesson of Shimon Hadarshan in his Medrash of Value.