A Spiritual Heart Donation
Terumah
The primary resting place of the Shechina was not in the Mishkan, but rather in the hearts and souls of the people who gave of themselves to build it.
Whilst the Mishkan was a physical structure in which the Divine presence was manifest, it was a representation of the Mishkan inside of every Jew. The Kabbalistic works, like the Shela”h and Reishis Chochma, derive this from the command to build the Mishkan ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם. Literally, the verse translates as “build for Me a sanctuary and I will dwell within them”, referring to Bnei Yisroel.
Just as the Mishkan was a place for the service of Hashem, the spiritual inner Mishkan is created through our spiritual service of Hashem.
With this, the Baal Shem Tov explains the verse מאת כל איש אשר ידבנו לבו תקחו את תרומתי. Literally this describes how the donations had to be taken from anyone who was generous of heart. The Baal Shem Tov reads the verse as saying, that from each man who donates his heart, you shall take My contribution (for the Mishkan).
What does it mean to donate one’s heart and how does this form a contribution for the Mishkan?
The heart is the seat of our emotions and desires. In order to build the spiritual Mishkan of Avodas Hashem, we must take the Middos that our in our hearts and direct them and utilise them in the service of our Creator.
This does not only include the naturally positive and holy Middos of our Yetzer Tov, but also the negative Middos of our Yetzer Hara. This is the intent of our sages in their interpretation of the Shema, that serving Hashem בכל לבבך - with all of your hearts (in plural form), that we must love and serve Hashem with both of our inclinations; the Yetzer Tov and the Yetzer Hara - to dedicate our whole heart.
Even the negative emotions of the Yetzer Hara can be positively channeled. The powerful desire of the Yetzer Hara for worldly matters can be refocused to be a powerful desire and love for Hashem. The dread that the Yetzer Hara feels of coming to lose out or suffer materially, can be elevated to become a fear and awe of Hashem.
The mystics teach that if Esav would have gone in the ways of the Torah, his service would have been even greater than his brother Yaakov. This is because the emotions of the Yetzer Hara are much stronger than those of the Yetzer Tov.
On the sixth day, Hashem saw all of His work and it was very good - טוב מאד. Our sages teach that טוב (good) refers to the angel of life - the Yetzer Tov. טוב מאד (very good) refers to the angel of death, the Yetzer Hara. When the Yetzer Hara is redirected and transformed, it is not just a level of good equal to that of the Yetzer Tov. It is infinitely greater, as alluded to in the words טוב מאד.
In Chassidus, this is referred to as the light that shine from the darkness itself.
The gold used in the building of the Mishkan is described as זהב טהור, pure gold. The Torah does not refer to it as holy gold, but rather pure. Something becomes pure if it was formally impure (טמא). Gold is a metaphor for the emotion of fear. When we redirect the impure emotions of the Yetzer Hara, they become זהב טהור.
This, says the Baal Shem Tov, is how we build the Mishkan, by literally giving Him our heart; our entire heart, the good and the not so good. In this pursuit, it is the negative Middos that Hashem has challenged us with, that are our greatest strength and asset, through which we can transform ourselves to become the home and resting place that He desires.
Whilst the Mishkan was a physical structure in which the Divine presence was manifest, it was a representation of the Mishkan inside of every Jew. The Kabbalistic works, like the Shela”h and Reishis Chochma, derive this from the command to build the Mishkan ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם. Literally, the verse translates as “build for Me a sanctuary and I will dwell within them”, referring to Bnei Yisroel.
Just as the Mishkan was a place for the service of Hashem, the spiritual inner Mishkan is created through our spiritual service of Hashem.
With this, the Baal Shem Tov explains the verse מאת כל איש אשר ידבנו לבו תקחו את תרומתי. Literally this describes how the donations had to be taken from anyone who was generous of heart. The Baal Shem Tov reads the verse as saying, that from each man who donates his heart, you shall take My contribution (for the Mishkan).
What does it mean to donate one’s heart and how does this form a contribution for the Mishkan?
The heart is the seat of our emotions and desires. In order to build the spiritual Mishkan of Avodas Hashem, we must take the Middos that our in our hearts and direct them and utilise them in the service of our Creator.
This does not only include the naturally positive and holy Middos of our Yetzer Tov, but also the negative Middos of our Yetzer Hara. This is the intent of our sages in their interpretation of the Shema, that serving Hashem בכל לבבך - with all of your hearts (in plural form), that we must love and serve Hashem with both of our inclinations; the Yetzer Tov and the Yetzer Hara - to dedicate our whole heart.
Even the negative emotions of the Yetzer Hara can be positively channeled. The powerful desire of the Yetzer Hara for worldly matters can be refocused to be a powerful desire and love for Hashem. The dread that the Yetzer Hara feels of coming to lose out or suffer materially, can be elevated to become a fear and awe of Hashem.
The mystics teach that if Esav would have gone in the ways of the Torah, his service would have been even greater than his brother Yaakov. This is because the emotions of the Yetzer Hara are much stronger than those of the Yetzer Tov.
On the sixth day, Hashem saw all of His work and it was very good - טוב מאד. Our sages teach that טוב (good) refers to the angel of life - the Yetzer Tov. טוב מאד (very good) refers to the angel of death, the Yetzer Hara. When the Yetzer Hara is redirected and transformed, it is not just a level of good equal to that of the Yetzer Tov. It is infinitely greater, as alluded to in the words טוב מאד.
In Chassidus, this is referred to as the light that shine from the darkness itself.
The gold used in the building of the Mishkan is described as זהב טהור, pure gold. The Torah does not refer to it as holy gold, but rather pure. Something becomes pure if it was formally impure (טמא). Gold is a metaphor for the emotion of fear. When we redirect the impure emotions of the Yetzer Hara, they become זהב טהור.
This, says the Baal Shem Tov, is how we build the Mishkan, by literally giving Him our heart; our entire heart, the good and the not so good. In this pursuit, it is the negative Middos that Hashem has challenged us with, that are our greatest strength and asset, through which we can transform ourselves to become the home and resting place that He desires.