This week’s Torah portion is filled with gems.
After Moses calls upon the Israelites to contribute skills and goods for the desert sanctuary (mishkan) they respond with such generosity that he is forced to do something that no non-profit fundraiser in history has ever experienced! “Stop!” he says, “you’ve given more than we need to get the job done!” Surely this was written as the dream of the world’s first development director!
All kidding aside, why would this be the story that was told?
One of the ways of understanding this account is to see it as a fundraising appeal of sorts to Israelites actually living in Jerusalem and tasked with building the first (or perhaps) Second Temple. The people were called upon to actually give of their hard-earned material goods to the Temple. It was a mighty undertaking. We are told the Temple was a glorious structure with much gold, precious linens, and ornate carvings. An undertaking of this magnitude required vast resources and munificent generosity. So how to inspire the donors? Tell them the story about the amazing generosity of those wandering Israelites!
As long as there have been Jewish communities, it has been incumbent upon the members of that community to sustain the institutions of Jewish life. Ancient Jewish kings and queens could tax, and they did. But apart from that span of history, donations were the cornerstone of Jewish life.
Today, more than ever, our Jewish institutions like Stephen Wise Temple rely upon the generosity of all our supporters to continue to do the good work that we do. While worship was the primary activity in antiquity, now we educate children, inspire adults, minister to the bereaved and sick, celebrate with wedding couples and B’nai Mitzvah, and work to build a better world. The message from the Torah is as vital today as it was centuries ago: the Jews in our community are the foundation upon which our organizations are built.
The full portion is here.
— Rabbi Ron Stern