Is it an Act of Giving or Receiving?
What is the greatest gift that we can receive? It is the ability to give.
To give is to reflect the creator.
Creation, by definition, is an act of receiving; we receive our very existence from our creator.
To the extent that we receive, we are creations; to the extent that we share with others, we experience the Divine.
This realization alters the usual hierarchy between giver and recipient. On the surface, the giver is giving; upon deeper reflection, by being vulnerable and being open to accepting, the recipient is giving the giver the opportunity to give, to escape the trappings of creation and partner with the creator.
In the opening statement of this week’s Torah portion, G-d tells Moses to speak to the Jewish people and ask them to give, to donate, materials for the construction of the temple. Yet, when we look at the verse, we discover that instead of G-d saying “they shall give”, the verse states, not once but twice, “(let them) take”, “(you shall take)”:
The Lord spoke to Moses saying: Speak to the children of Israel, and have them take for Me an offering; from every person whose heart inspires him to generosity, you shall take My offering.
Are the Jewish people giving or taking?
The great commentator and kabbalist, Rabbi Mose Alshich, explains that indeed, the act of giving is indeed an act of “taking”-receiving.
For the greatest gift we can receive from G-d, is Him telling us that he needs something from us. That our existence and our choices matter to him.
As Rabbi Manis Friedman explained when he visited Greenwich a few weeks ago: “A person would much rather be needed than be loved”. When you tell me you love me, you are telling me something about yourself, something about your preferences that may or may not resonate with me. When you tell me I am needed, you are telling me about myself. You are telling me that I matter.