WHAT ARE YOU WORTH?

"We are worth what we are willing to share with others."

Recently, the world's second wealthiest man, Warren Buffet, announced he will donate the bulk of his 42-billion-dollar fortune to charity. Buffet's oldest daughter, Susie, immediately changed her name to Charity…

In an effort to better understand his Jewish constituents, a mayor contacted a popular rabbi.

The rabbi invited the mayor to spend Shabbat at his home, and the mayor accepted.

On Friday night, the rabbi made Kiddush on a full cup of wine. Then he made a l’chaim (a toast to life) after the fish on some fine Scotch. The main course was accompanied by an Israeli wine. They said grace after the meal with another cup of wine.

The next day they made Kiddush on wine at the synagogue. After the service, they ate crackers with herring and made a few l'chaims on schnapps. They went home and the rabbi made Kiddush for his family on another cup of wine, had some l'chaim after fish, enjoyed a nice single malt with the cholent, and drank some more wine for grace after the meal. When it got dark, he said Havdalah to end Shabbat on another cup of wine.

The mayor told the rabbi, "I had a wonderful time! Thank you for sharing Shabbat with me. I still don't get why you can't turn off lights, but I do understand why you don't drive!"

This week's Torah portion, Terumah, says: Speak to the children of Israel, and they shall take for Me a contribution; from every person whose heart inspires him to generosity, you shall take My contribution.

There is an obvious anomaly here. “Have them take for me a contribution,” is a peculiar choice of words. A more appropriate expression would have been, "they shall give Me a contribution."

The Midrash explains: Since G-d really owns everything, it is impossible to speak of giving Him anything. Giving usually implies I have ownership, and I transfer the ownership to someone else. When we talk about the Master of the World, we don't use the expression "giving." Instead, we use the expression "taking." We are taking from G-d in order to give to G-d. “Take for Me a contribution” means to take the contribution from Me in order to give it to Me.

Rabbi Moshe Alshich says there is an important message here. Giving is a form of taking. You are not giving me a contribution, says G-d. By giving for My causes, you are taking. Or, as the Midrash famously puts it, More than what the benefactor does for a poor person, the poor person does for the benefactor.

When we give, we get much more. When we give, our lives are elevated to a higher, more dignified, more Divine plane. If one gives a person a donation, the money is temporary. Perhaps it pays for the next meal, or rent, or tuition. It comes and goes. On the other hand, the person who is giving is receiving something eternal. He gives something to his soul that is priceless, he acquires a relationship with G-d that is timeless, and he receives a reward both in this world and the world to come that lasts for eternity.

This point is underscored the first time the Torah relates a story of giving. It is when Abraham invited three guests to his tent to relax under the shade, to eat and to drink. This is the first overt mention of an act of kindness in the Torah.

Three times in that story, the Torah repeats the phrase “taking.” "Let water be taken,” “I will take bread," etc. Why this expression? Abraham should have said: "I will give water!” “I will give bread!"

The answer, of course, is that Abraham is guiding his children of all future generations. My children, you must know that when you help someone else, you are not giving; you are taking. The greatest gift we can give ourselves is a life filled with love and caring for others. More than the host does for the guest, the guest does for the host.

This is true in our marriages as well: When a husband and wife are committed to giving to each other, they themselves are often surprised by how much they receive by the sheer act of giving to somebody outside of themselves. The love we give away is the only love we keep.

Winston Churchill said We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.

Sir Moses Montefiore, a great Victorian Anglo-Jew, was one of the outstanding figures of the 19th century. A close friend of Queen Victoria and knighted by her, he became the first Jew to attain high office in London. His philanthropy extended to both Jews and non-Jews, and on his 100th birthday, The London Times devoted editorials to his praise. "He has shown," said the Times, "that fervent Judaism and patriotic citizenship are absolutely consistent with one another."

One reflection was particularly moving: Someone once asked him, "Sir Moses, what are you worth?" Moses thought for a while and named a figure. "But surely," said his questioner, "your wealth must be much more than that." With a smile, Sir Moses replied, "You didn't ask me how much I own; you asked me my worth. So I calculated how much I have given to charity this year.

"You see," he said, "we are worth what we are willing to share with others."  

This, too, is what the Torah is teaching us with the expression, "Take a contribution for Me." Whether a person gives to an individual or to an institution of G-d, he or she is really receiving as much, if not more, than he or she is giving.

Shabbat Shalom and a happy Rosh Chodesh ADAR,
Rabbi Yoseph Geisinsky