Terumah 5767 -- Donations and Purchases

Just a short vort this week: the first verse of this week's parsha contains God's commandment to take a terumah of various materials from the Jewish people. As Rashi reads it, and as modern Hebrew has it, litrom means to set aside money, to make a donation. Rav Shimshon Rafael Hirsch adds an additional element. Litrom, he says, is built upon the letters Resh, Vav, Mem, which letters form the root meaning "to raise or exalt" (as in Romemu Hashem Elokeinu). Thus, when the Israelites set aside these materials for use in the mishkan, they also raised the objects from a purely physical, and spiritually irrelevant, status, to one reaching a higher plain.

We have seen the 'elevation' of inanimate items before, in parshat Hayei Sarah. When Avraham buys the field containing the cave of Machpelah from Efron, the Torah tells us "vayakom s'deh Efron .... l'Avraham l'miknah l'einei b'nei Het-- and the field of Efron arose as a purchase to Avraham before the eyes of the Hittites." (Breishit 23:17-18). The phrase "vayakom s'deh Efron" is a little unusual here -- why does the Torah need to retell us that the field was Efron's, and why use the word vayakom?

Most commentators explain that the Torah is just referring to the field with specificity, and that vayakom simply means the sale validly occurred. Rashi, however, brings a midrashic explanation and says that the field underwent a tekumah, an elevating change of status, as it went from the hands of Efron to the hands of Avraham. Efron was a regular guy; Avraham was the founder of monotheism, a person who covenanted with the Almighty. The field itself thus climbed the spiritual ladder in the transaction.

The discussions of 'elevation' in both terumah (donations for the mishkan) and tekumat s'deh l'miknah (heightened spiritual status of purchased land), suggests a comparison: just as donation to a holy endeavor can elevate even a physical object and imbue it with spiritual significance, so too, a purchase, under the right circumstances, may be a holiness-generating act. To put it differently, and more expansively, the comparison between charitable donations and purchases suggests that charitable donations are not the only way to make the world a better place, and are not the only way to do something meaningful with money.

We can elevate our commerce, and take steps towards a more meaningful life and world, by doing any of the following suggested actions: purchase goods from companies that actively seek to respect and sustain their workers and the environment (see http://www.mayaworks.org/ for an excellent example: we bought kippot for our wedding, as did my cousin Dina); invest in such socially responsible companies, so that they have more capital to do their work; be sure to tip generously so that people who work hard for you can take home a little more money and dignity. This is a very short and incomplete list, and I would welcome (and will post) any other suggestions for ways to elevate commerce and make the world a better place.

As we approach Purim, and properly focus on its mitzvah of matanot la'evyonim (gifts to the poor), let us strive also to use our commerce for good.