STAM
TORAH
PARSHAS
TERUMAH 5779
It’s literally the million-dollar question (perhaps
more) that every organization, corporation, religious institution, and
educational institution constantly grapples with:
How can we get people to be more involved?
In an article that appeared in the Atlantic in
February 2018[2],
it was reported that Amazon was offering its employees up to $5,000 to walk
away from their job with the company. The more obvious reason for the incentive
was to encourage unhappy employees to leave. But on a deeper level, it would
cause employees to remain with the company for longer than they otherwise might
have. By resisting a lucrative offer to leave, the employees that remained
would feel more invested, and therefore more committed, to the company.
People do not like feeling cognitive dissonance,
and contradictory beliefs. When they are confronted with paradoxical
emotions/beliefs, they will try to rationalize one belief to make it fit with
the other. Therefore, if a person refused the $5,000 offer, they would then
convince themselves that they really enjoy working at Amazon, even if they
weren’t completely thrilled before.
So aside for weeding out disgruntled employees, the
offer actually increased overall employee satisfaction and commitment to
production.
Parshas Terumah begins with Hashem instructing
Moshe, “And you shall take for Me a terumah (donation) from every man whose
heart motivates him...” The commentators ask why the pasuk says that they
should take a terumah, and not that they should give a terumah?
The Medrash[3] states: “At
the moment they (Klal Yisroel) said na’ase v’nishma (we will do and we
will hear), G-d said to them, “And you shall take for Me a terumah”.
What’s the connection?
IKEA is known for its self-assembly furniture. There
is a certain level of pride one feels when he puts something together himself,
even if he is a complete amateur and was only able to construct it with the
included instructions. This is known aptly as the IKEA effect.
Behavioral economist Dan Ariely conducted a series
of experiments to test the extent of the IKEA effect, to determine how much we
overvalue what we make.
Arieli gathered volunteers to make origami models by
intricately and elaborately folding paper. He then asked them how much they were
prepared to pay to keep their own model. The average response was 25 cents. When
he asked other people in the vicinity what they would be prepared to pay for
the models, the average answer was five cents.
It demonstrated that people were prepared to pay
five times more for something they made themselves. Arieli’s conclusion was
that although the effort invested into something does not just change the
object, it changes its creator’s perception and how much he values that object.
The greater the effort involved, the greater the love for what was made.[4]
Rabbi Jonathon Sacks notes that the
construction of the Mishkan marked a turning point for the Jewish nation in the
desert. Until that point, the nation had been the recipients of G-d’s
magnanimity. He brought the plagues, He split the sea, He brought down the
manna and produced the water from the rock, and although they fought against
Amalek, it was G-d who ultimately miraculously brought about their victory.
But then G-d instructed Moshe to inform
the nation, “And you shall make for me a sanctuary and I will dwell amongst
them.” Now G-d was commanding them to create something for Him. It was not
because G-d needed a home on earth. As the prophet Yeshaya states: “Heaven is My throne
and the earth My footstool. What house, then, can you will build for Me?”[5]
Rather, it was G-d granting them the ability to create an abode for Him to
enhance their own measure of self-worth.
Everyone whose heart desired could
contribute: “gold, silver or bronze, blue, purple or crimson yarns,
fine linen, goat hair, red-dyed ram skins, fine leather, acacia
wood, oil for the lamp, balsam oils for the anointing oil and for the
fragrant incense,” jewels for the breastplate, etc. Some invested their talents
and acumen. Everyone had the opportunity to take part: women as well as men. It
was produced by the entire nation, not just the elite.
For the first time G-d was asking them
not just to follow, but to be active - to become builders and creators. That
made the Mishkan that much more beloved to them.
The word terumah doesn’t only refer to
something donated, but also to something that’s raised up. Those who built the
Mishkan raised up their gift to G-d, and, in the process, discovered that
they themselves had been raised up.
Rav Eliyahu Schlesinger[6]
explains that a person loves something that he toiled and invested in. The more
time and effort he dedicated to it, the deeper will be his value and connection
to it.
At Har Sinai, G-d held the mountain
above the nation and told them that if they accepted the Torah all would be
well. But if not, they would be buried under the mountain.[7] There
was a certain degree of coercion when they originally accepted the Torah at
Sinai. One can be forced into physical compliance, but one cannot be forced
into emotional compliance. Thus, at Sinai the nation was bound and committed to
the performance of mitzvos, but they did not yet achieve emotional and internal
connection to their newfound status.
When they uttered na’aseh v’nishma,
demonstrating complete allegiance to G-d, G-d replied by telling them to invest
in the Mishkan. G-d did not need their contributions, but when they gave the
necessary materials, they were taking for themselves the feeling of connection
and love for G-d, and there can be nothing greater or loftier.
The haftorah for parshas Terumah[8] relates
that when Shlomo Hamelech was commissioning the construction of the first Bais
Hamikdash, 30,000 men were drafted, 10,000 of which were dispatched to Lebanon
for a month. There were an additional 70,000 porters, 80,000 quarriers, and
3,300 supervisors. By having so many Jews involved in its construction, it
ensured that the nation would feel deeply connected with the Bais Hamikdash.
The month (months) of Adar and the
holiday of Purim are a time of deep joy and celebration. The terror of Haman’s
threat jolted the Jews out of their auto-pilot performance of Torah and
mitzvos, revitalizing and rejuvenating the inner spark within them. They again
felt invested and deeply connected to Torah and to each other. That is what we
celebrate.
“And you shall take for Me a terumah”
“And
I will dwell amongst them”
Rabbi Dani Staum,
LMSW
Rebbe/Guidance
Counselor – Heichal HaTorah
Principal – Ohr
Naftoli- New Windsor
[1] The
following is the lecture I delivered at Kehillat New Hempstead, Parshas Terumah
5778
[2] “Why Amazon
Pays Some of Its Workers to Quit”, Alana Semuels, February 14, 2018
[4] Dan Ariely, The Upside of
Irrationality, Harper, 2011, 83-106. His TED lecture on this subject can be
seen at: https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_ariely_what_makes_us_feel_good_about_our_work
[5]
Yeshaya 66:1
[6] Sefer
Eileh Hadevorim
[7]
Shabbos 88b
[8]
Melachim I, 5:26
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