פרשה: ויקהל · עלייה: שני (גבורה)

ויבאו כל איש ישראל אשר נשאו לבו, Every Israelite whose heart had elevated him came, brought, etc. The Torah alludes to two different categories of donors. 1) A person who donates as a result of an urge to do so in accordance with his means, both physically and financially. The Torah describes such a person as נדבה רוחו, to stress that such a donor does not feel that he deprives himself of something by giving it away. 2) The second type of donor is one who loses his sense of proportion because of his enthusiasm for the project for which he donates. As a result he contributes more than he can afford. The Torah describes this second type of person as נשאו לבו, "he is carried away by his heart." At the time he donates, such a person considers himself as possessing far more economic resources than he actually does. The Torah spoke of both of these types in our verse to show that there were both of these kinds of donors among the Israelites. The Torah first mentions the overly enthusiastic donor, i.e. אשר נשאו לבו, describing such individuals as איש, as people of distinction. Next the Torah mentions the וכל אשר נדבה רוחו, anyone moved to donate by his spirit. In this instance, the Torah avoids describing these individuals as איש, an honorary title. Although such people are to be commended for their noble gestures, they do not compare to the first category. We know that there are far inferior reasons for donating to charity or to public causes, such as social pressures, etc. The fact that the Torah speaks of only these two categories mentioned is a great compliment to the Israelites, something the Torah underlines when repeating הביאו את תרומת השם, they brought the Lord's offering. By writing these words the Torah testifies that all the donors were sufficiently highly motivated to enable G'd's contribution to attach itself, את, to their own, as we have described in our commentary on verse 5.

ולכל עבודתו, and for all the service thereof. The Torah reveals with this verse that all the 13 types of materials which were indispensable for making the Tabernacle were in fact donated. Moses did not have to take money, even donated money, to go out and acquire any of the materials because they had not been contributed in sufficient quantity or not at all.

ויבאו האנשים על הנשים; They came, both men and women. The expression על הנשים needs further analysis. Besides, why does the Torah repeat once more that the people who brought the materials were כל נדיב לבו, "all motivated by a generous heart?" Perhaps the Torah wanted to describe the nature of the generosity of these men, i.e. the אנשי החיל, the men of valour. People are attached to their earthly possessions in different degrees. We may perceive of this attachment in a descending order. 1) One is attached most strongly to possessions that serve one in the home, jewelry, household utensils, furniture, etc. This attachment is based on sentimental rather than monetary considerations. 2) One is attached to one's gold, seeing it represents the most enduring of one's possessions and does not require expense for its upkeep. 3) One is attached to possessions which are one's exclusive property, no one else in the world possessing anything like it, such as a rare painting by a painter already deceased. 4) One is attached to all the other kinds of possessions one owns.

In our verse the Torah describes how the men brought the kind of possessions normally worn by women, i.e. their most cherished possessions. The donors' generosity was such that they donated the most precious jewelry of their wives, nose-rings, ear-rings, signet-rings, etc.. The Torah distinguished between a נדיב לב, and between a נשאו לבו, as we have already explained. When the Torah speaks about people donating כל כלי זהב, it is to tell us that the people did not donate the golden utensils they had duplicates of which they could use instead. The word כל is a reminder that they did not retain a duplicate or substitute golden vessel for the ones they donated for the Tabernacle. It is also possible that the expression על הנשים means that this jewelry was still being worn by the wives of the men when they came to Moses to hand over their donations. They took off the jewelry only after Moses could see that this jewelry represented something very dear to them.

Then there was the kind of gold which had not served as jewelry. When describing people who donated that kind of gold the Torah wrote: וכל איש אשר הניף תנופת זהב לשם, and any man who brought an offering of gold for G'd. The third category of possessions donated by people, i.e. the items which a person knew was one of a kind seeing these things were unobtainable in the desert, is described by the Torah with the words וכל איש אשר נמצא אתו תכלת וארגמן, וגו and any man who had in his possession blue wool, purple wool, etc. Finally, the the fourth category of donors, the people who donated silver and other valuable possession are described as כל מרים תרומת כסף ונחושת, any man donating silver or copper.

When the Torah continues and describes people who possessed and brought acacia wood, the term נדבה, a donation, is omitted seeing that according to Tanchuma Parshat Terumah Jacob had foreseen the need for such wood and had planted such trees for use in the Tabernacle when required. The people with whom these trees or planks were found and who now brought them to Moses had only been trustees. These trees had only been "on deposit" with their keepers. They did not give up something that was theirs. Their contribution then could not qualify for the description "donation." לכל מלאכת עבודת הביאו, they brought it to be used for any work connected to the service (in the Tabernacle). The fact that the Torah stresses לכל מלאכת עבודה, is proof that the people bringing these trees or planks had kept them only for that purpose, otherwise these words are quite superfluous seeing that all the donations were brought for the same purpose. When you consider our explanation about the different types of possessions a person owns and what he feels for his various possessions, you will understand why the Torah repeated the word הביאו separately for each of the items listed.

והנשיאים הביאו את אבני השהם, and the princes brought the onyx stones, etc. The reason that these precious stones are listed only after such relatively inexpensive contributions as the spun goats' hair by the women is, that the princes tarried and were the last ones to make their contributions.

הביאו בני ישראל נדבה לה׳. The children of Israel brought a free-will offering unto the the Lord. The Torah sums up all the donations previously listed as in the category of a "free-will offering."