Parashat Tzav

Parashat Tzav

Nissan 12, 5773 ~ March 23, 2013

by Rabbi Akiva Naiman

Money Matters

 

As part of the inauguration of the Mishkan, Moshe poured the blood of an offering on the Mizbeach “to atone for it.” What atonement was necessary? Rashi explains that the meaning is “to invest it with the power to provide atonement.” Sifra, however takes the stance that there was a literal atonement necessary here. Sifra explains that there might have been people who were guilted into contributing money for the Mishkan, who didn’t really want to give. If so, the money they handed over was not given freely, and in some small way could be considered stolen. Moshe pouted the blood to atone for any such “theft.”

Isn’t that incredible? Think about it. They had only recently stood at Har Sinai, where they had all heard Hashem’s voice. They had all screamed “We will do and we will listen!” They were all clear that their whole purpose was to be tied up in their relationship with Hashem. Yet there was a good chance that some people could not bring themselves to contribute freely to build a home for the Shechinah. What happened to the prophetic inspiration they all experienced at the Sea? Where was the willingness to contribute that led to the Golden Calf being completed before Moshe returned?

It would appear that there is a special yetzer hara to be tightfisted when it comes to doing mitzvos. The Gemara points out that the reason we say in Shema that “you must love Hashem, your G-d, with all your heart, all your soul, and all your means,” is because there are people who feel that their money is more valuable than their lives. So when it comes to a Golden Calf, you will always find plenty of donors. But try to open a Yeshivah or collect money for starving families, and all of a sudden, everyone is “having a little trouble right now.”

I used to say that you could tell which institutions are accomplishing real good by how strapped for cash they are. There are exceptions, of course, where Hashem feels something is so important that He gives them a grant, so to speak, but in general the best places have the least money.

I once saw a sefer that put it quite bluntly: around the time of Yom Kippur, everyone wants merits. We know how to get them, too. “Repentance, prayer, and charity can wipe away the evil decree.” Jews all over the world, he said, start praying with such devotion, and they repent with broken hearts. But somehow, when it comes to charity, “The voice (of prayer) is the voice of Yaakov, but the hands (of the giving) are the hands of Eisav.” Ouch.

 

Even more frightening is that as far as the Mishkan was concerned, money we give out of feelings of guilt doesn’t really count. It’s considered like we didn’t actually relinquish ownership.

I always tell people that even if you can’t give to a collector, a warm smile and a brachah that he succeed cost you nothing. But that is true only if you can’t actually give something. If someone spends all his money on his personal version of the Golden Calf, his sympathy and friendship are hypocritical. The fact is that a starving person can’t eat smiles, and a Yeshivah can’t run on goodwill (although they often try). During World War II, Zeirei Agudas Yisrael in America was one of the most active organizations to help the refuges from Europe. Their slogan: “Sympathy won’t help them – money will.”

I don’t usually rant about money, but it seemed a good time. Everyone knows how tough things are around Pesach time. Think about how people feel who can’t really make it during the rest of the year. They can easily be crushed. That’s why there is an age-old minhag that everyone must contribute to the poor before Pesach. Just a thought.

Have a wonderful Shabbos.