The will to give elevates every mitzvah

ויקחו לי כו' במד' לקח טוב נתתי לכם כו'.

"And they shall take for Me…" — in the Midrash: "A good acquisition (lekach tov) I have given you…"

The parashah opens "Veyikchu Li terumah" ("they shall take for Me an offering"), and the Midrash links it to "I have given you a good acquisition," referring to the Torah — setting up the question of why the verse says "take" rather than "give."

דקשה מה ויקחו.

For it is difficult: why "and they shall take"?

The grammatical difficulty: one would expect the Torah to say "they shall give Me an offering," yet it says "they shall take."

ויתנו הול"ל.

"And they shall give" is what it should have said.

Since the offering is something a person brings to Hashem, the natural wording would be "give," making "take" puzzling.

אך כי איך יוכל אדם ב"ו ליתן דבר מה להש"י.

But how can a person of flesh and blood give anything to Hashem?

The Sefas Emes resolves it: a mortal being cannot truly "give" anything to Hashem, to whom everything already belongs — so "give" would be inaccurate.

רק הרצון ולקיחת נפש האדם לנתינה זו.

Rather, it is the ratzon (will) and the "taking" of a person's soul toward this giving.

What a person can truly contribute is his ratzon — the inner taking-hold of his soul, his desire and resolve to give. That alone is genuinely his to offer.

זה עיקר המכוון.

This is the essential intent.

The real point of the offering is this inner will, not the physical object itself — which is why the Torah says "take," referring to the soul's act of taking-hold.

והיינו דכ' לקח טוב.

And this is why it is written "a good lekach (acquisition/taking)."

The Midrash's word "lekach" (taking) deliberately echoes "veyikchu" (they shall take): the precious thing is the act of inner "taking" — the will to give.

שכל המצות ומעש"ט.

For all the mitzvos and good deeds —

The principle extends to every mitzvah and good deed, not only to the terumah offering.

העיקר הרצון לעשותם.

— the main thing is the will to perform them.

In every mitzvah, the essential element is the inner ratzon and desire to do it, which gives the deed its true worth.

ועל ידי זה מתרומם המצוה עד השי"ת.

And through this the mitzvah is elevated up to Hashem.

It is the sincere will behind a mitzvah that lifts it all the way up to Hashem — hinted in the word "terumah," from "rom," to be raised.

כי וודאי השי"ת עשה להיות אלו המצות תלוין במעשה האדם.

For surely Hashem arranged that these mitzvos should depend on the deed of man.

Hashem deliberately made the mitzvos contingent on human action, so that man's physical performance becomes the vehicle for something far greater.

שיתעורר ע"י מעשה זו עד השי"ת ממש.

So that through this deed an awakening should reach all the way up to Hashem Himself.

The purpose is that a single physical act, done with proper will, sends a ripple of awakening that ascends literally up to Hashem.

אבל האדם צריך לידע כי הוא רחוק מהמצוה מאוד.

But a person must know that he is very far from the mitzvah.

At the same time, one must maintain the awareness that, on his own, he is very distant from the true greatness and holiness of the mitzvah.

וע"י ביטול עצמותו אל קדושת המצוה ולהתבונן בזכי' זו.

And through the bittul of his selfhood to the holiness of the mitzvah, and contemplating this privilege —

By nullifying his ego before the mitzvah's holiness (bittul) and reflecting on the privilege of being a partner in it, a person aligns himself with its true greatness.

אשר ע"י מעשיו מגיע תקונין בכל העולמות עד השי"ת ממש.

— that through his deeds, rectifications (tikkunim) reach all the worlds, up to Hashem Himself.

One should contemplate the astonishing reach of his actions: a single mitzvah brings tikkunim — spiritual repairs — throughout all the worlds, ascending to Hashem.

וצריך האדם למסור נפשו ומאודו בכל מצוה בכוונה הנ"ל.

And a person must give over his soul and his "very much" (me'odo) in every mitzvah with the aforementioned intention.

This calls for mesirus nefesh: pouring one's whole soul and full strength ("me'odecha," all that is yours) into each mitzvah, with the awareness of its cosmic effect.

וע"י זה מתרומם המצוה יותר ע"י השי"ת.

And through this the mitzvah is elevated even higher by Hashem.

When a person invests this total devotion, Hashem in turn raises the mitzvah even higher than the person's own effort could reach.

וזה שכתוב ויקחו לי תרומה וכו'.

And this is the meaning of "and they shall take for Me a terumah (elevated offering)…"

"Veyikchu Li terumah" thus means: through the inner "taking" of one's will, the offering becomes a true "terumah" — something lifted and elevated to Hashem.

ובכל דבר העיקר ההתחלה והרצון.

And in everything, the main thing is the beginning and the will.

In any endeavor, what matters most is the initial step and the sincere desire to begin; that is the part truly within a person's power.

ואח"כ השי"ת מסייע שיוכל האדם לעשות המצוה גם בפועל.

And afterward Hashem assists, so that a person is able to perform the mitzvah also in actual deed.

Once a person supplies the genuine will and makes the start, Hashem provides the siyata — the heavenly help — enabling him to carry the mitzvah through into practice.

וז"ש לאל גומר עלי.

And this is the meaning of "to the God who completes for me."

The pasuk "la'Kel gomer alai" (Tehillim 57:3) teaches that we begin with our will, and Hashem is the One who completes and brings the matter to fruition on our behalf.

וז"ש נמכר עמו לסייע כפי רצון האדם כנ"ל [במדרש] בו זהב אין בו כסף וכו'.

And this is the meaning of "[the Torah] was sold along with him" — to assist according to a person's will, as above. [In the Midrash:] "in it (a field) there is gold but no silver…"

The Midrash that the Torah was "sold along with" its recipient means Hashem accompanies and assists a person according to his will. The Midrash then contrasts ordinary property: a gold mine has gold but no silver, a field has produce but not all goods — each acquisition is partial.

ואינו מובן כי יוכל אדם ליקח כסף וזהב ושדה וכרם.

And it is not understood, for a person can acquire silver and gold and a field and a vineyard.

The difficulty: surely a person can acquire all these things together — silver, gold, fields, vineyards — so what is the Midrash's point about each having only part?

אבל הפירוש כי בגוף הזהב אין כסף וכו'.

But the explanation is that within the substance of the gold itself there is no silver, and so on.

The Midrash means that any single physical object contains only its own one quality — gold is only gold; no single worldly item holds everything within it.

אבל מקח שנתתי לכם יש בו הכל בנקודה אחת.

But the acquisition that I have given you (the Torah) has everything within it in a single point.

The Torah is unlike any physical possession: it contains everything — all worlds and all good — concentrated within one inner point.

והוא להגיד לאדם שלא יתרחק ע"י שמבין שאין מעשיו מגיעים להשי"ת.

And this is to tell a person not to distance himself by reasoning that his deeds do not reach Hashem.

The lesson is encouragement: a person should not grow despondent and withdraw, thinking his small deeds are too insignificant to reach Hashem.

רק להאמין כי השי"ת ממלא כל עלמין.

Rather, he should believe that Hashem fills all worlds.

Instead, one must hold firm to the emunah that Hashem fills all worlds (memale kol almin) — He is present even within the smallest deed.

וכל רצון אמת שיש בכל איש ישראל מגיע אליו ממש.

And every true ratzon that exists in any Jew reaches Him literally.

Because Hashem fills all worlds, every sincere will within any Jew genuinely reaches all the way up to Hashem — no honest desire is ever too small or too distant.

ואא"ז מו"ר ז"ל פי' אל תעזובו את המקח שנתתי לכם דייקא.

And my grandfather, my teacher, of blessed memory, explained: "Do not forsake the acquisition that I have given you" — precisely.

The Sefas Emes brings his grandfather's reading of the Midrash's phrase "do not forsake the lekach (acquisition) I have given you," noting the precise wording "the acquisition I gave you."

לזכור האדם כי המקח מהשי"ת ושגם לקיחת האדם לקיים המצוה גם כן רק מהשי"ת:

That a person should remember that the acquisition is from Hashem, and that even a person's own "taking" to fulfill the mitzvah is likewise only from Hashem.

The closing insight: not only is the Torah itself a gift from Hashem, but even a person's very ability and will to "take hold" and fulfill the mitzvah is itself granted by Hashem — so all of it, beginning to end, comes from Him.

Summary: The Torah says "they shall take for Me" rather than "give," because a mortal cannot truly give Hashem anything — what a person offers is his ratzon, the inner "taking-hold" of his soul, which is the essence of every mitzvah and what elevates it up to Hashem. One must combine this with bittul, recognizing how far he is from the mitzvah's true holiness, yet believing that Hashem fills all worlds so that every sincere will reaches Him. As the Chiddushei HaRim adds: not only the Torah but even one's very will and ability to fulfill the mitzvah are themselves gifts from Hashem.