Taking the world through Torah and brachah

ויקחו לי תרומה פרש"י לי לשמי.

"And they shall take for Me a terumah (offering)" — Rashi explains: "for Me" means "for My Name."

The passuk says "take" rather than "give," and Rashi stresses that the offering must be brought li'shmi — for the sake of Hashem's Name. The Sefas Emes will explain why the Torah specifically uses the language of "taking."

וקשה כי בודאי הנותן נדבה למשכן מה שייך שלא לשמו.

This is difficult, for surely with one who gives a donation to the Mishkan (Tabernacle), how could there be any question of it not being for His Name?

If a person is already donating to the Mishkan, his intent is obviously for Hashem — so why does Rashi need to emphasize that it must be li'shmo? There must be a deeper meaning in the words.

ויובן הענין עפ"י המדרש שכתב הה"ד לקח טוב נתתי כו' יש בו כסף זהב כו'.

The matter can be understood based on the Midrash that writes: this is what is meant by the passuk, "A good acquisition (lekach tov) I have given you... in it there is silver and gold..."

The Midrash connects "take for Me a terumah" to the passuk "lekach tov nasati lachem" — "a good acquisition I have given you" (Mishlei 4:2), referring to the Torah. The Torah is the true "taking," and within it lie all the riches of silver and gold.

דקשה ויקחו לי תרומה.

For there is a difficulty: "And they shall take for Me a terumah."

Here is the core question on the passuk — why does it say "take"?

ויתנו מיבעי לי' למימר.

It should have said "and they shall give."

Since the people are donating to the Mishkan, the natural word would be "give," not "take." This unusual phrasing is the key to the whole idea.

אבל באמת כל רצונו ית"ש הוא שע"י המשכן יוכלו בנ"י לקבל כל השפעת בני חיי ומזוני.

But in truth, the entire ratzon (will) of Hashem, may His Name be blessed, is that through the Mishkan Bnei Yisrael should be able to receive all the flow (hashpa'ah) of children, life, and sustenance.

The Mishkan is the channel through which all blessing — banei, chayei, u'mzonei (children, life, and parnasah) — comes into the world. That is why the Torah says "take": through the Mishkan, Bnei Yisrael are taking, drawing down, all the brachah of creation.

הכל בכח הקדושה.

All of it is through the power of kedushah (holiness).

Every blessing a Yid receives flows only through the conduit of holiness embodied in the Mishkan.

וכל זה בכח התורה שכל העולם נברא בה כמ"ש חז"ל בראשית בשביל התורה שנקראת ראשית ולכן איש ישראל צריך ליקח הכל רק על ידי התורה ונקראת לקח טוב שיכולין ליקח בה הכל כסף וזהב שדות כו'.

And all this is through the power of the Torah, through which the entire world was created, as Chazal said: "Bereishis" — for the sake of the Torah, which is called "reishis." Therefore a Yid must take everything only by means of the Torah, and it is called "a good acquisition (lekach tov)," for through it one can acquire everything — silver and gold and fields...

Chazal darshen "Bereishis" (in the beginning) as "for the sake of the Torah, which is called reishis (first)" — the world was created through the Torah. Since everything was created by its power, a Yid can rightfully "take" anything in the world only through the Torah. That is why the Torah is the "lekach tov," the good acquisition: by clinging to it, one truly acquires all the world's blessings.

שהלא הכל נברא בכחה.

For indeed everything was created by its power.

Since all of creation came into being through the Torah, the Torah is the rightful key to everything within it.

ולכן אסור לאיש ישראל להנות מעוה"ז בלי ברכה.

Therefore it is forbidden for a Yid to derive benefit from this world (olam hazeh) without a brachah (blessing).

Because everything belongs to Hashem and was created through the Torah, a person has no right to take from the world directly. He must first make a brachah, which is his way of "taking" through the Torah and acknowledging the true Owner.

ושמעתי ממו"ז ז"ל כי מאה ברכות בכל יום רמז למאה אדנים שהיו יסוד המשכן כו'.

And I heard from my grandfather, of blessed memory, that the one hundred brachos one recites each day are a hint to the hundred adanim (sockets) that were the foundation of the Mishkan.

The Sefas Emes brings a teaching from his grandfather (the Chiddushei HaRim): the obligation to say one hundred brachos daily corresponds to the hundred silver sockets that formed the base of the Mishkan. Just as the adanim were the foundation upon which the whole Mishkan stood, the brachos are the foundation through which a Yid draws down all blessing.

ובודאי הם מאה המשכות שיש לעולם בשורש העליון.

And surely these are the hundred channels (hamshachos) that the world has at its supernal root.

The hundred adanim, and correspondingly the hundred daily brachos, represent the hundred conduits through which shefa flows from the upper root into this world. Through these brachos a Yid taps into all hundred channels of blessing.

וכשהאדם מכוון לקבל הכל לשמו ולכבודו ית' שהרי הכל לכבודו ברא.

And when a person intends to receive everything for His Name and for His honor, may He be blessed — for indeed everything He created for His honor —

When a Yid makes a brachah with the kavanah (intention) that all he receives should be for the sake of Hashem and His glory, he aligns himself with the very purpose of creation, since Hashem made everything for His honor.

אז יכול להתדבק בשורש ולהעלות הכל לברכה עליונה וזהו רמז נטילת ידים כמ"ש שאו ידיכם קודש וברכו כו'.

then he is able to cling (l'hisdabek) to the root and to elevate everything to a supernal brachah. And this is the hint of netilas yadayim (the washing/lifting of the hands), as it is written: "Lift up your hands in holiness and bless..."

By taking with the right intent, a person attaches himself to the supernal root and raises everything he takes up to its source as a higher brachah. This is alluded to in netilas yadayim — literally "lifting the hands" — as in the passuk "Se'u yedeichem kodesh u'varchu" (Lift your hands in holiness and bless Hashem) (Tehillim 134:2): we lift our hands to elevate the physical to its holy source.

וזהו ויקחו לי לשמי תרומה כו' ודו"ק:

And this is the meaning of "And they shall take for Me — for My Name — a terumah..." — and study this well.

This resolves the original question: the passuk says "take" because the entire purpose of the Mishkan, the Torah, and the brachos is that a Yid should take everything in the world li'shmi — for Hashem's Name — and thereby elevate it back to its holy root.

Summary: The Torah says "take for Me a terumah" rather than "give" because the Mishkan, built through the power of the Torah ("lekach tov," the good acquisition through which the world was created), is the vessel through which Bnei Yisrael draw down all blessing — children, life, and sustenance. A Yid may take from this world only through the Torah, which is why he must make a brachah before benefiting from anything. The hundred daily brachos correspond to the hundred adanim that formed the Mishkan's foundation — the hundred channels of shefa at the supernal root. When one takes with the intent that everything be for Hashem's honor, he clings to that root and elevates all of creation back to its holy source.