Bnei Yisrael as partners in Torah and creation

ויקחו לי תרומה.

"And they shall take for Me a terumah (a portion/offering)" (Shemos 25:2).

The Sefas Emes opens with the command to "take" a terumah for the Mishkan. He will read the unusual word "take" (rather than "give") as a hint to Torah, drawing on Chazal's association of "taking" with Torah.

אין קיחה אלא תורה כמ"ש לקח טוב נתתי.

"Taking" (kichah) refers to nothing other than Torah, as it is written, "For I have given you a good acquisition (lekach tov)" (Mishlei 4:2).

Chazal derive from the verse "a good lekach" (acquisition/taking) that the term "taking" alludes to Torah. So "they shall take for Me" hints that the offering is bound up with Torah.

כמו שהקב"ה נתן לנו תורה מן השמים. כן צריכין בנ"י לחדש דברי תורה.

Just as the Holy One, blessed is He, gave us the Torah from Heaven, so must Bnei Yisrael innovate words of Torah (chiddushei Torah).

The "taking" of Torah is not merely passive receiving. Corresponding to Hashem's gift of Torah from above, Bnei Yisrael are charged to actively generate new Torah insights from below — a partnership in Torah.

וזהו תורה שבע"פ שחידשו חכמי ישראל.

And this is the Torah she'be'al peh (the Oral Torah), which the sages of Yisrael innovated.

The whole edifice of the Oral Torah is the fruit of this human contribution — the chiddushim developed by the chachmei Yisrael across the generations.

וכל דבריהם כתובים בשמים. כדאיתא בזו"ח שיר השירים מילי כתובין למטה ומילך חקוקין לעילא.

And all their words are written in Heaven, as it is taught in the Zohar Chadash (Shir HaShirim): "My words are written below, and your words are engraved above."

Although the sages' Torah is innovated by human beings, it is no less Divine: their words are inscribed in Heaven. The Zohar expresses Hashem's address to Bnei Yisrael — "My words [the Written Torah] are written below, but your words [your chiddushim] are engraved on high" — giving the human contribution a permanent place above.

וכ"כ בגמ' הקב"ה אומר מאיר בני אומר כו'.

And so it is written in the Gemara: "The Holy One, blessed is He, says [such-and-such], My son Meir says [such-and-such]..."

The Gemara's image of Hashem citing the teachings of human sages like Rabbi Meir illustrates the same idea: the chiddushim of the chachamim are taken up, as it were, into the Divine "study," treasured by Hashem Himself.

וכמ"ש בזוה"ק בפסוק ואשים דברי בפיך כו' לנטוע שמים כו' עמי אתה. עמי בשותפות.

And as it is written in the Zohar HaKadosh on the verse, "And I have placed My words in your mouth... to plant the heavens... 'You are My people (ami)'" (Yeshayahu 51:16) — "ami" [read as] "imi," in partnership.

The Zohar rereads the word "ami" (My people) as "imi" (with Me): Hashem places His words in the Jew's mouth so that he becomes a partner with Him — "with Me" — in the ongoing work of Torah, even "planting the heavens." Torah study is a genuine partnership between Hashem and Bnei Yisrael.

הגם כי הכל מן התורה שבכתב נדרש. אבל רצונו ית"ש שיחדשו בנ"י הדברים.

Although everything is derived from the Written Torah, it is nonetheless His will that Bnei Yisrael innovate the matters.

Even though every authentic chiddush is ultimately rooted in and derived from the Written Torah, Hashem deliberately wills that Bnei Yisrael be the ones to draw it out and articulate it — the innovation is desired by Him.

וע"ז כתיב בכל פרשה וידבר ה' לאמר. שבנ"י יאמרו פי' הדברים.

And to this end it is written in each parashah, "And Hashem spoke... saying (leimor)" — that Bnei Yisrael should say the explanation of the matters.

The Sefas Emes reads the recurring word "leimor" (saying) not only as "to tell others" but as an invitation: Hashem spoke "so that [Bnei Yisrael] will say" — i.e., expound and develop — the meaning of His words.

וע"ז כתיב תנו עוז לאלקים אין עוז אלא תורה. זהו ויקחו לי.

And concerning this it is written, "Give might (oz) to God" (Tehillim 68:35) — and "might" refers to nothing other than Torah. This is "and they shall take for Me."

The verse "give oz to God" — with "oz" understood as Torah — expresses that Bnei Yisrael, through their chiddushei Torah, "give strength" back to Hashem, as it were. This is the deeper sense of "they shall take for Me": their taking-up of Torah is itself a giving back to Him.

כמ"ש תן לו משלו שאתה ושלך שלו.

As it is said, "Give Him of His own, for you and yours are His."

This resolves the paradox of "giving" to Hashem: whatever we offer is already His. The Torah we "innovate" is given back to Him from what was His to begin with — for we ourselves and all we have belong to Him.

וע"ז כתיב ה' עוזי ומעוזי. התורה שלו והתורה שלנו הכל משלו.

And concerning this it is written, "Hashem is my strength (uzi) and my stronghold (u'ma'uzi)" (cf. Yirmiyahu 16:19) — the Torah that is His and the Torah that is ours are all from Him.

The double expression "my strength and my stronghold" hints at the two Torahs: the Written Torah that is openly "His," and the Oral Torah that is "ours." Yet both are entirely from Hashem — even our chiddushim are ultimately His gift.

וכל אלה הבנינים המשכן וביהמ"ק. הכל הוא מכח אותיות התורה.

And all these structures — the Mishkan and the Bais Hamikdash — are entirely by the power of the letters of the Torah.

The Sefas Emes now returns to the parashah's theme of building. The Mishkan and the Bais Hamikdash were not mere physical constructions; they were built through the power of the very letters of the Torah.

כמ"ש חז"ל יודע היה בצלאל לצרף אותיות שנברא בהם שמים וארץ.

As Chazal said: Betzalel knew how to combine the letters with which the heavens and the earth were created.

Betzalel, the chief artisan of the Mishkan, possessed the wisdom to manipulate the same creative letters by which Hashem made heaven and earth. His craftsmanship was an act of Torah, harnessing the letters' creative power.

וע"ז כתיב כח מעשיו הגיד לעמו. כמו שברא העולם בכ"ב אותיות.

And concerning this it is written, "He told the power of His deeds to His people" (Tehillim 111:6) — just as He created the world with the twenty-two letters.

Hashem "told the power of His deeds to His people" by revealing to Bnei Yisrael the creative power of the letters — the same twenty-two letters of the alef-beis through which He created the world. This power was entrusted to them through the Torah.

כן צוה לבנ"י שיעשו בנינים באותיות התורה למעלה ולמטה כמ"ש שם בזוהר לנטוע שמים וליסוד ארץ:

So He commanded Bnei Yisrael to make structures with the letters of the Torah, above and below, as it is written there in the Zohar, "to plant the heavens and to found the earth" (Yeshayahu 51:16).

Just as Hashem created the world with the letters, He commanded Bnei Yisrael to "build" with those same Torah letters — both the physical structures of the Mishkan and Mikdash below, and spiritual "structures" above. Through their Torah and their building, Bnei Yisrael become Hashem's partners "to plant the heavens and found the earth," sustaining the very fabric of creation.

Summary: The Sefas Emes reads "they shall take for Me a terumah" as an allusion to Torah, since "taking" denotes Torah. Just as Hashem gave the Torah from Heaven, Bnei Yisrael are charged to innovate chiddushei Torah — the Oral Torah — and these human innovations are "engraved above," for Torah study makes a Jew a partner ("imi," with Me) of Hashem. Whatever we "give" Him is already His, so our chiddushim are both ours and His. The same letters of the Torah through which Hashem created the world were entrusted to Bnei Yisrael, enabling Betzalel to build the Mishkan and empowering Bnei Yisrael to "build" above and below — to plant the heavens and found the earth.