An Ancient Value Proposition in Terumah

We tend to evaluate opportunities, activities, and commitments in terms of what benefits we’ll receive, namely what is the value proposition for us. So, if we’re members of an organization, we ask what membership will do for us. If we’re considering signing up for an event, we think about whether it will be ‘worth it’ to attend. We quickly analyze opportunities in terms of benefit, time and money: What exactly will I get out of it? How much time will I need to spend? How much will it cost?

So, what does this have to do with Terumah, the offerings that were brought to the Mishkan, the portable sanctuary that B’nai Yisrael / The Children of Israel were commanded to build in the wilderness?

Well, what was inherently built into that activity was a modern-day value proposition.

A value proposition is a marketing term, and is a statement that clearly communicates a service, a benefit, or feature that an entity promises to deliver to its customer, you. Think: youthfulness, prestige, power, speed, exclusivity….and on.

A compelling value proposition is not the service / activity/ or thing itself, but instead offers you specific advantages: benefits that result in a change or improvement in your life, a fix for a problem (called a pain point) you’re either aware or unaware of until now, and something that would be considered desirable.

So, what was the value proposition of the portable sanctuary, the Mishkan¹?

The Torah portion [Terumah /תְּרוּמָ֑ה — Exodus 25:1 - 27:19, contains the beginning description of the mishkan. God commands the Israelites to contribute materials for its construction, including the ark, the keruvim / winged cherubim on top of it, the curtains, the altar, the menorah, and more. When it is completed, God will dwell among them².

In the second of two verses, from just a few key words, we’ll be able to assess the incredible value proposition of the mishkan.

To do this, we’ll first parse out the Hebrew meaning of the word Terumah / תְּרוּמָ֑ה, often translated as gifts, but more precisely it means an elevated contribution, an offering. In Hebrew, Terumah consists of the letters tav תְּ, reish ר, vav וּ, mem מָ֑, and hei ה.

The three letter root word (resh, vav, mem) room, רום means elevation, height and lifting up. The two letters resh and mem, [rahm רם ] mean high or loud. Expanding out a bit, the letters resh, mem, hei…[ramah רםה also mean hilly, elevation, or lifting up.

So, now we know that the Terumah we are asked to bring as an offering is meant to elevate us, bring us higher, and therefore we become lifted up spiritually. Amazing.

However, often there is a hidden message contained in some Hebrew words that references our free will. Contained in the word Terumah is also it’s opposite. When the letters are pronounced using different vowels³, roomah means to be deceived. So, we are in charge of the meaning that the contribution will have for us! It is our choice whether our trumah will be an elevation for us or whether our contribution is not heart-felt, and we are not being honest with our intention. We are deceiving ourselves and God. The spiritual process demands honesty.

The value proposition that God intends for us is that through our giving, we will be spiritually elevated by the experience, and lifted up as a result.

So, let’s get to just the first two verses of this parsha, and we’ll take them a bit at a time, using the Jewish Publication Society translation of 2006.

The first verse says:

וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃ Va’yidaber Adonai el Moshe L’aimor

God spoke to Moses saying…

דַּבֵּר֙ אֶל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל וְיִקְחוּ־לִ֖י תְּרוּמָ֑ה מֵאֵ֤ת כׇּל־אִישׁ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר יִדְּבֶ֣נּוּ לִבּ֔וֹ תִּקְח֖וּ אֶת־תְּרוּמָתִֽי׃
Daber el B’nai Yisrael Va’yikhu-li terumah may’et kol-ish asher yidbehnu libo tikhu et-terumahti
Tell the Israelite people to bring Me gifts; you shall accept gifts for Me from every person whose heart is so moved.

We already know that terumah means more than just a gift.

But there is another issue. The translation says that B’nai Yisrael should bring elevation offerings, but the word in Hebrew that is translated as bring, actually means take. Vayikhu-li [ וְיִקְחוּ־לִ֖י ] means to take me elevated offerings, not bring me gifts.

The exact translation of the verse above is

“Speak to the Children of Israel, that they may take me a raised-contribution; from every person / man whose heart makes-him them-willing, you are to take my contribution.”

This sounds very confusing. How does one ‘take [to] me a raised offering? Wouldn’t a person be bringing an offering? Or giving one? What does it mean to take a raised offering? What is the difference between bringing for me a terumah and taking for me a terumah?

Well, a criteria of the value proposition is that it fixes a problem. There is a difference between taking and giving. The problem is when we think that what we have is ours to give! What we have has been given to us, so we are taking it to its owner, the one who gave it to us in the first place. This reveals a deeper truth. Our plenty does not originate with us.

So, the two value propositions in just this verse is that we will be elevated by the experience of a contribution, plus we gain a new insight that fixes a problem of ownership. What we have has been given to us, and that the best way of encountering God is to give back a portion of what we’ve been given. When we recognize the Giver, an entity larger than ourselves, we gain a sense of gratitude for what we’ve been given.

In the next part of the same verse we also read something really beautiful.

דַּבֵּר֙ אֶל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל וְיִקְחוּ־לִ֖י תְּרוּמָ֑ה מֵאֵ֤ת כׇּל־אִישׁ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר יִדְּבֶ֣נּוּ לִבּ֔וֹ תִּקְח֖וּ אֶת־תְּרוּמָתִֽי׃

“Speak to B’nai Yisrael and from every person whose heart makes-them-willing, you are to take my contribution.” The contribution is to be voluntary. Here, we are revisiting the free will aspect of what terumah really means. It is up to you the kind of elevated offering you will take. You can be of pure heart, or deceive yourself and you offering is actually empty.

The third part of the value proposition is that it is exclusive and desirable. It is entirely up to you to gain this benefit, crafted entirely for you. You will gain immensely from this experience —-and the outcome is all within your control.

And although it is exclusive to you, when you come forward in this way, you also become part of a similarly inspired community that just might appeal to you because others you encounter are of a similar mind-set.

Here, we are called upon to be participators, to be active in our gratitude and commitment—-and share that experience with others in recognizing where all goodness comes from.

So, how do you make this Torah portion relevant for your own life when you aren’t in the wilderness, taking elevation offerings to central place like the mishkan?

What is your own value proposition for how you relate to the One and to your community?

You can actively improve your life by choosing to be lifted up spiritually in connecting to God. You can choose this path—-demonstrating gratitude for all that you have —-all that has been graciously given to you. You can also choose to be among others who feel and act that way as well.

May it be so for you.

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1. Mishkan / משכן Portable Sanctuary, also abode, dwelling, place, residency.

2. For another discussion, but the Hebrew words in Exodus 25: 8 actually say that once the mishkan is built…God will not ‘dwell there’, or ‘in it’, but instead, within each person! [And they will make me a sanctuary and I will dwell within them. וְעָ֥שׂוּ לִ֖י מִקְדָּ֑שׁ וְשָׁכַנְתִּ֖י בְּתוֹכָֽם - v’asu li mikdash v’shakhanti b’tokham ]

3. There are no punctuated vowels in the actual Torah scroll. Vowels and punctuation were determined by the oral tradition, via Ezra the scribe, who lived in the 5th or 4th century B.C.E.