In the 1992 film Glengarry Glen Ross, four real estate agents are berated for several minutes by a very mean Alec Baldwin. Balwin explains, in the nastiest way possible, a principle of sales, which he repeats over and over again: ABC – Always Be Closing. In his worldview, there is never a time when you've done enough, when you've made enough money, done enough work for the day. If you want to be successful, you should never be satisfied with the job you've done so far, with the cash you've brought in.
And in the world of non-profit fundraising, while the tone of the message may be different, the substance is essentially the same. There is no amount of funds raised where you can say – that's too much, we don't need those donations, let's tell the donors to stop. If a donor is willing to give, why would we ever turn them down? Why would we ever stop raising funds? Always Be Closing – don't be satisfied with how much you've raised, how many transactions you've done.
The construction of the משכן was a massive project that required incredible amounts of gold and silver, bronze and dyed wool, acacia wood and precious stones. And yet, the תורה tells us that the Jewish People donated even beyond what was needed for the משכן's assembly:
וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֶל־מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר מַרְבִּים הָעָם לְהָבִיא מִדֵּי הָעֲבֹדָה לַמְּלָאכָה אֲשֶׁר־צִוָּה ה׳ לַעֲשֹׂת אֹתָהּ׃
and they said to Moses, "The people are bringing more than is needed for the tasks entailed in the work that Hashem has commanded to be done."
Now, presumably, the משכן will need maintenance, will need things replaced, purified, etc. in the future. The fact that the people were donating too much isn't necessarily a problem – it should be celebrated! And yet, משה makes a counterintuitive announcement:
וַיְצַו מֹשֶׁה וַיַּעֲבִירוּ קוֹל בַּמַּחֲנֶה לֵאמֹר אִישׁ וְאִשָּׁה אַל־יַעֲשׂוּ־עוֹד מְלָאכָה לִתְרוּמַת הַקֹּדֶשׁ וַיִּכָּלֵא הָעָם מֵהָבִיא׃
Moses instructed and spread word throughout the camp: "Let no man or woman make further effort toward gifts for the sanctuary!" So the people stopped bringing:
The question is, why would משה violate this principle of ABC? Moreover, why does the תורה even tell us that brought too much? Just tell us they had enough and that they built the משכן accordingly!
The Israeli journalist and scholar Sivan Rahav-Meir cites the תלמוד ירושלמי in שקלים, which highlights a parallel between the Jewish People's generosity in the context of the משכן and their behavior in the lead up to חטא העגל, the sin of the Golden Calf. רבי אבא בר אחא says:
אֵין אַתְּ יָכוֹל לַעֲמוֹד עַל אוֹפִי שֶׁלְּאוּמָּה הַזֹּאת. נִתְבָּעִין לָעֶגֶל וְנוֹתְנִין. נִתְבָּעִין לַמִּשְׁכָּן וְנוֹתְנִין.
You can't pin down the nature of this nation; they're solicited for the calf and give, solicited for the Sanctuary and give.
He finds it amazing that the same people would donate so enthusiastically for such opposite causes. But what perhaps underlies these two examples is the fundamental generosity behind the Jewish People toward shared goals.
Rahav-Meir writes that during Operation Protective Edge in 2014, she interviewed the spokesperson of the Soroka Medical Center in Beer Sheba, where the wounded were being treated. During the on-air interview, he announced on the radio:
"Please do not come to the hospital to bring food and drink, candy, and other goodies to the injured soldiers. We are being overrun with goodwill. Hundreds of people are coming to visit and the injured cannot eat all the marshmallows, even if the nurses help."
The same phenomenon has existed in the 150 days since October 7. Immediately after שמחת תורה, thousands of Israelis lined up to donate blood to the wounded, to the point where the hospitals had to turn people away, despite the thousands of hospitalized patients. I heard a story of two teenage girls who desperately wanted to do something but every time they tried to volunteer, the spots they wanted were taken before they could put in their names. They decided to bake a cake for a family who had lost a loved one but when they arrived at the שבעה house, they saw there were already 20 other cakes sitting on the kitchen counter. So one of the reasons the תורה talks about this incredible generosity during the משכן era and משה's announcement is to emphasize this quality in us and to inspire us in our own time to channel it correctly.
Rabbanit Michal Tikachinsky, the head of the בית מדרש for women at Michlelet Herzog in Israel, focuses on our second question. She says, granted, it is impressive and important that the Jewish People were donating so much that they needed to be stopped. But why did משה really need to stop them at all? Just let them give!
She quotes the שפת אמת, the 3rd Gerrer Rebbe, as follows. Maybe the concern was that the donations for the משכן should only be motivated by the ציווי of הקב״ה, by divine command. The moment that בנ״י give beyond what's actually needed, it is based only on ulterior motives of social status or peer pressure. Therefore, משה had to stop the donations so that what had been given already would retain its status as gifts spurred only by a מצוה. The מצוה to stop would give divine approval to both what had been donated before and to the people's cessation of continued giving.
Alternatively, says Rabbanit Tikachinsky, perhaps we can focus on the fact that משה doesn't just tell בנ״י to stop giving; he said:
אִישׁ וְאִשָּׁה אַל־יַעֲשׂוּ־עוֹד מְלָאכָה לִתְרוּמַת הַקֹּדֶשׁ
He refers to their donations as מלאכה, as labor, the same term used to describe what is prohibited on שבת.
The תלמוד ירושלמי in שבת infers that the cessation of donating took place on שבת and that משה is teaching us about the prohibition to carry from a private to public domain, i.e. without an עירוב, on שבת. So שבת teaches us that קדושה, sanctity, is created not only by what is made, what is constructed, but also by what we refrain from doing. The precise and sudden stop in donating invests the משכן with a new kind of sanctity, different than was possible before.
But Rav Moshe Feinstein has one more insight about משה's announcement that the people should stop giving. The גמרא in ערכין says that it is prohibited to donate all of your wealth, even for the best of causes. We have an obligation to reserve some of what we have, whether it is time or money or energy, for our needs and those of our families. Says Rav Moshe, perhaps the תורה is teaching us that there is value, there is holiness, in things we do for ourselves and our families. That we have to find a balance between giving toward those causes we care deeply about and that are obviously good, and leaving some of what we have toward good personal choices and personal growth.
When I read this idea from Rav Moshe, I got very emotional. Since October 7, it has felt like we can just never do enough. There are so many people who need help, soldiers, the families of the hostages, displaced families, children who were orphaned. Especially from a distance, here in חו״ל, in the Diaspora, many people I know, including myself, felt like we have to focus on giving or davening or reading about the war 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This פסוק challenges us to find some kind of balance, if possible.
During a Zoom call the RCA had with Israeli rabbis this past fall, I remember one of the community rabbis in Israel saying that as much as they appreciate how much American Jews are giving now, we have to realize, it's a marathon, not a sprint. Israelis will need a lot more help later when they need to rebuild the South, or if, G-d forbid, there is a war with Hezbollah. In the meantime, we need to be able to fortify ourselves while we are supporting our family and friends in Israel.
May משה's message help inspire us and may the רבש״ע give us the wisdom to find the right balance until we can one day say about ourselves: מַרְבִּים הָעָם לְהָבִיא מִדֵּי הָעֲבֹדָה – we have brought more than enough than was needed for the work ahead. And may the hostages and our חיילים be brought back home safely to their families as soon as possible so they and we can all rest together.
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