Torah Thoughts on Parshas Terumah by Rabbi Zvi Zimerman
"דַבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְיִקְחוּ לִי תְּרוּמָה מֵאֵת כָּל אִישׁ אֲשֶׁר יִדְבֶנוּ לִבּוֹ תִּקְחוּ אֶת תְּרוּמָתִי" שְׁמוֹת כ''ה:ב'
“Speak to Bnei Yisrael, and they shall take to Me a portion; from every man whose heart will motivate him, you shall take My portion.” Shemos 25:2
Rashi tells us that when taking something for Hashem it should be לִשְׁמִי – for Me, which seems to mean that we should be doing it for Hashem. Everything should be done for the right reasons.
Rav Shwab asks a very simple question: In all other aspects of our 'עֲבוֹדַת ה Rabbi Yehuda (Pesachim 50b) teaches that a person should always learn and do mitzvos even for other reasons, because when he starts that way eventually he will do things for the right reasons, for the sake of Heaven. Why is this pasuk different, that Hashem wants us to donate for Him, לִשְׁמָהּ? He suggests that this is because when it comes to anything being done for the Mishkan or anything else that is holy, it is hard for us to conceptualize such a concept. Hashem does not need anything of ours, and we certainly cannot give Him anything! That may be exactly it – when doing something that seems unnecessary, or something that is hard for us to understand (such as donating to the Mishkan), we must do it for the right reasons in order for it to be considered a true gift to Hashem.
This was the lesson learned by Hevel after Kayin's failed korban. When it comes to doing avodas Hashem, you cannot go halfway! That makes it seem like Hashem “needs us”, and that is a tremendous insult, as if the King cannot take care of his own Kingdom and needs you to help him!
This may have also been the reason why Eldad and Meidad were afraid of joining the group of elders in Parashas Beha’aloscha (BeMidbar 11:25-26). They knew that serving Hashem in such a capacity had to be done לְשֵׁם שָׁמַיִם and they did not feel that they were ready for such a commitment.
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