A Mishkan of Devotion | Rabbi Dovid Sharer

There's a fascinating Pasuk in the beginning of Parshas Teruma. Hakadosh Baruch Hu tells Klal Yisroel to build a Mishkan. This is what they should donate. Gold, silver and copper. We clearly see there's an order. We're going for more expensive and we're working down. Different colors of wool. That's even cheaper. Oil. Some spices. But strangely enough, the last thing on the list is What's the Pshat? Undoubtably, these were the most expensive things to go into the Mishkan. These were precious gemstones. Shouldn't they be at the beginning? They should be before the gold. When I was learning in Kollel, I had to go, once a year, fundraising. And there was one guy on the list who wasn't a frum man. Very nice, warm and friendly person. So one year, I made an appointment with him and I'm sitting there in his house, I'm schmoozing with him and it's all going very well. And in the middle, he stands up and he walks out of the room. He comes back, a minute later, and I can see he's holding a very heavy bag. And he drops it down in front of me and he says: Here, this is my donation for the Kollel. I look into the bag and I can see hundreds and hundreds of coins. Two-pound coins, one-pound coins, 50-pences, ten-pence, 20 pieces and a wad of notes. So he tells me: You know, last year, when you left my house, I thought to myself: Wouldn't it be a nice idea if I could give every coin, every bit of change in my pocket, every night, I'll set it aside for the Kollel. He says: In that bag over there, is every penny of change from the entire year. I was amazed, but I had one question. You know, there's quite a few notes in there. I thought you were only giving the coins. And he says: You know, one night, they were also in my pocket. As I took out the coins, the notes fell and they hit the bag. Once they touched the bag, I didn't have the heart to take them out. I was blown away. מי כעמך ישראל I came back to Kollel and we counted up the money. And it came to 987 pounds and 10 pence. Now, I ask you, Is there any difference between that Yid and a man who would just write now a check for 987 pounds? Both are giving the same amount. But I think we would all agree that the one who gives those coins every night, that's a different level of giving. There's so much more devotion. Hashem asks us to build a Mishkan. Hashem doesn't need our money. The Ribono shel Olam could have made a golden Mishkan drop down from Shomayim. So what was the Mishkan? It was an opportunity for us to show our devotion to the Ribono shel Olam, to give up something that was precious to us למען השם. That's what brought the Shechinah. And that's why, says the Or Hachaim, the אבני שוהם ואבני מילואים were mentioned last, because where did they come from? How did Klal Yisroel have them? They came down together with the Mon. They came specifically for this purpose. Was there any devotion? Was it hard for anyone to give them? They came for free. Says the Ribono shel OIam, Better the שמן למאור, that little bit of oil that comes from someone that's all he's got. That's more precious to me than the אבני שוהם ואבני מילואים. Shmiras Einayim is perhaps one of the biggest opportunities we have to show our devotion to the Ribono shel Olam. Not just because the temptation, the pull is so strong, not just because it's constant, but it's a struggle that's between me and Hashem alone. But that makes the devotion so much bigger. Every bit of self-control is precious to Hashem. Perhaps today, when the challenge comes our way, which it will, let's have that inner strength to rise above it, to show our devotion to the Ribono shel Olam. That's more precious to Him than the אבני שוהם ואבני מילואים. That's literally bringing the Shechinah inside us.