Terumah - The Knowledge Economy?

B"H

Full text hyah ;-)

Sources

1) Midrash Tanchuma Terumah, Chapter 2 part I

ויקחו לי תרומה. זה שאמר הכתוב, כי לקח טוב נתתי לכם (משלי ד ב). אמר רבי שמעון בן לקיש, שני פרקמטוטין עומדין זה עם זה, אחד בידו מטכסא ואחד בידו פלפלין. אמרו זה לזה, בוא ונחליף ביני ובינך. נטל זה את הפלפלין, וזה המטכסא. מה שביד זה אין ביד זה, ומה שביד זה אין ביד זה. אבל התורה אינה כן, זה שונה סדר זרעים וזה שונה סדר מועד, השנו זה לזה, נמצא ביד זה שנים וביד זה שנים, יש פרקמטיא יפה מזו. הוי, כי לקח טוב נתתי לכם

2) Midrash Tanchuma Terumah, Chapter 2 part II

מעשה בחבר אחד שהיה בספינה עם פרקמטוטין הרבה, היו אומרים לאותו חבר היכן פרקמטיא שלך. היה אומר להם, פרקמטיא שלי גדולה משלכם. בדקו בספינה לא מצאו לו כלום, התחילו שוחקים עליו. נפלו עליהם לסטים שללו ונטלו כל מה שנמצא בספינה. יצאו ליבשה ונכנסו למדינה, לא היה להם לא לחם לאכול ולא כסות ללבוש. מה עשה אותו חבר, נכנס לבית המדרש ישב ודרש. עמדו בני המדינה כשראו שהוא בן תורה מרובה, נהגו בו כבוד גדול ועשו לו פסיקתו כהוגן וכראוי בגדולה ובכבוד. התחילו גדולי הקהל לילך מימינו ומשמאלו וללוות אותו. כשראו הפרקמטוטין כך, באו אצלו ופייסו ממנו ואמרו לו, בבקשה ממך, עשה עמנו טובה ולמד עלינו זכות לפני בני העיר, שאתה יודע מה היינו ומה אבדנו בספינה. בבקשה ממך עשה עמנו חסד, דבר להם אפילו על הפרוסה שינתן לתוך פינו ונחיה ולא נמות ברעב. אמר להם, הלא אמרתי אליכם, שפרקמטיא שלי גדולה משלכם, שלכם אבד ושלי קיימת. הוי, כי לקח טוב נתתי לכם

At first glance, the above midrashim from the Midrash Tanchuma on parshat Terumah do not seem to be at all relevant to the parsha itself, which is basically a design specification and list of materials for the Mishkan as instructed to Moshe. While the midrashim are cited as following from the opening words of the parsha vayikach li terumah (you shall take for me a portion/terumah offering), the real 'hook' is the line ki lekach tov natati lachem (For I have given you a good portion/lesson) from Mishlei (4:2), from a larger passage concerned with the importance of seeking wisdom and not rejecting the teachings which one has received - appropriately enough, both midrashim go on to compare the value of Torah learning with physical goods before concluding (for different reasons) that Torah is better and more valuable than the most expensive goods for trade. All very well - but while there are some links through both the sounds of 'vayikach'/'lekach' and the concept of a gift or 'portion' being given, it is still a little puzzling as to why a set of midrashim about the value of knowledge and specifically Torah education should be linked to the construciton of the Mishkan.

To try and understand this, let's take a look at the midrashim themselves...

The first midrash (source 1) compares two traders exchanging their wares with each other to two Torah scholars exchanging their knowledge of the different Gemara tractates which they have learnt. The traders come out of the exchange no better off than before, as they have merely swopped one consigment of valuable goods for another. However, the scholars each retain what they have learnt while gaining knowledge of another seder of Gemara, with the result that they both get what in investment terms would be a 100% return on their learning - not bad in the average market!

The second midrash (source 2) tells of a Torah scholar and several traders travelling on a boat carrying valuable goods when they were attacked and plundered by pirates (!!), leaving them penniless. The Torah scholar, having previously been mocked by the trader for having no tangible goods to show despite stating that his goods are more valuable than theirs, is nevertheless able to gain respect, food and shelter upon reaching shore simply by going to the Beit HaMidrash of the nearest town and beginning to teach the townspeople. Meanwhile the merchants, having been reduced to paupers after losing all of their goods, are forced to apologise to the scholar and ask him to use his influence with the townspeople to give them a morsel of food to eat.  The lesson? Torah learning is more valuable than physical goods because it is not subject to loss or destruction.

Both midrashim provide powerful lessons about the value of education which are particularly important to bear in mind in today's world. While we claim to live in a 'knowledge economy' where some of these lessons are recognised - for example, value being attached to people's skills and knowledge as well as to physical goods - in recent years there has been an increased attitude (at least in the UK) towards education as being of vocational value only rather than being valuable in its own right. However, the midrashim above do use the language of the market and of tradeable goods to describe Torah learning, it is clear that there is qualitative difference between the 'value' of Torah and the value of, say, silks or spices, What is more, in what is perhaps a uniquely Jewish approach this value can only be appreciated by sharing the knowledge which one has acquired with others - in the first midrash, the unique value of Torah learning is seen by how it is increased through sharing, while in the second midrash the scholar reveals the value of his learning by teaching in the Beit HaMidrash. When it comes to Torah, there are no 'ivory towers' of learning. 

However (other than the linguistic similarities above), what links these ideas with parshat Terumah? Well, the 'historical' approach would probably explain these midrashim as showing the shift in Rabbinic emphasis from the Beit HaMikdash/Mishkan and korbanot to Torah-learning after the Churban (destruction) and exile from Eretz Yisrael. While I feel it is important not to lose sight of this shift, we can also learn from the more ahistorical approach which focuses on the uniqueness of the Torah's value as being something which is increased rather than decreased as being shared (as in source 1) above. Similarly, it could be said that through contributing the materials to build the Mishkan from the treasures they had brought out with them from Egypt, the Bnei Israel were were not losing out but rather gaining spiritually through their 'sacrifices' being used for the Mishkan, thereby bringing G-d's presence closer to them.

Shavua tov!

RPT