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Why does the Torah (תורה) only use "yidvenu libo" (generous heart) for the machatzis hashekel for korbanos, not for the larger donations to the Mishkan's materials? When money is concretized into building materials, you haven't truly given it away—it remains visible and identifiable. Money consumed for korbanos requires genuine generosity because it completely disappears, making maintenance funds harder to raise than building funds.
The Torah (תורה) describes three separate donations to the Mishkan. According to Rashi (רש"י), the first was the machatzis hashekel for the adanim (sockets), the second was the machatzis hashekel for communal korbanos (this week's parsha), and the third was the collection of gold, silver, copper, and other materials for the Mishkan's construction. Each served a different purpose in the building and maintenance of the sanctuary. A striking phenomenon emerges when examining these donations: the Torah uses the phrase "yidvenu libo" (one whose heart makes him generous) only in connection with one of these three collections. Remarkably, this language appears specifically with the machatzis hashekel for korbanos—the smallest of the donations in terms of actual monetary value. One would have expected that the Torah would apply this language of generosity to the third collection, where people could give substantial amounts of precious materials, yet the Torah reserves this language exclusively for the korban fund.
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Parshas Terumah - Three Mishkan Donations
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