Terumah-Tetzaveh: Contrasting the Voluntary and Obligatory

The Sfas Emes sets the tone in understanding how the voluntary and obligatory coalesce. It may be said that his rule directly follows the order of the two recent parshios – Terumah and Tetzaveh. Terumah symbolizes the voluntary, where each person donated to the Mishkan based on individual desire. Tetzaveh, however, is the language of tzivui, of obeyance.

The Sfas Emes explains that in Nissan, there must be a collection of the half-shekel from everyone in Israel for the new karbonos. There was no choice in this. However, the notices for this contribution already went out in Adar. This preliminary announcement gave the Jewish people time to reflect on their giving and to infuse a level of desire into their giving. And the notion of offering something independently, with no personal gain, is a “chiddush,” a new phenomenon that breaks all borders.

This voluntary giving mimics G-d, who does everything out of altruism, and of course, G-d is the most creative phenomenon that will ever be.

In truth, Pesach was a chiddush, the creation of a new world order for the Jews that “had” to happen. We were steeped in idol worship and G-d had to take us out to give us a rebirth. G-d promised Avraham, his loyal servant, and this promise had to come true.

A Gemara in Megillah (13b) relating to Purim is now very well understood. It says that the giving of the original shekel protected us from the later time when Haman would offer his shekalim to annihilate the Jews. This original shekel had an element of voluntariness and desire, which as the Sfas Emes explains releases great powers. If you look at Purim from a holistic point of view it is also a time of voluntariness as we accepted the Torah anew out of our own volition, though this did occur after our victory occurred.

Though we were reborn out of necessity on Pesach, Adar gives insight into the future of how to reach a deserved redemption – by exercising a level of full voluntary will, which then will lead to a state of tetzaveh, a redemption based on merit and justification.