Dear TBZ community:
I spend a lot of time thinking about how to teach generosity to my children: how to be generous to friends, to acquaintances, to the person they don’t know, and hardest of all, to their own sister. As in many things, I know that the first step in teaching is to model. No matter how much I talk about it, they won’t learn it unless they see me, or the other adults in their lives, actually being generous.
I understand generosity as the willingness to give and to share. It can be time and money, attention and kindness. It can mean not putting myself at the center. It can mean recognizing what others need, what I can do, and simply doing it. In a way it is the practice of Hesed (Loving-Kindness) in the smallest and the biggest of ways. It is the practice of opening ourselves to others.
This week’s parasha, Parshat Terumah begins with the words:
דַּבֵּר אֶל־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְיִקְחוּ־לִי תְּרוּמָה מֵאֵת כּל־אִישׁ אֲשֶׁר יִדְּבֶנּוּ לִבּוֹ תִּקְחוּ
אֶת־תְּרוּמָתִי
Tell the Israelite people to bring Me gifts;
you shall accept gifts for Me from every person whose heart so moves them.
As the story goes this was the very first fundraising campaign! The people of Israel are asked to give, to bring a present, and have it be something that comes from the heart. What was the goal of this first fundraiser? To build the Mishkan, the Tabernacle where the Tablets that the people received at Sinai could be stored and carried.
What I often find the most powerful about this story is the timing of this Ask! It has not been very long since the people left Egypt, and in a hurry. It has not been long since the fearful moments of the crossing of the Yam Suf, nor has it been long since the moment of revelation of God at Sinai. There has been almost no time “to process” all that has happened before being asked to contribute to something new. Asking for contribution is an intrinsic part of their journey. Not “Now that I am safe, and everything is ok with me I can give,” but rather “In the midst of this intense, complicated, scary and unpredictable journey, generosity has to be part of it.”
Generosity, not as a response, but generosity as a practice.
As with any practice, it takes work, it takes “practice.” Being generous and giving is not a matter of “What do I have to give?” Instead it is a matter of opening the soul. In the words of Tich Nhat Hahn, May his memory be a blessing: Every person no matter what their wealth, is equally capable of practicing generosity.
My youngest daughter is now in the practice of writing cards to people: missing-you cards to family members who live far away, cards to people for their birthdays, and get-well cards to people whom she has heard have covid. These acts of generosity warm my heart. When I see her so dedicated to drawing and writing these cards, I wonder how, in a society where generosity is not always valued and not regarded as a regular and expected practice, do I help her continue and deepen her practice so that it becomes a part of her? How do each and every one of us open our hearts to the practice of loving-kindness? Of generosity?
My invitation to all of us this Shabbat, is to take a moment and think about your generosity as a practice. How does it manifest in your life, in small ways and in big ways and how can you continue to deepen your practice?
May this Shabbat bring renewal and blessings to all of you and your loved ones.
May we find strength, courage, and patience, and open our hearts with generosity.
May all those who are ill find healing.
May we have a joyful and restful Shabbat!
Shabbat Shalom,
