Today, on Shabbat Shekalim, we honor the donors to this year’s annual campaign. They have generously given above and beyond the dues commitment, making it possible for us to maintain our facility and provide dynamic programs for congregants of all ages. Yet, the Maftir reading that we add on Shabbat Shekalim has more of an egalitarian character. On the first of Nisan, the month of Passover, each Israelite male from the age of twenty years up pays an equal amount of a half-shekel first to build the Mishkan, and subsequently to maintain it. The verses explicitly state that the rich and poor pay an equal amount, developing a sense of community and implying equal ownership of the sanctuary by everyone. Although each half-shekel contribution is only about $5, the broad participation by the entire community of over 600,000 raised about $3 million dollars in today’s value for basic operations. 

However, Parshat Terumah (often translated as “gifts”) talks about voluntary donations from “every person whose heart so moves him,” primarily gifts of gold and precious gems, something to remember when Dave and Ron contact you about the annual campaign next year! The generous outpouring of these free-will offerings raised the total to about $40 million in today’s dollars, ensuring that the sanctuary contained much more than just the bare essentials. Why did the Israelites, just released from the poverty of slavery, come forward to donate so generously, giving even more than what was required? Perhaps they believed that the gold and jewels they obtained from the Egyptians before the exodus were a gift from God, over which they had temporary possession. The root of the word Terumah means ”to elevate,” so the Israelites may have felt that they were taking the wealth granted to them by God and elevating it for a higher purpose. 

I’m sure there are many different reasons for the generosity of our Beth David donors. Like the Israelites, some may feel blessed by their success and want to give back to the community. Others contribute because Beth David perpetuates values that are important to them. But the following story resonates with me. In the tradition of Jewish storytelling, I’ve adapted my story from a book, “A Thread of Kindness,” by Leah Perl Shollar, who, in turn, adapted her book from a Jewish Midrash in Yalkut Shimoni. I’ll call my version “The Golden Web.”

Once upon a time a young Jewish family lived in that narrow expanse of land in California between two mountain ranges and a bay known as Silicon Valley. Both the husband and wife worked hard, but the family was of modest means. They had enough for their monthly mortgage, to pay their bills, and to buy essentials, but little left for luxuries or to save for retirement or college for their two children. One day, Elijah the Prophet appeared before the couple. “I hold in my hand the winning ticket for this week’s California lottery,” he said. “It is yours, but you have to make an important decision. You can have all of the money now, or you can have three times the money if you wait 20 years.” 

The couple argued about what they should do. “We should wait and take the money later,” said the husband. “We need a nest egg for our old age—who knows if Social Security and Medicare will still be available for us. And we’d never get triple the return by taking the money and investing it!” “No!” insisted the wife. “Just think of all the things we can do with the money now. Who knows what our lives will be like in 20 years!”

In the end, the wife won the argument, and the family became instantly wealthy. They used a small portion of the money to pay off their mortgage, fix up the house, replace their aging cars, and to save for their retirement and their children’s college education. But they continued to work hard and live modestly, and donated much of their money to charitable causes, including their synagogue. 

Five years later, Elijah returned, fully expecting that the couple would have depleted much of their winnings on frivolous pleasures. Instead he was amazed by what he saw. The family’s benevolence had touched so many people: by providing food and job training to unemployed people in their community, by ensuring a Jewish education to all regardless of means, and by maintaining a synagogue for spiritual growth and comfort open to everyone. Many of the individuals who benefited by the couple’s generosity in turn were motivated to reach out and help others, thus creating a golden web of kindness that stretched outward in concentric circles, even from generation to generation.  

Elijah was so impressed that he blessed the couple’s investment portfolio, which continued to prosper for years to come.  

We never can know the full consequences of giving, the myriad of ways that our gifts of the heart help not only the direct recipients, but radiate out from them exponentially to affect many additional beneficiaries.  Thanks to all of our campaign donors for being at the core of this golden web, for your Terumah or sacred gifts, which mean so much to Beth David and to our congregants.