“The Lord spoke to Moses saying:
“Speak to the children of Israel, and have them take for Me an offering; from every person whose heart inspires him to generosity, you shall take My offering.
Many have questioned this opening verse of Parshat Terumah. Surely the verse should have said “Speak to the children of Israel and have them give”!!?? It makes much more sense to command a person to give a donation. You don’t take a donation!
Rabbi Moshe Alshich (1508 Turkey-1593 Safed) was a student of the Arizal (the greatest Kabbalist of the 16th cent) offers a fascinating explanation based on a halacha brought in tractate Kiddushim dealing with the laws of marriage:
Usually for a man to marry a woman he is required to give her something of value. Our custom is to use a ring. There are many reasons for this. For example the circular ring represents a person making space for another crucial for a successful and blessed marriage.
If a woman gives the ring or object of value to the man then the marriage is not valid.
The Talmud though has an exception to the rule and allows a woman to give an important man (for example a great noblemen) an object. In such a case the Kiddushin is valid. Why? The reason is that in this special case the fact that such an important person accepts and receives the object is a cause of great pleasure to the giver. In other words although the woman on the surface level is the giver of the object, on a deeper level she is actually receiving the pleasure in the awareness that this noble person accepted her gift.
Continues Rabbi Alshich that the donations the Israelites are commanded to give to God in Parshat Terumah exactly parallel this Talmudic passage! God at Mt Sinai betrothed the Jewish people through the Torah. Our relationship with god is the ultimate Divine marriage. The Mishkan is the home we build for God to dwell in and amongst us. Yet God is the ultimate Important Being. He is infinite. what can we possibly give to Him!? the answer is that by giving the items for the Mishkan and in God accepting our donations, we become the ultimate recipients of pleasure in the intimate union we share with god as a result.
just like the woman in the Talmud who by giving to the important noble is in fact deemed by law to have taken and received and thus the marriage is valid, so too by donating our possessions to God we are in fact the ultimate recipients of delight and pleasure! and so the verse says “Take to Me”.
Hashem is not a remote god in heaven who demands sacrifice from his earthling creatures.
On the contrary God is married to us. We are equal partners who give and take., And therefore the more we give the more in truth we receive in deepening our intimate bond and ties with Hashem.
Shabbat Shalom