Daily Chizuk #0113

Parashat Teruma: His Money
The Pasuk says in this week's Parasha Teruma, "דבר אל בני ישראל ויקחו לי תרומה - Hashem tells Moshe Rabbenu to tell the people to take a donation for Him." The commentators ask, why doesn't it say to give a donation? One explanation is because it is not possible to give anything to Hashem; everything already belongs to Him - "לי הכסף לי הזהב נאום ה' - Hashem owns all the money in the world." When a person makes a donation, he is taking from Hashem's money. Hashem, in His kindness, gives us the opportunity to get credit for our decisions to give tzedaka, but it is His money that we're giving. It is so important to remember that every dollar that we have in our possession has come to us only because it was the will of Hashem. Investments are not what make us money; customers buying our products are not what make us money. Only Hashem gives us money and the way we get it is just a camouflage. Therefore, we should not involve ourselves in second guessing business decisions and the like. The bottom line is, if we were meant to make money, the decision we made would have produced it.
Hashem is in charge of our finances. Everything we have is His, but we can take the money and use it for good and earn Eternal Reward.
Shabbat Shalom!