Torah Nugget
Terumah
(Offering)
The Hebrew word for heart is leb. It’s spelled lamed bet. It is literally, the vital organ inside our chest that pumps blood through our body. It’s also considered as the seat of thought and emotion, the mind. The heart and mind share an interesting connection and Hebraically are often associated as one in the same. That’s a topic for another day, however if we were to focus on the ancient pictographic Hebrew meaning of each letter, we uncover something astounding!
In Pictographic Hebrew, lamed is a picture of a shepherd’s staff and conveys the understanding of toward, teach, yoke and or authority.
Bet is a picture of a tent, which was what ancient Hebrews lived in, so the tent should be thought of as a house. It conveys the understanding of a house, family and or in as in inside.
According to the Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Bible, combined these mean “authority inside”.
The heart certainly is an authority inside our bodies. However, this combination could also express the notion to,
“Move toward, yoke and or teach the house”!
Here's a further breakdown;
This links the heart directly with this week’s Torah Portion, as the context is Moses entering the cloud and Our Creator instructing him to collect an offering for the construction of His House, which at this time will be a tent, from anyone who has a heart, yoked towards His House.
Do we truly have the heart to contribute to Our Father’s Kingdom?
Torah Nugget: Terumah