Teruma

This Parsha speaks about the command to build the dwelling place of Hashem amongst us, the Mishkan.  Before the command to build, Hashem instructed Moshe Rabeinu to tell the Bnei Yisrael about bringing raw materials for the construction of the Mishkan. The passuk lists 13 different materials (according to Rashi) to be brought. The list starts with gold, silver, and copper; continues with different types of materials, skins, shittim wood, oil, incense, and lastly the stones for the eifod and choshen.

The Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh asks the following question: why were the stones listed last? Shouldn’t they be mentioned first, before gold and silver? The Gemara in Kiddushin records a story about the Chachamim looking to buy these precious stones, at a price of 60 or 80 times 10,000 gold coins. If they were so precious, why aren’t they stated first?

The Ohr HaChaim writes that the order of the listing is according to the holiness of the objects. The Gemara teaches that in certain instances it was permissible to use the clothing of the Kohanim for personal use. From this it seems that me’ila, profaning holy objects, does not apply by the bigdei Kehuna. By the vessels, however, meila does apply. Therefore, when the Torah lists the materials in descending order of holiness, the stones, which were only for the bigdei Kehuna, are mentioned last.

The Ohr HaChaim offers another explanation: unlike the other materials, the stones were acquired effortlessly by the Nesi’im, for the Clouds of Glory brought them. Since no work or effort was invested to acquire them, the act of giving them to the Mishkan wasn’t one of great generosity. The stones are therefore mentioned after all the other materials, which were given with greater generosity. R’ Chaim Shmulevitz quotes a Gemara to explain this point. A person likes one measure of his own produce more than nine measures of someone else’s produce. Rashi writes the reason is because by putting effort into something, it becomes part of one’s self. If so, when one works for something and then gives it away, it is as though he is giving away part of himself. The order of the contributions hint at the special generosity, of giving of one’s self, that Hashem wanted His dwelling place to be built and rest His Shechina!