A vort from the Rebbe on this week's parshah, Parshas Terumah. In the beginning of the parshah, when the Torah says what the things were that they had to bring as a donation for the building of the Mishkan, so one of the things mentioned is עצי שטים, cedarwood. And Rashi asks, where did they have in the desert cedarwood? And Rashi answers that R'' Tanchuma explained it as follows: Yaakov Avinu, before he even came to Mitzrayim, saw with ruach hakodesh that in the future the Yidden are going to have to build a Mishkan in the midbar, in the desert. So he brought along from Eretz Yisrael cedarwood to Mitzrayim, planted it in Mitzrayim, and told his children that when you leave Mitzrayim, when the time will come, take these along. But we have to understand, where does Rashi get this from? Rashi asks a kushya, where did they have this wood in the midbar? What's the question? They used to buy, the Gemara says that they used to buy stuff from merchants from the countries surrounding the desert, so they could have bought it from these people. Maybe they could even find a forest in the desert where these trees grow, and they could take it. What is such a question, where did they get it from? Actually, the Baalei Tosafos and the Chizkuni takke say that's where they got the cedarwood. But why doesn't Rashi learn like that? And the Rebbe explains first in דרך הפשט what forced Rashi to say it, because the pasuk, when it starts off by telling the Yidden concerning giving the donations, it says, ויקחו לי תרומה, they should take the donations for Me. Now, taking means that it's there, you just got to take it. That means that everything that He asked for was already available, and He just said, take it. And other things were takke available, but why would wood be available in the midbar? Why would the Yidden, coming out of Mitzrayim, schlep along with them wood? So bifshitus it wasn't available. That's why Rashi asks, since it says ויקחו, they should take, it means it was available, everything, so, but wood, what was wood doing in the midbar? You think they schlepped wood out of Mitzrayim with them when they were going into the desert? That's why Rashi says, yes, they did. And that's where he brings the R'' Tanchuma's pshat that Yaakov Avinu planted it and told them to take it out. So here we see Rashi has a reason why he says this is the pshat. But the question comes up, why takeh was it like that? Why is it important? The pasuk takeh tells you this is what it is, but why was it like that? Why did they have to schlep it from Mitzrayim? Why did Yaakov, 200 years earlier, have to take it from Eretz Yisrael to Mitzrayim, plant it, so they should take it out? Why was it takeh not enough if they would just buy it when they were in the desert?

And the Rebbe says that the reason is this was supposed to be an encouragement and a comfort for the Yidden while they were in galus. The Yidden takeh knew, when they were in Mitzrayim, that there was a promise from the Oybershter that they're going to come out of there. The Oybershter told Yaakov Avinu when he went to Mitzrayim, go to מצרים, ואנכי אעלך גם עלה, I'm going to take you out. So the Yidden knew they're going to go out, but it was something in their mind. What the Oybershter wanted that there should be something tangible that they could see, which represents this idea that they're going out of Mitzrayim. So therefore, Yaakov Avinu planted it in Mitzrayim, brought it from Eretz Yisrael, planted it in Mitzrayim. So all these hundreds of years, the 200, over 200 years, when the Yidden would pass by and see these trees planted, it would right away remind them, here we see something tangible that represents the concept that we will go out and we will have to build a Mishkan to the Oybershter. And this is why also he brought it from Eretz Yisrael. One might ask, even if Yaakov Avinu wanted that they should have trees in Mitzrayim to take along for the midbar, for the Mishkan, he could have found these trees, these cedarwood trees in Mitzrayim, and planted it there. Why did he have to schlep it from Eretz Yisrael? Because the whole idea was to show them that the inyan of Eretz Yisrael is there. You have something tangible that came from Eretz Yisrael, which is a place the opposite of galus. And it's there for 200 years that they could see something that's there that brings about the feeling that Moshiach, that the geulah will come. And that's a great encouragement and a great nechamah for the Yidden throughout the galus in Mitzrayim. And that is the reason also why Rashi quotes the name, mentions the name of the one that said it. He says R'' Tanchuma said it. Usually, when Rashi, even when he brings something from the Chazal, he doesn't usually bring the name, sometimes, seldom, but that must be a special reason. Rashi here brings the name Tanchuma. The word Tanchuma comes from the word tanchumin, which means comfort. That this idea was a comfort for the Yidden while they were in galut to know for sure, seeing something tangible that represents the geulah, and that gave them comfort, and gave them encouragement throughout all these years.

And the Rebbe says, whatever we find by Mitzrayim also happens by the other galut and in our galut. Cedarwood represents a tzaddik. There's a pasuk that says, צדיק כתמר יפרח כארז בלבנון ישגה. So a tzaddik is considered an erez, and erez is a cedarwood. So just like here, in Mitzrayim were planted the cedarwood from Eretz Yisrael to give encouragement that the geulah will come, so too in every Every generation, all the years, the Eibershter planted tzaddikim in galut. Tzaddikim, their madregah really is Eretz Yisrael, because their madregah of kedushah, but He planted them in galut to be an encouragement to the Yidden. So He planted, planted the tzaddikim who are the arazim, so while we're in galut we see the tzaddikim, and they help us pass through the hardships of the galut and get encouragement about the coming of the geulah, the coming of Mashiach. And this all started with Yaakov Avinu, because all the tzaddikim, all the nesi'im, the leaders of Yidden, all come from Yaakov Avinu. As it says in sefarim, that the word nasi is roshei teivos, an abbreviation, nishmaso or ניצוצו של יעקב אבינו. Every nasi is a nitzotz, a spark, or the neshamah of Yaakov Avinu. So Yaakov Avinu started this idea that in galus there is something that you can see that reminds you of the geulah and represents the geulah. So in every, just like in Mitzrayim it was, in every galus it's like that, that we have the tzaddikim, and they are the ones that bring us the encouragement and the תנחומין that very, very soon Mashiach will come, and we'll go out of this galus, and we'll go to the geulah sheleimah, and then we'll build the Beis Hamikdash, which is the Mishkan, which is also the בית המקדש, בית המקדש השלישי בקרוב ממש.