A few weeks ago Ben-Gurion University announced that they had received a $400,000,000 gift from the estate of Dr. Howard and Lottie Marcus of San Diego, California. Lottie Marcus died this past December at age 99; Howard died in 2014 at age 104.
This got me thinking. I wondered, why didn’t they make this contribution while they were alive? If they had donated only half of it earlier, they would have received so much honor and prestige. There would have been lots of fanfare surrounding their gift.
This is not just a question about what the Marcuses did. This is a question that many people should be asking themselves.
To understand this enigma better, let’s analyze the difference between a gift and an inheritance.
When someone gives a gift, although not technically payment for anything specific, the gift is nevertheless given for a reason; it could be because the recipient deserves it, or because the giver wants to give it. Within this giving there can also be two levels: You can give based on how deserving one is, or you can give “beyond” what is called for. And then there is a benevolent kind of giving: the giver gets no personal gain whatsoever because they do not see the benefit of their gift. This happens when one leaves an inheritance.
When someone wants to leave a gift and truly be selfless in the process, they leave an inheritance. This is why the Marcuses should be applauded.
In this week’s Torah portion, Pinchas, G-d gives us both a gift and an inheritance. First, G-d gives us the gift of the Holy Land of Israel and directs us as to how it will be settled by the different tribes. It is to be split up between the tribes based on the needs of their tribe such as tribe size. G-d also gives “beyond” what is called for: This is done by lottery, so that there is no “reason” involved, such as where in Israel their portion will be located. And G-d then gives us an inheritance—land ownership will be passed from one generation to the next. This is the highest level of giving. G-d wants us to own the Land of Israel on all three levels.
We can do the same in our own lives. We should give while we can and as often as we can, sometimes based on our means and sometimes “beyond” our means. But we also have to strive to give “beyond reason”—without any personal gain whatsoever.
Let’s strive to reach “beyond” ourselves.