Classics and Beyond Shelach — Challah and Terumah:

Classics and Beyond Shelach — Challah and Terumah:
ראשית ערסתכם חלה תרימו תרומה כתרומת גרן כן תרימו אתה: מראשית ערסתיכם תתנו לד’ תרומה לדרתיכם
The beginning of your kneadings you shall set aside a loaf as a portion, like the threshing-floor portion, so shall you set it aside. From the beginnings of your kneadings you shall give a portion to Hashem, for your generations (Bamidbar 15:20-21).
In Parashas Shelach, we are introduced to the mitzvah of challas ha’issah, where a portion of dough is separated prior to baking and given to the Kohen. When describing this obligation, the Torah compares it to the obligation of terumah, the gift given from the produce taken off of the field and now in the threshing floor.
Rashi explains the analogy: Just as there is no minimum amount from the Torah for the obligation of terumah, so there is no minimum amount for the obligation of challah stated in the Torah. One stalk suffices for terumah; the smallest amount suffices for challah.
Rav Menachem Bentzion Zaks (Menachem Tzion) looks at this analogy homiletically. Many people are very accepting of the day’s first tzedakah collector and receive him “be’sever panim yaffos,” with a happy and eager face. But by the time several collectors have crossed their home’s threshold, they begin to get slightly cross, and their faces begin to sour at the thought of “yet another indigent intruder.” By the end of the day, they may be burnt out from what they view as a deluge of meshulachim, and upon seeing yet another gabbai tzedakah approaching, they look for the nearest exit to make good their escape.
Rav Zaks cites a Jewish saying about guests to illustrate this point. “Be’yom rishon orei’ach, be’yom sheini torei’ach, be’yom shelishi sorei’ach, u’ve’yom harevii baal habayis borei’ach — On the first day he is a guest, on the second day he is a burden, on the third day he rots and begins to smell, and on the fourth day the homeowner flees.” Performing the same kindness over and over is not easy, as both time and repetition take a toll.
Terumah is the first of four gifts, the four types of tzedakah given from the earth’s bounty, followed by: maaser to the Levi, maaser ani to the impoverished, and challah to the Kohen. When one gives terumah, the first gift, the giving is wholehearted. It’s like the first charity of the day, which is given joyfully and eagerly. But after giving the next two matanos and now being obligated to give yet a fourth, the baal habayis becomes unenthusiastic: Hey, this is too much. I’ve already given three times, and now I have to give to the Kohen again?!
Therefore, the Torah instructs us, “Ki’serumas goren kein tarimu osah — Like the threshing-floor portion, so shall you set it aside.” The same zeal that accompanied the first gift from the threshing floor, the gift of terumah, should be evident when giving the last gift, the gift of challah. One should have the same enthusiasm, generosity, and goodwill throughout the gift-giving process. Time and repetition should not dull our generous spirit.
Rav Zaks notes that when discussing the mitzvah of tzedakah, the Torah uses the words (Devarim 15:10), “Nasson titein — You shall surely give him,” employing repetitious language, showing that we must give tzedakah, time after time — to the same person — and all with the same good attitude: “Ve’lo yeira levavcha be’sit’cha lo — And let your heart not feel bad when you give him.” Yet because it is harder to give to the same person time and time again, the Torah assigns a special blessing to the one who does, as we see from the end of the pasuk, “Ki biglal hadavar hazeh yevarechecha Hashem Elokecha be’chol maasecha u’ve’chol mishlach yadecha — For in return for this matter, Hashem, your G-d, will bless you in all your deeds and in your every undertaking.”