Trees in the Desert One of the materials needed for building the Mishkan is atzei shittim, long planks of cedar wood. We know that Bnei Yisrael had plenty of gold and silver, and they had sheep for wool and goats for skins, but how did they come up with such a large supply of extra‐long cedar planks in the barren wilderness? Rashi cited a well‐known Midrash Tanchuma stating that Yaakov Avinu knew through ru’ach hakodesh that his descendants would need to build a Mishkan, so when he moved to Egypt he brought along cedar saplings and planted them. He instructed his children to raise the trees, cut them down and take the wood with them when they would leave Egypt. Why should Yaakov Avinu have felt it necessary to plant these trees over two centuries before the wood was needed? Certainly there were other sources for wood of this sort. Rabbeinu Avraham ibn Ezra pointed out another difficulty with this midrash. As far as Pharaoh and the Egyptians were concerned, the people of Yisrael were taking a three‐day vacation in order to worship Hashem, and then they were to return to work. When the people took these tremendous logs with them, it must have set the Egyptians wondering. Ibn Ezra concluded that if Chazal say that this is what happened, then it must be true. If it is only conjecture, however, he felt that it is more logical to say that a cedar forest grew near Har Sinai, and they took the wood they needed from there. The Divrei David, written by the author of the Turei Zahav, suggested that the people purchased the needed wood from non‐Jewish merchants whom they contacted while in the wilderness. It could be that Rashi rejected these possibilities in favor of the midrash because of the wording used in this week’s parashah. The Torah states, “They must take a donation for Me.” Logically, it would make more sense for it to say, “They must give a donation to me.” Why does the Torah use the term “take”? Rashi understood that the term “give” would imply obtaining the material in any manner possible and donating it. “Give” would mean chopping trees from the forest or buying logs from merchants or doing anything else necessary to get the wood and donate it. The term “take” would imply that the materials were already in their hands and all that the people in charge of collecting need do is to come and get it. Therefore, Chazal asked, “How did Bnei Yisrael already have the wood in their possession out in the wilderness?” It is likely that Yaakov Avinu had something else in mind as well when he planted the cedar saplings in Egypt. He knew that his descendants were about to endure a long, difficult exile. He planted these trees and instructed them to take the wood with them when they left Egypt so that there would always be a prominent physical reminder of their eventual redemption. However difficult their slavery was, the people would see the trees and would be encouraged, knowing that one day it would end.