Sacrifice

If I were to summarize the parsha in a single word, the obvious choice would be Mishkan. Yet the Torah itself titles the parsha Teruma. Why is that? And why does the parsha open with an appeal for donations before describing what those donations are meant to build? Logically, we might expect the Torah to first introduce the Mishkan and only then command the people to contribute toward it?

What we see is that the act of giving itself is what brings the Mishkan into being. The possuk in Vayakhel (37:6) says וְהַמְּלָאכָ֗ה הָֽיְתָ֥ה דַיָּ֛ם לְכָל־הַמְּלָאכָ֖ה לַֽעֲשׂ֣וֹת אֹתָ֑הּ וְהוֹתֵֽר - "And the work was sufficient for them for all the work, to do it and to leave over." The Or HaChayim asks if the donations were sufficient, how could there be extra? And if there was extra, how could they have been exactly enough? He explains that although the donations exceeded the needs of the Mishkan, Hashem miraculously made space for every contribution. The giving itself created what was present in the Mishkan. 

This teaches us that the focus of the parsha is not on the construction of a structure whose holiness descends from above. Holiness that originates solely from Heaven, like the revelation at Har Sinai, is temporary, once the moment passes, the site no longer retains that same sanctity. Lasting holiness is created when human beings take initiative, give of themselves, and thereby invite the Divine Presence to dwell among them. Thus, the essence of the parsha is not the Mishkan but the Teruma, the act of giving. It is the willingness to contribute that generates lasting kedusha (based upon Likutay Sichos volume 21.)

דַּבֵּר֙ אֶל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל וְיִקְחוּ־לִ֖י תְּרוּמָ֑ה מֵאֵ֤ת כׇּל־אִישׁ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר יִדְּבֶ֣נּוּ לִבּ֔וֹ תִּקְח֖וּ אֶת־תְּרוּמָתִֽי -"Speak to the children of Israel, and have them take for Me an offering; from every person whose heart inspires him to generosity, you shall take My offering." The meforshim ask why does the possuk repeat take my offering and the words "whose heart inspires him to generosity" seem entirely superfluous? I would like to suggest (in the manner of derush) that one can read the possuk as talking about two distinct types of giving. The first part of the possuk,  וְיִקְחוּ־לִ֖י תְּרוּמָ֑ה refers to the physical items that were needed to be donated to the Mishkan. The possuk then continues with a second type of donation: אֲשֶׁר יִדְּבֶנּוּ לִבּוֹ, a person gives up from his heart, what he holds near and dear. This is followed by תִּקְחוּ אֶת־תְּרוּמָתִי, that this  donation is even more important. That is תרומתי, the teruma that is closest to Me.