Why should the Torah allow us to give to the Temple or to its priests possessions that G‑d has granted us? Isn’t this being ungrateful to G‑d, or perhaps shirking the responsibility that He has placed upon us by putting these resources at our disposal? The answer is that all our possessions really belong to G‑d. He has just entrusted them to our care during our lifetimes in order that we refine them, and in order that by refining them, we refine ourselves and the world. It follows that we have no inherent “rights” to what we possess; they are not ours to abuse or waste at our discretion.
If this is true of our external possessions, it is true all the more of our talents and our bodies. We must take proper care of them and direct them toward positive ends; they are not ours to abuse or misuse. And this is true all the more of our children, whom we value even more than ourselves. Our children belong to G‑d, who has entrusted them to our care in order for us to raise them to be good and holy. It is our nature as parents to spare no effort in pursuit of what is best for our children. Our highest priority, then, should be to provide them with a Jewish education, based on the Torah’s eternal values. This is the best way to ensure their truest, most lasting happiness.1
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