Naso

In reviewing the laws of the gifts that one is required to give to the Kohen, the Torah states ואיש את קדשיו לו יהיו איש אשר יתן לכהן לו יהיה , A man's holies shall be his, and what a man gives to the Kohen, it shall be his.

Rashi explains what  לו יהיו means: I might think that because one is obligated to give the Kohen gifts, the Kohen is allowed to forcibly take them, so the posuk tells us  לו יהיו that it is his, it is the owner’s right to choose the Kohen he wants to give it to.

The Chafetz Chaim explains a little differently & says that the Posuk is hinting at the main thing a person must remember his whole life; that a person’s true wealth is only what one amasses in the realm of holy pursuits, studying Torah, doing the Mitzvos, davening & doing chesed. These are one’s eternal possessions, the ones that will accompany you in life & in death.  רק, קדשיו לו יהיו only, one’s holy pursuits will be one’s own. All other pursuits are like fake friends pretending to be there for you. When you need them, they forsake you.

Chazal explain this concept by way of a parable. A person had three friends: one to whom he was very close & which was reciprocated; the second to whom he also felt close but just not as close as the first one while his third friend was more of an acquaintance, never really connecting with him.

One day, this man was called to come before the king. Frightened that someone might have slandered him, he decided to ask one of his friends to come with him as a character witness. He approaches his closest friend but is flatly turned down, so he turns to his next friend. After much pleading, this friend agrees to accompany him to the palace but no further. Left with no choice & little hope, he turns to his third friend who graciously agrees to go & assures him that he will do everything in his power to defend him.

In this parable, the close friend is a person’s money which was dearer to him than anything else. People think that their wealth can save them from any problem, but when the day of death comes, they see that it won't protect them anymore. The second friend is one’s family & friends who will be with him all the way to the grave. However, from there on, he's on his own. The third friend, though, is one’s Torah & good deeds. They will go with him all the way up to the heavenly throne & entreat on his behalf. Therefore, it is incumbent on all of us to get as many as these friends as we can.

With Shavuos a few days away, perhaps we could take the advice of רב יצחק זילברשטיין who says that the Chofetz Chaim refers also to the minute or two that we’re waiting on line or for davening to start as well as the countless other times we have a few minutes to spare. Instead of wasting them, rationalizing that it’s only a minute or two, so it’s worthless; take those few minutes to learn or to smile at someone making them feel good. Then those minutes, too, will be counted as  קדשיו לו יהיו & will be yours for eternity!