At the Speed of Thought

 

 

Posted on March 9, 2018 (5778) By Rabbi Label Lam | Series: Dvar Torah | Level: Beginner

All the gold that had been used for the work in all the work of the Holy the gold of the waving was twenty nine talents, seven hundred and thirty shekels, according to the holy shekel. The silver of the community numbers was one hundred talents and one thousand seven hundred and seventy five shekels, according to the holy shekel. (Shemos 38:24-25)

There is a spiritual principle that “blessings cannot be counted” that is they cannot be quantified.” The Zohar asks, “How is it possible to count the vessels of the Mishkan? The answer in cryptic terms is that “from the left side they cannot be counted but from the right side Brocho- Blessing is relevant!” What in the world does this mean?”

Rabbi Dessler helps to decode the message and in doing he reveals a very big secret. Don’t worry, big secrets are not at risk of becoming too well known. They can be shouted out to the whole world and yet they would remain a secret. The left classically represents the weaker side and the right the stronger. It’s not so much about strong or weak but rather about the outer and inner realm. When it comes to what is visible and what can be counted that is the left side. It is the physical dimension of things. The right is stronger because it is eternal and unable to be measured.

There are 88 keys on a piano. How many different types of songs can be played on a piano with 88 keys? I believe the answer is, “Almost unlimited!” (What if there are 613 keys!? That’s

a different question.) The piano keys are numbered. That’s the view from the “left”. The infinite forms of musicality that it can express and the endurance of the compositions it births is the study of the “right” side. It is the fulfillment of the purpose for which this instrument was created.

Reb Dessler explains that that every object or entity in this universe whether big or small, simple or complex, has a root above and a reason for being that can be connected to serving The Creator. The Chovos HaLevavos, in the Gate of Serving G-d spells out that ultimately everything we do is either a Mitzvah or an Aveira, fulfillment of a Divine Commandment or a Violation! How so?!

Initially there are three areas of life. 1) Mitzvas which occupy a slim slice of our working days. 2) There are Aveiros – sins which we would hope are not a routine in our schedule. 3) Then there is the largest part of our lives which is called R’SHUS- neutral and able to go either way.

 

R”SHUS may include sleeping, or eating, or getting dressed, or exercising, or driving to and from work. They are not Mitzvos and neither are they necessarily Aveiros.

Here’s the shocking news. At the end of the day, the Chovos HaLevavos states there are only two realms. Those eight hours of sleep, those two hours of commuting, and all the time and money spent eating and drinking are either connected to their blessed and unquantifiable source or they are by default counted amongst the finite domain of the mundane, to be piled nowhere with last year’s snow.

The real raging battle of life is the contest for the territory of the “in between”. If one can connect sleep to the need to get up and serve HASHEM with a refreshed mind then eight hours have been captured. If one can eat to gain strength to do Mitzvos then it becomes a Mitzvah, the eating and the food itself. Mitzvos have the power to rescue buried treasure. With these lenses we can see how the entire world and all of life is a giant field of opportunity and mine field riddled with risk.

The son of a very wealthy man once asked me many years ago, “What is the Torah’s view about having money? I told him, “Money is like manure! (Please pardon the crude analogy) If it is spread like fertilizer on a field where Mitzvah have been planted, it can accomplish worlds! If it’s just sitting around it tends to stink!”

The construction of the Mishkan was from gold and silver and regular earthly stuff. These are banal objects. A thing by itself is a bag of nothing until it is properly dedicated. Then suddenly it can be made holy, that fast, at the speed of thought.

 

 

Investing For The Long Term

 

 

Posted on February 20, 2014 (5774) By Rabbi Naftali Reich | Series: Legacy | Level: Beginner

The master craftsman who implemented the Torah’s blueprint for the building of the mishkan was an individual named Betzalel. The Torah tells us that Betzalel was uniquely endowed with a “spirit of wisdom” that equipped him for this loftiest of tasks.

Mystical sources tell us that the mishkan, the tabernacle, was a spiritual microcosm of the entire world. Betzalel was knowledgeable in all areas of esoteric wisdom. He knew the letters and permutations with which Hashem fashioned heaven and earth; he knew how to harness this spiritual energy in the construction of the mishkan, Hashem’s heavenly abode in its earthly form.

Our sages tell us that Betzalel was a young boy at the time of the mishkan’s construction–no older than 13. How could such a youngster have a level of wisdom that towered way above all the greats of his generation?

The Torah alludes to the spiritual greatness of Betzalel in the pasuk that enumerates his lineage. “Behold I have called upon Betzaelel, the son of Uri, the son of Chur from the tribe of Judah,” it says.

Here is precisely where Betzalel’s greatness lay–in his being a grandson of Chur. Who was Chur and what was the source of his greatness that he merited such an extraordinary grandchild? We find scant information about Chur’s life in the Torah. However, we do find Chur at the tragic scene of the Golden Calf, where the Jewish people embraced the worship of the golden image.

Chur was appalled at their behavior and stood up to admonish them. The frenzied mob was carried away by a wave of hedonistic behavior and anarchy. They silenced Chur by brutally killing him.

When we consider these tragic events, we can’t help but ask ourselves why Chur chose to admonish and oppose the people who were bent on defying reason? Surely he saw it was futile, that they were determined to carry out their degenerate plans. Why endanger your life, Chur, where is your common sense? Wait a bit until the people’s senses return and then they will be more receptive to your sobering message.

The commentaries explain that Chur was motivated by something nobler than practical common sense. He saw the Jewish people hovering at the edge of an abyss. Just one day before, the nation was the connecting bolt between heaven and earth; now that divine bond had been ruptured. The people were plunging wildly downward.

His grief over this downfall was so great that he was willing to sacrifice his life even if his action could not prevent catastrophe.

Whenever we act for the sake of Heaven, our self-sacrifice calls down Divine reciprocity. Although we may not see this cause and effect immediately, the reward for such mesiras nefesh will be great.

Chur was willing to give up his life to secure the Divine connection between heaven and earth; his grandchild was therefore given transcendent wisdom far beyond his age and capacity to absorb. He merited the Divine mission of repairing that sublime connection between heaven and earth through the medium of the mishkan.

Oftentimes I look at students in the yeshiva who hail from families that are so distant from our Torah heritage. These students persevered against all odds and miraculously found their way back to their spiritual source. From where did they draw the courage and inspiration?

Very likely there was a grandmother in their family tree who cried copious tears for her children’s spiritual safety when lighting the Shabbos candles. They were off to the ‘Goldene Medina’ and she prayed that they would not succumb to the temptations that abounded there.

The answer to those heartfelt prayers may not have come in her own lifetime. But when we see evidence of it in her grandchild and perhaps much further down the line, in a great- great grandchild, we can be sure of what its source is–the pure prayer of a devout, beseeching heart.

Let’s invest our heart and soul into our spiritual undertakings and do our best to ensure that we will reap the dividends of our good deeds for many years to come.

Wishing you an inspiring Shabbos. Rabbi Naftali Reich

Text Copyright © 2014 by Rabbi Naftali Reich and Torah.org.

 

Repetition is the Soul of Honesty

 

 

Posted on March 8, 2010 (5770) By Rabbi Berel Wein | Series: Rabbi Wein | Level: Beginner

The book of Shemot is reaching its conclusion in this week’s double parsha. The final review of all of the artifacts, construction and costs of the mishkan is detailed before us. The transparency that we all claim to long for in governmental spending and budgets is realized in the Torah’s exquisite detail in accounting for all income and spending on the mishkan.

This is an example of the soul of public trust and accountability as it should be practiced. The fact that this occurs in relation to holy purposes – the construction of the mishkan and its artifacts – only intensifies the lesson that impeccable integrity is necessary in such matters. Too many times people think that for holy projects and Torah welfare somehow corners can be cut and that the responsibility for funds donated and used can be juggled.

The torah itself clearly does not tolerate such ideas and behavior. The Torah many times over warns us of the danger of corruption, even so-called “holy” corruption. It blinds us and distorts all of our achievements and accomplishments. Even the great Moshe whose face shines with the radiance of heaven itself must be publicly held accountable.

I think that is why after so many millennia after the disappearance of the mishkan from the midst of Israel these parshiyot are still read publicly in our synagogues. The message of accountability and transparency in public monetary matters is the keystone to holiness. The holiness of the mishkan is dependent upon these principles and values.

Another idea present here is the importance of repetitiveness in these matters. The Torah recounts in detail what it has already told us earlier regarding the construction of the mishkan and its artifacts. Since reading a budget or studying a data sheet is not necessarily the most fascinating reading in the world, the Torah’s insistence upon recounting these matters is at first glance most puzzling. But it is the repetition as much as the content itself that is the Torah’s message to us.

 

Repeating the accounting of the construction of the mishkan – its expenses and labor and talent – emphasizes to us that the holy mishkan was crafted efficiently and honestly. There is no longer any question regarding its probity when the Torah lists for us the materials and work once more.

The second accounting must coincide exactly with the first description of the materials and work involved. And repetition is the soul of honesty. One must train one’s self to be honest, to resist temptation and shoddiness. Goodness and truthfulness are conditioned by habitual behavior more so than by inspired sermons and learned treatises.

In Yiddish there was a folk saying that “truth is the best lie.” A lie requires many other lies to cover its tracks. Truth stands pristine and strong always. Therefore, it is not only the first accounting that is important in public and holy matters but the later accounting is also of equal if not even more importance. This week’s double parsha certainly drives this point home.

Shabat shalom. Rabbi Berel Wein