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Investing For The Long Term
torah.org/torah-portion/legacy-5774-vayakhel/
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
Accountability Always
torah.org/torah-portion/rabbiwein-5781-vayakhel-pikudei/
Posted on March 10, 2021 (5781) By Rabbi Berel Wein |
Series: Rabbi Wein | Level: Beginner
The book of
Shemot concludes with the
detailed accounting of the materials collected and used in the building of the
Tabernacle.
Even though this accounting may appear to us to be superfluous and even overly
detailed, the words and letters that
appear in this week’s Torah reading
are as holy and important as any others
that appear in our holy Scriptures.
There is an important overriding lesson – a moral imperative – that is being imparted
to us in the words of the reading
of this week. That
lesson can be summed up in that we are responsible for each
of our actions and behaviors during
the year, and during our lifetime. It is as if each of us signs our name at the
bottom of the pages that record
each of our activities in life with one word: accountability.
Judaism holds its adherents to strict standards of
accountability. Accountability in speech, in
deeds and action, regarding financial income and expenses, and in all
other matters of human interaction
and relationships. We are informed by the prayer services of the High Holy days that each of us has pages in G-d’s
ledger book, so to speak, and that each of us
signs with our own signature at the bottom of those pages to attest to
the accuracy of that accounting.
The basis of all responsible human behavior is
accountability. Without that, having good intentions
and high hopes by human beings to accomplish good things are mostly doomed to failure and disappointment. It is only
the concept of accountability that is the driving force that creates efficiency, and the feeling of spiritual
advancement and accomplishment within us.
Educational institutions that never administer exams or do not make demands
upon its students are really cheating
them out of the benefits that an education can bring to a person.
The Torah is exacting and meticulous in recording for us all
the activities, donations, and actual
results regarding the enormous task of constructing the Tabernacle in the
middle of a wasteland, by a people
just recently freed from physical and mental bondage. One could be fooled to say that in such circumstances
any demand for accountability should be lenient, if not even muted. However, we see that the Torah makes no
allowance for the inherent difficulties
and stress that must have been involved in building the Tabernacle in the desert. In general, we can say that Judaism
rarely, if ever, accepts excuses for poor performance or lack of effort, no
matter how seemingly valid they might be. No excuse, no matter how good and valid it may be, ever equals
accomplishing the task that was set out before the person to realize and fulfill.
The Torah wishes to impress upon us that accountability
requires exactitude, paying of attention
to what otherwise may seem to be small and unimportant, and an understanding that in the great picture of life there
really are no small events or minor incidents that can be glossed over as though they never
occurred. That is not our method of accountability. The Torah is never sloppy in dealing with human events.
Shabbat shalom Rabbi Berel Wein
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