BS"D
ASPIRATION AND ALLEGIANCE: PARSHAT TERUMAH
Shira Smiles shiur 20235783
Adapted by Channie Koplowitz Stein
"Let them make for Me a
sanctuary that I may dwell among them." What a beautiful gift the Ribbono
shel olam wants to present us with. He wants to come down from His lofty abode
to be closer to the human creatures He created. But before He assigns this
purpose, Hashem asks Bnei Yisroel to donate all sorts of materials without
telling them why He wants the donations. Has Hashem reversed the logical order?
One usually forms a picture of the structure and then orders the materials to
fit the blueprint. Is there a message in this reverse order?
Let us begin our dialogue with
a discussion of sanctity itself. Rav Tzadok Hakohen explains that everything
exists on one or more of three planes: in place, in time, and within the
person. Sanctity too exists is each of these planes.
The first reference to
sanctity appears in the Torah at the end of creation. Hashem completed His work
and rested on the seventh day, when He blessed the seventh day and sanctified
it, thus creating sanctity of time. The second reference occurs millennia
later. Next came sanctity of place, when, at the burning bush, Hashem told
Moshe to remove his shoes, because the ground Moshe was standing on was sacred
ground. Finally, Hashem invested sanctity in a nation, telling Bnei Yisroel
that we would be to Him a sacred nation.
While the Mishkan and the Beit
Hamikdosh were destroyed, erasing the sanctity of place, and the sin of the
golden calf diminished the sanctity of the people, limiting it to only the
priests and the Levites, the sanctity of time, of Shabbat, still transcends its
time and space, and continues uninterrupted and undiminished. Thus, every Jew
can continue to enter this sanctuary every week on Shabbat.
Rabbi Moshe Feinstein
zt"l offers an amazing insight into our question. He suggests that
although Hashem's presence infuses the sanctuary with tremendous holiness, it
is the people who are initially creating the sacredness of the space. How can
they accomplish this? When Bnei Yisroel donated all these materials
without knowing its purpose, they were acknowledging that everything belonged
to Hashem. They were only the trustees of this wealth until Hashem requested it
back, much like a bank does not ask you why you need the money you are
withdrawing. With this understanding, Bnei Yisroel invested sanctity into the
materials that would then be used to build the Sanctuary.
Expanding on this idea, Rabbi
Mintzberg z”l in Ben Melech explains that the true builder of the
Sanctuary was Hashem, and Bnei Yisroel are merely sub contractors. Therefore,
Bnei Yisroel had to donate the money so that the true builder and
"Homeowner" could designate each item according to His vision. By
donating with a generous heart, we created the space within ourselves that
would be the true site of the Sanctuary. Later in our history, when King
Solomon would build the Beit Hamikdosh, he collected monies from all of Bnei
Yisroel to purchase the land for the structure. Thus, every Jew would have a
stake in its construction and maintenance. [While the Mishkan itself was
disassembled and rebuilt multiple times. the Sanctuary the resided "within
them" was never disassembled. CKS]
It is the generosity of the
heart that opens one to receive Hashem's presence, writes Rabbi Shemulevitz z”l
in Sichot Mussar. After all, a closed container is incapable of
receiving anything, no matter how precious.
The main artisans of the
Mishkan are proof of this idea. Bezalal and Oholiav were chosen as the main
architects of the Mishkan not because they had advanced fine arts degrees, but
because their hearts and minds were open and capable of receiving the wisdom
Hashem imparted to them. Rabbi Mintzberg notes that once the Mishkan was complete,
this special knowledge left them, attesting to the fact that it was actually
Hashem Who built the Mishkan, using Bezalal and Oholiav as His agents.
We need all the details of the
structure and its utensils because the Mishkan [and Beit Hamikdosh] here on
earth are meant to parallel the Sanctuary in Heaven, each Hashem's
"abode." Therefore, Moshe could not erect the Mishkan on his own. It
was Hashem Who erected the Mishkan. As the verse states, "Hukam
haMishkan/ the Mishkan was erected," in the passive voice, by Hakodosh
Boruch Hu.
Although we don't understand
the reasons behind the exact dimensions, every dimension still needed to be
precise. In Yalkut Yosef, Rabbi Beyfus points out that we must observe
our mitzvah performance in the same way -- although we do not understand the
mitzvah, whether it is how we hold the Four Species on Sukkot, how we wash our
hands in the morning, or how we put on our shoes and socks, we must still
perform it precisely, thereby bringing God's presence down.
In fact, continues Rabbi
Beyfus citing Rav Shteinman z”l, Everything we do is enabled by Hakodosh Boruch
Hu. Yet, even when I do mitzvoth and He is enabling me, Hashem gives me credit
for its performance.
In Shir Hashirim, the
allegorical love song between Hakodosh Boruch Hu and Bnei Yisroel, The verse
tells the Daughters of Zion to go observe the King of Peace on the day of His
betrothal [to Bnei Yisroel] and on the day of the joy of His heart. The Mishneh
homiletically interprets the "betrothal" as the moment Bnei Yisroel
accepted the Torah at Sinai, and "the day of the joy of his heart" as
the day of the dedication of the Beit Hamikdosh. The essence of each of these
times is that Bnei Yisroel understood that Hashem wanted the fullness of the
heart from us. But the reverse is also true. The betrothal and joy come because
we also desire that the love be reciprocated. One of the questions we will be
asked when our souls return to their Maker is, "Where was your heart, your
passion, when you observed the mitzvoth?"
This is the month of Adar,
the month when the Aleph [Commander of the world] dar,
wants to reside here, in the lower world. That is why when the month of Adar
begins, we increase our joy. As Rebbetzin Smiles explains, When we infuse our
mitzvoth with joy, we bring Hashem closer to us, increasing the blessings He
showers upon us and further increasing our joy.
The Slonimer Rebbe brings a
psychological approach to our discussion. The Mishkan and the Beit Hamikdosh
were comprised of three distinct areas. There was the outer courtyard, the
inner hall, and the Holy of Holies. They correspond to the aspects of a person.
The heart that beats within each person is represented by the courtyard and
includes the deep yearnings within one's heart. The outer altar represents one's
physical desires. Finally, we should direct all our mental faculties and
perspectives toward Hashem's service, in the holiest way possible. Then we can
truly request to dwell in Hashem's house all the days of our lives.
Let us approach our question
from yet another angle. Rabbi Druck reminds us that the Torah provides an
earlier example of Hashem's command without an end goal. When Hashem commanded
Avraham Avinu to go to a land He would show him, Hashem didn't reveal the final
destination to Avraham. Rashi explains that Hashem wanted to reward Avraham for
each step he would take. Knowing the final destination would mean that Avraham
would be rewarded only upon finishing the task. Instead, Hashem just told
Avraham to go, and thus each step was fulfilling that command. For the same
reason did Hashem request Bnei Yisroel to bring donations without telling them
the purpose, so that Bnei Yisroel would receive merit for each donation,
irrespective of the final purpose.
To earn Hashem's presence
descending to dwell among us required tremendous merit. How could we earn that
gift? Rabbi Birnbaum z”l in Bekorei Shemo points out that people are
very attached to their money and are loath to part with it. However, if they
see some personal benefit, especially in honor and recognition, they more
readily donate. It is therefore easier to get donations for a building project
where you can at least see the results [even if your name does not appear over
a room] than for the regular upkeep and maintenance of the completed building.
Hashem wants people to give without knowing the ultimate purpose. This was the
additional, greater mitzvah.
We are told that building the
Mishkan was an atonement for the sin of the golden calf. How are the two
connected? In Neos Deshe, Rabbi Shneur explains that since that sin was
a result of a lapse in faith, the way to rectify it would be to perform acts of
total and simple faith. Therefore Hashem asked Bnei Yisroel to donate their
gold and other materials simply because Hashem asked them to, not for any
specific purpose, thereby exhibiting their complete faith in whatever Hashem
commanded. The giving was a mitzvah, and the building of the Mishkan became an
extension of that first mitzvah. As Rabbi Shneur explains, this echoed Bnei
Yisroel's initial response at Sinai, first accepting "We will do,"
before hearing the details. With these donations, they could return to their
spiritual state before the sin. And the Clouds of Glory that had departed with
the sin now returned, before the Mishkan was completed.
It is this doing without
looking for recognition that has the greatest merit. This explains why Yehoshua
was chosen to lead Bnei Yisroel after Moshe's death, for he served Moshe in the
most mundane matters, preparing the "benches," and cleaning up after
each Torah session. Hashem desires our faith and trust first. When we left
Egypt and the Egyptians pursued us, we needed to first enter the waters of the
Red Sea up to our necks, with full faith but without understanding, and only
then Hashem split the Sea.
Hashem wants us to plant the
Mishkan in our hearts. How can we do that? Only through pure faith. Rabbi
Sutton introduces us to a level of faith we are generally not aware of. When we
accept that everything that happens to me is something Hashem has orchestrated
for our benefit, we are exhibiting true, full faith. This is beyond just
accepting something negative, perhaps as an atonement, but believing that
whatever happened to me was truly for my benefit a priori, that I needed to
fall over the crack, to have my refrigerator break erev yom tov, for example,
even if I do not know why.
If we want to bring Hashem's
presence down, writes Rabbi Apfel in Mesameach Zion, we need to search out any
small action that will bring pleasure to Hakodosh Boruch Hu. These are our
donation of gold and silver. Our actions for Hashem done out of fear represent
the golden donations, while those out of love, out of kisuf/desire
represent donations of kesef/silver.
Hashem wants from us emunah
peshutah/simple faith that demands no rationalization. The purpose of the
Beit Hamikdosh was to bring light to the world. We need to counter the hatred
with our faith and with love for others. That's how we build the Mishkan not
only for ourselves, but for the whole world. Let us build a world where
Hashem's presence can reside among us.