פרשת פקודי
This week’s Parsha continues the discussion of the construction of the Mishkan, and deals primarily with the weights and measures of each of the different materials used in the manufacturing process. The Parsha opens, curiously enough, by repeating something that seems to have been said many times before – that Betzalel and his fellow architects constructed the Mishkan at Moshe’s command. What is the reason for this repetition?
The Seforno explains that this reiteration teaches us a valuable lesson in durability. We find an interesting phenomenon. The two Holy Temples in Jerusalem, which were both far larger and far grander than the Mishkan were both destroyed, and nothing remained of them accept for the one precious wall which we still have today. However, the Mishkan, Chazal teach us was ostensibly far more flimsy of a structure, and is still around in its entirety as we are taught that it has been hidden away underneath the ground. Even enemies who attacked the Jews were unable to harm the Mishkan and its components. What is the reason for these counterintuitive facts? The Seforno explains that if we look at the origin of each of these edifices, the answer will become clear. The two Temples were each built by foreign workers. Although King Solomon was ultimately in charge of the construction, the actual workers were made up of a partially Jewish team and partially non-Jewish. The second Beis Hamikdash was even worse. The overseer and architect was King Cyrus, who was not even Jewish, and all the workers were hired laborers. Needless to say that both constructions were carried out with the intent of the workers being primarily to make money or perhaps for professional pride. However, the Mishkan was built by Betzalel, overseen directly by Moshe Rabenu, under the express instruction of Hashem Himself. All the workers were the Leviim, who carried out their work with the utmost purity and sanctity, and genuine love for the structure they were creating because of its significance. Such intent was so holy that it was strong enough to last for all eternity! The Seforno concludes by saying that we see from here that it is not the opulence or grandeur which will determine the vitality of any creation, but rather the purity of intent which is put into its conception and ultimate formation therefore the passuk is repeated twice to indicate the source of its eternal durability.
In truth, we can use this principle to answer another burning question. We know that the Gemorah in Pesachim (8a) says that if a person donates money to charity, with the express intention that aside from the Mitzvah, he also wants his ailing son to recover completely from his illness, the Gemorah pronounces that such a person is completely righteous. Yet, we seem to find that in the Mishkan, there were no other intents allowed. Twice in the Chumash Hashem commands explicitly that all donations were to be given solely for the intent of the Mitzvah. Based on the aforementioned Seforno, this difficulty can be resolved. Regular charity, whose physical effect does not last for all eternity, can “afford” to have a little bit of non-altruistic intentions, but the Mishkan, which needed to be an eternal structure, was limited to only pure intentions.
The Ramban poses an interesting query. He doesn’t understand why Hashem spends so much time discussing the Mishkan. These seem to be four of the longest (most trying) Parshiyos repeating over and over again, first the commandment to build the Mishkan, then the construction of it, and finally reviewing the weights of all the materials used. It seems a bit obsessive! The Ramban answers that although all these details may seem tedious to us, Hashem has a completely different attitude. The Mishkan was assembled and constructed with such love emanating from the Jewish people, and with such a purity of heart that each and every beam and metal used in its production were indescribably precious to Hashem such that it is literally repeated four times. This comes to teach us how beloved our pure service is to Hashem.
R’ Baruch Mordechai Ezrachi, asks why this attribute of doing things solely for the sake of Heaven is so difficult to attain? He explains that most of us want to perform the commandments and do what Hashem wants. But we also want to put a little bit of our “selves” in there as well. For example, we eat nice food on Shabbos, but how much of our motivation to eat that nice food is for the sake of Heaven, and how much of our motivation stems from desire. They say that when the Kotzker Rebbe’s students were enjoying their Shabbos repast, they would utter the famous words, “For the honor of Shabbos.” The Kotzker would mock them by uttering, “For the honor of my stomach!” Or we pray a long Shmone Esrei, and part of our minds are on who is looking at us thinking how righteous we are. It is very difficult to perform Mitzvos solely for the sake of Heaven with no admixture of pride or desire or jealousy. Yet this is what Hashem tells us to strive for, and this is also why the Mishkan was so special. The verse repeats around twenty times, “As Hashem commanded Moshe” demonstrating that this was the only intention involved from the beginning of the collecting of the materials for the Mishkan, to its ultimate erection.
R’ Yechezkel Abramsky who lived around 50 years ago and has a famous commentary on the Braisos in Shas, told his students at the end of his life that during every single lesson he gave, he had two things in mind. First, he was concentrating on the material at hand and trying to ensure that it was accurate, and second, he was focused completely on fulfilling the commandment to spread Hashem’s Torah and disseminate it to his students. He would wistfully remark that the second intent was often more difficult than the first one. However, as we mentioned, when a person can perform the commandments solely for the sake of Heaven, they have everlasting effects in this world. The Torah traces Betzalel’s lineage back to his grandfather, Chur. Who was Chur? Chur was killed trying to stop the Jews from worshiping the golden calf. Even though his act of selflessness may have seemed in vain at the time, his doing so was what allowed him to merit having a grandson like Betzalel.
I recently read about a Baal Teshuva here in Israel who managed to make enormous strides in his learning and his spiritual growth that were inexplicable to anyone who encountered him. The Rabbi who had helped him return to Torah observance, and then saw the success he had, mentioned to him that the only way to explain his phenomenal growth was that he must have had an ancestor who had kept the Torah for the sake of Heaven even in the face of adversity. The man said that he didn’t know of any such ancestor. The Rabbi asked him to look into the matter. Shortly afterward the man returned excitedly and he said, “Rabbi, you wouldn’t believe what I found. My mother told me that she had a grandfather in Russia who was the only person in his town who wore Shabbos clothes on Shabbos at great personal risk, and he would teach all the children in the town Torah, and many of the students he taught went on to become great leaders.” The Rabbi didn’t react with much surprise and explained to the man that the only way he could have made the advances he did was if he indeed had such an ancestor, whose actions were so pure, that their strength would have powerful ramifications for generations to come.
May we all merit to serve Hashem with complete purity, and live forever!