Dvar Torah Parashat Vayakhel-Pekudei /
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Dedicated Leilui Nishmat Rabbi Eli Akiva ben Hanna Yifrach (Dweck) A”H _______________________________________________________ Parashat Vayakhel-Pekudei / Parashat HaChodesh
Repairing the Sin of the Golden Calf
In last week’s parasha, before the sin of the golden calf, Hashem spoke to Bnei Yisrael about the importance of Shabbat. And now this week’s Parashat Vayakhel opens with, “And Moshe gathered the people of Bnei Yisrael and said to them, ‘These are the things that Hashem commanded... On six days, work shall be done, but the seventh day shall be holy for you, a day of complete rest for Hashem!’” We see that the Torah brings up Shabbat again, but this time it’s discussed prior to the construction of the Mishkan. Rashi explains that this is to inform the nation of Shabbat’s magnitude, that even building the Mishkan cannot take precedence over Shabbat.
The Or HaChaim explains that idol worship constitutes a repudiation of all 613 mitzvot. Therefore, for Bnei Yisrael’s teshuvah for the golden calf to be complete, and for them to merit the Mishkan in their lifetime, they had to once again accept all the mitzvot upon themselves. Shabbat is equivalent to the entire Torah. Hashem repeated the mitzvah of Shabbat to give Bnei Yisrael the means to accept all 613 mitzvot.
The Or HaChaim continues and says that the first passuk ends with, “These are the things that Hashem commanded, to do them,” which can also be interpreted as, “to repair them” — because the commandment of Shabbat was a means to repair the damage of the sin of the golden calf!
Emunah and Bitachon
This week's parasha discusses the twelve stones that were placed in the choshen—breastplate. The twelve stones correspond to the twelve shevatim—tribes. Rabbi Biderman shares the insight of Rabbeinu b’Chayei (Shemot 28:9). He writes that “Zevulen's stone was the ‘yahalom.’. It is entirely white, like silver. Because of its color it is a sign to Zevulen’s wealth, as it states ‘Zevulen shall settle by seashores. He shall be at the ship's harbor, and his last border will reach Tzidon (Bereishit 49:13)’ The stone, which represents wealth given to Zevulan, who is successful with his business. Another spiritual power of this stone is that it brings sleep onto people.”
We understand from Rabbeinu b'Chayei that this stone brings fortune to successful business and sleep. We can explain in a way that these two matters – sleep and wealth – go together. This is because the more a person trusts in Hashem, the more parnassah he will have. Sleep means that one realizes that he can go to sleep, and Hashem will give him parnassah. It represents that he knows that his success doesn't come from his intelligence or from his actions, and that if it weren't for the obligation to make hishtadlut—effort, he could simply go to sleep and succeed just as well. However, if a person feels awake, which means he thinks that he earns parnassah on his own, the wealth becomes distant from him, chas v’shalom. This is the reason the yahalom represents wealth and sleep, because wealth and sleep go together. When one believes that parnassah is from Hashem, he will become wealthy
Do Not Kindle a Fire
Moshe conveys to Bnei Yisrael G-d’s command to observe Shabbat, and he specifies the particular prohibition against kindling a flame. “Do not kindle a fire in any of your residences on the day of Shabbat (35:3).”
Rabbi Mansour asks why Moshe would single out this specific prohibition. He answers that this verse alludes to the fire of anger. While we are to always strive to avoid anger, this is especially important on Shabbat, and so Moshe warns in this verse that we not “kindle” the “fire” of anger on Shabbat.
Whenever we prepare to do something great, the Satan tries to sabotage the undertaking. This is one reason given for the custom to break a glass at a wedding ceremony. Knowing that the Satan will try to disrupt this sacred, precious moment, we offer the Satan a “bribe,” breaking an expensive glass, as though telling the Satan, “Here, something went wrong, something valuable was broken. You got what you wanted, so now leave us alone.” This true of Shabbat, as well. The Chida wrote that there is a special yetzer hara that sets in during the final few hours before Shabbat on Friday afternoon. Knowing the immense spiritual benefits of Shabbat, the Satan slyly steps in to interfere on Friday afternoon in order to create tension and strife in the home.
Electricians can attest that more ovens break in Jewish homes on Friday than on any other day of the week. Plumbers will tell you that they get more calls about leaks and clogs on Friday than at any other time. This is very real, and it is no coincidence. This is the Satan trying to arouse anger and tension in the home to prevent us from receiving the precious spiritual blessings that Shabbat offers us.
Let us commit ourselves to foil the Satan’s weekly scheme by being especially patient and calm on Erev Shabbat and by avoiding anger, so we can then receive the great benefits of Shabbat and bring Hashem’s presence into our homes. Sticking to your Guns
Rabbi Shlomo Landau shares a story about R’ Yechiel Bar Lev who moved to America to take a teaching job in Chicago. When he moved, he promised himself he would always daven with a minyan for every prayer of the day. He was working on getting his green card, and for months he waited for a meeting with a federal immigration representative.
One day he received the call, and R’ Yechiel made sure to arrive early to this very important appointment. The meeting was called for 4 pm and it was only supposed to be a few minutes. R’ Yechiel was told the representative was running late, and he and his attorney waited patiently. When the clock struck 4:30 pm R’ Yechiel stood up and started heading for the exit to catch the last minyan. His lawyer stopped him and shouted at him, “What are you crazy. If you miss this appointment, you will not have a chance of getting a green card. The representative will probably be here any minute!”
R’ Yechiel respectfully replied that the green card was important, but prayers were even more important. As he left the office the attorney muttered to himself that he would need some prayers. R’ Yechiel returned from praying with a minyan at 5:15pm and was disappointed to see the immigration office was closed.
The next day R’ Yechiel received a call from his lawyer who was all emotional. The attorney told him, “You would not believe it. Just a few minutes after you left the representative called us in. I told him you went out to pray, and that I tried to convince you to stay but you stuck to your guns. Then unbelievably the representative invited us back for another appointment. He was impressed by your conviction, and he said we need teachers like you in America.” He explained that this has never happened in history, and that this was a miracle. R’ Yechiel knew this was not a coincidence. It was from Hashem smiling back at him for his dedication.
Good Intentions
The Torah says, “Now they brought the Mishkan to Moshe (39:33).” Rabbi Frand reviews an interesting Midrash from Parashat Pekudei. According to the Midrash, the boards of the Mishkan were so heavy that the people could not hold them up next to each other long enough for them to assemble the Mishkan. They kept toppling over. In frustration, the people brought all the boards and poles to Moshe, and he assembled it with miraculous strength that Hashem granted him, especially for this purpose. The passuk in the parasha, however, states that the Jewish people “brought the Mishkan to Moshe.” This would seem to imply that they brought him a completely assembled Mishkan. What does that mean?
Rav Shlomo Breuer explains that Judaism is a deed-oriented religion. It is not enough to say, “I am a Jew at heart.” Deeds count: learning Torah, performing mitzvot, doing chessed. Being a Jew is about doing, from the moment we rise in the morning until the moment we go to bed. At the same time, however, intent also plays a great role in Judaism. If someone is prevented by circumstances beyond his control from doing a mitzvah, the Torah considers it as if he had done it. Judaism demands deeds, but not necessarily results. If a Jew puts in an honest and sincere effort, he is rewarded even if he is not successful. Hashem, in His infinite kindness, considers good intentions as deeds.
When the time came to assemble the Mishkan, the Jewish people made every effort to do it by themselves. Sweat poured from their brows; veins bulged on their foreheads; they strained, and they pushed those heavy boards with all their might, but they could not erect the Mishkan. It was simply beyond them, and they had no choice but to turn to Moshe for help. Nonetheless, the Torah reports that they “brought the Mishkan to Moshe,” because that is what they intended to do and what they tried to do with all their hearts. Hashem considered it as if they had erected the Mishkan themselves, and He rewarded them!
An Effort to Succeed
This week the Torah describes the elegant tapestries and curtains that Hashem commanded Bnei Yisrael to make. For years Bnei Yisrael was doing hard labor in the fields, they were not skilled artists. How was the beautiful mishkan built when they had no experience?
When there is a will there is a way. The Jews were determined to make the mishkan worthy of Hashem’s shechinah—presence. Because they worked hard and put in the effort, Hashem gave them the artistic talents they needed.
Rabbi Joey Haber told a story about a man whose effort proved to be invaluable. The man was asked to fly a Sefer Torah from one country to another. He got to the security line and was immediately confronted. “Sir, what is this?” the TSA agent asked. “It’s a very holy religious object.” The agent said, “Well it’s going to have to go underneath the plane with the luggage. You can’t carry that with you.” The man replied, “Absolutely not, please just let me through. This needs to stay with me at all times.” She saw it was important to him and answered, “Okay. You can try to go to the gate with it, but there’s no way they’ll let it on the plane.” And she cleared him through security.
When he approached the gate, the man at the gate stopped him. “Sir, what is that?” “This is my Torah,” he answered. The man at the gate shook his head. “I was cleared through security, and it has to fly with me. I can’t separate from it; it’s really important.” The man at the gate called his supervisor and after some deliberating, he said to the passenger, “If you want you can try to get on the plane but they’re going to stop you at the door again. I’m telling you there is no way they’re going to let you on that plane with that.” The man happily went through and waited for his next hurdle.
As he stepped on the plane with the Sefer Torah, the head flight attendant said, “Uh sir, no you can’t bring that on this plane. You have to gate-check that. Otherwise we won’t be able to take off.” The man stressed how important this holy article was and begged them to let him keep it with him for the flight. The flight attendant went to get the pilot to ask special permission, and the man braced himself waiting for the final answer.
The pilot came out and said, “What’s going on here?” The man started rambling, “This is my Torah and it’s extremely important, and I need it to fly with me so I could make sure nothing happens to it.” The pilot said, “Well you can’t keep it here, but no problem, you can keep it up in the cockpit with me, because that’s where I keep my tefillin.”
When we want to achieve something, we can’t just sit back. We have to do everything in our power to succeed, just as Bnei Yisrael put their blood, sweat, and tears into trying to build the Mishkan. May we see many berachot and successes from our efforts. May we all learn to appreciate the Shabbat and keep it to the highest standards that we possibly can, because it is the true source of all our berachot. Amen!
Shabbat Shalom! Rabbi Amram Sananes, written by Jack Rahmey
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This book is a compilation of Divre Torah from the weekly parasha classes from Rabbi Sananes’ teachings over the last 10 years along with my own experiences in those classes which has stimulated my Torah growth. I’ve included many pertinent stories and life lessons to grow from at your Shabbat table. There’s also questions and discussion points at the end of each Parasha to stimulate a Torah conversation at your Shabbat table for the whole family to participate in. Also, included is a holidays section at the end of the book to use for all of our special holidays and Yomiim Toviim. Now available in all Jewish bookstores and Amazon! Scan the barcode on the right to purchase from Amazon. |
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