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In this week’s parsha, we read about the details of the building of the Mishkan (Tabernacle). This is in fact the second time the Torah describes for us the details of the Mishkan and its construction; the first time being in parshat Terumah (the parshah from 3 weeks ago). Whereas parshat Terumah speaks about the commandment to build the temple, parshat Vayakhel speaks about the fulfillment of this commandment of how the Mishkan was constructed.

On the surface, our parshah seems to repeat the details of the Mishkan written in parshat Terumah word for word. But with closer inspection, many discrepancies arise. One such example occurs in the opening verses of our parshah.

Moshe (Moses) tells the Jewish nation:

“…This is the word that Hashem (God) has commanded, saying: ‘Take from yourselves a portion (תרומה) for Hashem, everyone whose heart motivates him shall bring the portion of Hashem…’ ” [Exodus: 35: 4 – 5]

Clearly, Moshe is repeating to the Jewish people a command that was issued forth from Hashem. This very command appears at the beginning of parshat Terumah:

“Hashem spoke to Moses, saying: ‘Speak to the children of Israel and they shall take for me a portion (תרומה), from every man whose heart motivates him you shall take my portion.’ ” [Exodus: 25: 1 – 2]

(The “you” in “you shall take my portion” at the end of the verse is in fact not referring to Moshe, rather it is referring to the Jewish people themselves. Proof for this is the fact that “take” is written in its plural form “תקחו” instead of “תקח”, its singular form.

An obvious distinction between these two verses is the verb that is used to describe how the Jews were to give the portion to Hashem. In the first verse when Moshe is speaking to the Jewish people, he uses the verb “bring”, but when Hashem is speaking to Moshe He uses the verb “take”. Our first question is: what is the meaning behind this discrepancy? But an even greater question lies in the actual verb that God uses! If God is commanding the Jewish people to give a portion, why would He use the verb “take”? It’s the exact opposite of giving!The idea here is very profound: There are times when one is giving, while at the same time he is taking. An immoral person would take this to mean that even when you give, the recipient owes you a favor, so in some sense you’re taking! On a moral and deeper level, the idea is far more meaningful, and is a fundamental principle of our everyday lives.

I have heard the question asked before: who is getting the better end of the deal, the one who receives charity or the one who gives it? Monetarily, there is no question; the receiver is walking out with more cash in his pocket. But on a spiritual level, the donor is fulfilling the commandment of charity, and will therefore leave this world with more good deeds in his pocket. Therefore, we have a case of one who is giving (money), while at the same time taking (heavenly reward). Of course, this applies not only to giving money, but to all acts of kindness as well. However, this is explanation is a very simple and superficial understanding of this idea.

On a deeper level, it is the act itself of giving that will have an everlasting influence on the donor. The act of giving to another, of helping someone in a time of need, is an overwhelming experience. Often times one may obtain this feeling when the recipient approaches him and expresses his heartfelt appreciation and gratefulness for the donor’s contribution or act of kindness. To have someone tell you how much you’ve done for them, how much of an impact you have had on their life! There are fewer things that can be more self-fulfilling and uplifting than that! But truthfully, it is not the “thank you” that should spark these emotions, but the recognition that you have somehow made a difference in someone’s life. Therefore, we can understand, in another fashion, how giving can in itself be an act of taking.

This concept can be brought even deeper. Everything in this world, everything we possess — our clothes, our houses, our money, our souls… — in actuality, they all belong to God. He created the world and everything that is in it, therefore everything is His! For this reason we praise Him day by day and express our gratitude for everything He has given us, for He is the ultimate giver. And it is only through this recognition, that nothing is ours, that we may use the items in this world. Therefore, before eating anything, before smelling any sweet fragrances, even when we buy new clothing, we recite a blessing expressing our realization that everything has been given to us by God, the true owner. We must truly connect to the internal feeling that the item is really God’s and that we would give it back to Him if it were possible; only then may we benefit from it. Therefore, we “give” to God by recognizing His supernal providence and ownership over everything in creation, and only then may we “take” it. (*see footnote for one more quick understanding of this idea*)

By all these explanations, we become uplifted in our act of giving. This is why the word that the Torah uses when speaking of the “portion” we give to God is “תרומה”, which literally means “a raising up”. May we merit to perform acts of kindness always, and become uplifted in our acts of giving throughout our lives.

Good Shabbos,

NZL

(*I once heard an idea, however I forget from where, that the only way to own something is to give the item away to someone else. By holding onto an object, we can never really say that is truly ours, for who knows what can happen? A burglary? A flood? God has a myriad of ways of taking our possessions away from us. It is only through giving that we can actually say that the item was ours and demonstrate a true act of ownership over an item. Additionally, man is made in “the image of God” [Genesis: 1: 27] and we are meant to emulate His ways. Just as God is the ultimate giver Who at the same time owns everything, so too when we give we become, like God, owners of that which we have given to others*)

When I dropped math in high school and spent my grade twelve year mocking all of the number crunching nerds around me, I never imagined that years later I’d be wiping the dust off my old textbooks and starting from square one. Now, as I study for my SATs in order to get into university in Israel, it looks like the joke is on me. I was complaining to my family about the tediousness of my new favorite subject when my sister asked jokingly, “What if 1+1 doesn’t really equal 2? Then everything else you’re doing is useless!” From there, erupted a dinnertime conversation about the essence of Oneness. My father, the token Breslover, argued that 1+1=1 because the nature of oneness is a completion so whole that it leaves no room for separate parts.
My brother, the 17-year-old hooligan, argued that he was being ridiculous because 1+1 clearly equals 2.
I, the mathematician, argued that 1+1=window.
My sister, the normal one, marveled at how her joke turned into a philosophical debate.
My mom ate her Chinese food.
The question may seem silly, but the power of oneness is something that has mystified us since Day 1. Pardon the pun. And the rhyming.

This week’s parsha, Vayakhel, opens with Moshe gathering B’nei Yisrael together to give them the commandment of Shabbat.

“And Moses gathered (vayakhel) the entire assembly of the children of Israel and said to them: These are (eleh) the things that Hashem commanded…” (35:1)

The commentators ask many questions about this verse: Why is the commandment of Shabbat repeated so many times throughout the Torah? And why now, specifically? Why did Moshe gather the people in such a way as seen in very few other places in the Torah? Furthermore, the Netivot Shalom points out that Shabbat is the epitome of the experience of closeness to God. How is it possible that right after the grievous Sin of the Golden Calf, the Jewish people can be expected to climb to such lofty heights? Are we not tainted and unworthy? By comparing the language used in this week’s parsha with last week’s parsha, we learn an important lesson:

“…and the people gathered (vayikahel) around Aaron and said to him, “Rise up, make for us gods that will go before us…” (32:1)

“And upon the completion of the golden calf: “They said: ‘This is (eleh) your god, O Israel…” (32:4)

Through carefully examining the language, we are told to pay close attention to the connection between these two events. But what could possibly be further away from Shabbat, man’s acknowledgement of God as the Creator of the universe, than idolatry? Whereas in last week’s parsha the people gathered together in order to proclaim an idol as their god, this week, the peopled are gathered together by Moshe in order for him to proclaim the word of God unto them. The Netivot Shalom goes on to say that there is an element of Teshuvah contained in Shabbat that can bring a Jew up from the depths of any situation imaginable, even that of the Golden Calf. What is this element? None other than the Power of One, of course. He interprets Pasuk 35:1 in such a way that the word “eleh” is referring to “vayakhel” – Moshe gathered the entire assembly of the children of Israel to tell them not only the ‘Dos and Donts’ of Shabbat, but also the message of unity, captured in the word “vayakhel”

If man never sinned, perhaps as an individual he would be able to achieve oneness with God. However, after sinning, in order to man to reach such lofty heights, we need to be lifted along with those around us. The only antidote to the most grievous of sins is unity. For example, the generation that built the Tower of Babel in efforts to wage war against God was spared the punishment of being wiped in the merit of their unity. Furthermore, when B’nei Yisrael were in Egypt, we had sunk to the 49th of 50 gates of impurity. We were on the cusp of total spiritual annihilation. In order to become an Am worthy of receiving the Torah and experiencing the revelation of God at Har Sinai, we needed to bypass all of these gates. It is for this reason that Hashem gave B’nei Yisrael the mitzvah of the korban pesach. This is a communal mitzvah – not only must the offering be eaten with the entire household, but “kol kehal haedat yisral” – “the entire congregation of the assembly of Israel” must slaughter it together (12:6). It was only through this type of behaviour that B’nei Yisrael finally achieved the level of encamping “k’ish echad b’lev echad” – “like one man with one heart” – at Har Sinai.

I learned this Netivot Shalom on Monday morning before going to the rally organized by the Jewish community in support of the residents of Sderot, who have been barraged by Qassam rockets on a daily basis for the last eight years. The rally was deemed ‘a huge success’, and the community of Toronto was praised for being the leaders of North American Jewry for finally taking action. The overarching theme of the speakers (including Alan Dershowitz!) was that of the solidarity between the Jews of Toronto and those of Sderot. “Your future is our future,” emphasized David Koschitzky, chair of the UJA Federation of Toronto, speaking to a tired group of Sderot citizens gathered together on a live video feed at 3am. As I looked around the spacious hall, full to capacity with 2 000 Jews of all ages and religious background, waving Israeli and Canadian flags, I wasn’t sure if I should be proud or ashamed. The speakers all seemed to be very impressed by the message of strength and unity expressed by such a turn-out, but I couldn’t help but wonder: “in a city of more than 200 000 Jews, where are the other 99%?!”

And then I thought back to the Netivot Shalom. What is so powerful about unity, anyway? When we are gathered together, the individual is nullified, he teaches. We do not disappear in a creepy communist way, but rather when God sees Jews gathered together in love and support of one another, our individual sins fall away. They are completely overshadowed by the power of our coming together. As my token-Breslov-father was sure to remind me, surely all of the Toronto Jews that missed the rally were busy learning Torah and visiting the sick, but for the few that did not know about it and instead watched the Raptors game, perhaps the unity among those gathered together in Toronto and Sderot is enough to bring us all one step closer to Peace in the Middle East.

So as we enter into this Shabbat, I hope that we all have a heightened understanding of the essence of unity on Shabbat and the totality of the Oneness of Hashem. May we all spend quality time with those we love and remain united in thought, action and prayer with all of Am Yisrael around the world.

Gaon Yaakov on Vayakhel

The Gemara (Berakhot 55a) presents the following conversation between Moshe and Betzalel:

When G-d told Moshe to tell Betzalel to make the Mishkan (structure), Aron (ark) and rest of the vessels, Moshe switched the order and said, “Make the Aron, vessels, and Mishkan.”

Betzalel replied, “Moshe Rabbeinu, it is the way of the world to first make a house and then to place within it vessels. You tell me to make the Aron and vessels before making the structure. These vessels that I make, where will I place them? Perhaps G-d told you that I should make the Mishkan and then the Aron and vessels?”

Said Moshe, “Were you perhaps in the shadow of G-d (betzeil Ei-l, a play on words using the name Betzalel) and knew what he was saying?”

There are several striking difficulties with this passage.
1. Why did Moshe switch the order from what G-d instructed him?
2. What was the “argument” between Moshe and Betzalel concerning the proper order?