There are times in life when we can get caught up doing very important things. Perhaps something that is so important that you start working on that project every day and every night. You may fall into a trance and become unaware of your surroundings, because that is how critical the work that you are doing has become. You cannot even tend to the things that you do on a regular basis, and although they are very significant, those tasks start to fall to the wayside. The question becomes, how do you prioritize? Or better yet, how do you figure out what is really the more meaningful priority? In this week’s Torah portion of Vayak’hel, Moses was about to tell the Jewish people all the details of how to build the holy Mishkan—the Tabernacle—for the very first time! You can just imagine the excitement and enthusiasm in the air. The Jews were ready to jump on the opportunity to start working on this special project 24/7. Remember, the Mishkan was granted to them as a way to redeem themselves—collectively—from the sin of the Golden Calf. Nothing was going to dampen their spirits. However, Moses had some words of warning first: “Remember,” he told the Jewish people, “that G-d gave you the Ten Commandments, which contain the order to observe Shabbat. Nothing should come between you and the observance of this day. Even your commitment to build the House of G-d, as admirable as that is. Keeping this day holy, as simple as it sounds, is more valuable than the House of G-d. After all, what is the house worth, if you can’t invite G-d inside to live there?” This is a lesson for all of us: You want to find G-d? He is found in the ordinary day-to-day acts that we do when we simply do what is asked of us. We don’t have to build large edifices, beautiful buildings, or major spiritual skyscrapers, or get involved in a spiritual project that will overwhelm us. All that is asked of us is to be consistent in our commitment to G-d.
Rabbi Shaya's Thoughts
Even More Important
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall
One person's junk is another person's treasure. That is why there is a whole marketplace on the internet for recycled goods. However, it is one thing to reuse something from someone else’s home and bring it into your home, and a vastly different thing to do so in a “House of G-d"—which is why Moses was perturbed when G-d told him that he should use the mirrors that the women donated to cover the washing basin for the Temple.
A little background is necessary. When it was time to build the Tabernacle, the Mishkan—years later when it became permanent, it was called the Temple—Moses asked for donations. People brought gold, silver, and copper to build the elaborate edifice. Some Jews even wove tapestries so that everything about the building would be spectacular. All of this information is recorded in the Torah, and we read about it two portions ago. However, in this week’s Torah portion, Ki Tisa, we learn about one more object that was not mentioned until now, the washing basin. The washing basin was used by the priests before the service started. The priests would wash their hands and feet to cleanse themselves so that they would be ready to serve. Once they were clean, they could enter the Mishkan itself.
What was this washing basin made of? The Torah tells us that it was made from the mirrors that the women donated. When Moses saw this, he did not know what to do. He wondered if he should use the “objects of vanity” for such a holy purpose. How is it possible that one should prepare themselves to serve G-d using such a lowly item for such a lofty service? Something did not click.
G-d then taught Moses—as well as us—a lesson in life. It is not enough to elevate the “elevatable” to take the holy and make it even more holy—the goal in life is to take something that is not only mundane, but could promote vanity, and transform that into a vessel for holiness.
You see, in G-d's eyes, a mirror that is used by a woman to make herself attractive in and of itself is not unholy, especially when one considers the background. The Jews were not only in Egypt, they were slaves in Egypt. They worked hard each day. Yet they wanted to look attractive; they wanted to build Jewish homes, even though it was dangerous to do so. That is not vanity, that is not self-serving; rather, that is the epitome of self-awareness, of self-sacrifice. It is the willingness to do what is right and to do so attractively. There is nothing more pleasing to G-d than when one takes pride in their Jewishness. That is why the first object that the priests encountered when they entered the courtyard of the Mishkan was the washing basin. You want to serve in the Temple? No problem, but first remember who you are and who you are going to serve.
We too, as we wake up each morning and look in the mirror, should think to ourselves, what are we made up of? Are we aware of our purpose in this world? Are we ready to fulfill our reason for being in this world, without making it about us but about the cause?
When we can do that, we can then use the mirror to make sure we look presentable to the world, because we know it is not about us, but about a greater calling.
What kind of olive are you?
We have a saying that when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. On a very basic level this means that not all things in our life work out the way we want them to, so when we are given something that doesn’t look good, such as a lemon, we should make the best of it. What is interesting is that in the Torah portion of the week, Tetzaveh, we have a similar analogy, but with olives. Olives are very bitter fruit. Yet we are told to take this fruit, crush it for its oil, and use only the finest, clearest oil for the Menorah. Leave it to the rabbis to dissect this verse and debate its meaning. When it says to use only the finest and clearest oil, does that apply to the olive itself or only to the oil? Let me explain. Olives, when growing on the tree, can easily be pecked by birds. So the question is: Do we use for the Temple only the best olives (i.e., from the middle of the tree canopy, where the birds can’t reach), or are any olives fine, and we should only be concerned about the oil itself being pure? If so, we make sure that we want the extra virgin olive oil, without any parts of a pit or any other dirt inside the oil. Just plain, good, clear oil. There are technical, Halachic, and spiritual ramifications to these opinions. Today, let’s focus on the spiritual aspect. An olive in its own right is a bitter fruit, but what comes out of it is oil. Oil provides light, and adds flavor to food, to mention just a couple of its benefits. However, the clearer the oil, so too, are its benefits. Yes, it is true that if we take a “better” olive, we will get tastier oil, but the lesson for us is that even if we don’t go along with that opinion and take any olive, if we crush it, we can and will get very good oil. Life works the same way. Each and every one of us has the potential to shine and to bring light and warmth in to this world. We might say that we are like damaged goods—we have been picked on by the vultures, we are useless, and no one can benefit from us (perhaps some might think that they are simply past their prime). The Torah teaches us that we are to look at the end result: Did oil come out of the olive? If the oil is clear, that is all that matters, because every olive can produce oil. Sometimes we have to crush one a little more than another, but that is OK, because crushing brings out the sweetness in the olive oil. In our own lives, the good comes out after we are challenged. Let’s not be afraid of a challenge, as that is how the best of us comes out. Shabbat Shalom.
Know Your Class
Let’s take our perspective toward money, for example.
There are those who like to follow the Gold Standard. Whether they use the standard as a means to invest or view it as the control for the world's economy is secondary; what matters to those people is the value of gold itself.
Then there are those who prefer to look at the Consumer Price Index (CPI). What matters to them is not so much the value of the currency itself (the bar of gold), but what people are buying and selling. How is the consumer behaving? They are interested in investment behavior patterns.
The third category includes those whom we call the Common Consumer. They are not thinking too deeply about prices or about the market. They are not concerned about the Federal Reserve, or which way interest rates are going, short term or long term. Yes, they know inflation when they see it, but they don’t really understand it; all they know is when the end of the month comes whether there is less or more money in the bank.
The Torah, in this week’s reading of Teruma, recognizes that we each have different perspectives on life. Yet in Biblical times, we wanted to be united as one when it came to building the Temple, and the temporary Temple, called the Mishkan (Tabernacle). Therefore, today, as in historic days, we are commanded to use as building materials gold, silver, and copper.
In the examples mentioned above, gold represents the people who are tied to the Gold Standard. Silver, a currency which was more commonly used (in the old days) in business dealings, is represented by those interested in the CPI, while copper represents the commoner who cannot afford more than their daily expenses.
This is a nice lesson that brings all the Jews of different classes together, or better yet, showing that there really isn’t a separation between one Jew and the next. However, we must ask a question: When the Jews came out of Egypt, they had more than enough gold and silver, so why the need for copper?
True, in later years, in the times of the Second Temple when the Jews were poor, copper was necessary, but not now.
Actually, it is not so clear as to when G-d commended the Jewish people to erect the Tabernacle. Was it before the sin of the golden calf, or after the sin? Perhaps G-d told Moses about it before the sin of the golden calf, but Moses didn’t have a chance to tell the Jews yet, as he was still on the mountain, and only told the Jews about it after they sinned?
The reason why this matters to us is because of the answers to these question: Were the Jews righteous when they were commanded to build the Tabernacle (Gold Jews), or was the Tabernacle given to them as a place to repent for their sin of the golden calf? If it was part of the process of repentance, then building the Tabernacle is all about the consumer (Silver Jews). However, if they sinned after G-d gave the command, even though they didn’t know, then they were, at the time, sinners. Therefore, they might have thought to themselves: What do we have to do with building a “home for G-d?” That is the way a commoner (Copper Jew) might think. The Torah teaches us that this type of person can also change their ways and become an investor, a partner with G-d.
All three possibilities are correct; all three types of Jews are necessary to build the Tabernacle. Unity of the Jewish people is what G-d wants more than anything else to make His home our home.
No one should cast themselves as being a lost cause. Everyone is part of the Temple. Each and every one of us matter. A gold, silver, and copper Jew were all part of building of the Tabernacle!
We all belong. Am Yisroel Chai.