When things go wrong, we are often told to look at the big picture—not to get bogged down with the details, you have to see the whole picture. Yet, many times that is easier said than done. How do we remain focused to truly see the big picture?
Well, what is the big picture? Is the big picture more authentic than the small picture?
The answer lies in the essence of what we are talking about.
Take, for example, the details of this week’s Torah portion, Terumah. The Torah describes to us every detail of how to build the Tabernacle as well as the vessels within. Let’s take a look at the Menorah: It must have seven branches, cups, flowers, and spheres. When building the main stem, the balls, flowers, and spheres that protrude from it must be decorated. Since the Torah is not written with punctuation, it is dificult to determine what has to be decorated—the spheres alone or the flowers, cups, and spheres when they are together, e.g. What is most interesting is why this is a question at all, since at the time that this question was debated, the rabbis were able to look at the Menorah and see for themselves! Why debate?
The answer is that of course they knew how it was made, as they were able to see it. The real question was whether or not they could find proof of those details within the verse.
How was it made? The most beautiful as possible, where skill, art, and perfection meet.
From this we see that although it is always important to see the big picture, it is just as important to look for the details. This doesn’t undermine the big picture, but rather supports the big picture. And even if we lose sight of what really matters, we have to remind ourselves that we should always look for the beauty in life.