Parshas
Vayakhel-Pikudei
Take
the First Step
By:
Daniel Listhaus
וַיֹּאמֶר
משֶׁה אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל רְאוּ קָרָא
ה'
בְּשֵׁם
בְּצַלְאֵל בֶּן אוּרִי בֶן חוּר לְמַטֵּה
יְהוּדָה:
וַיְמַלֵּא
אֹתוֹ רוּחַ אֱלֹהִים בְּחָכְמָה
בִּתְבוּנָה וּבְדַעַת וּבְכָל מְלָאכָה
“Moshe
said to the Children of Israel, 'See, Hashem has proclaimed by name,
Betzalel son of Uri son of Chur, from the tribe of Yehuda. He filled
him with G-dly spirit, with wisdom, and with understanding, and with
knowledge, and with every craft.”
-Vayakhel
35:30-31
The
passukim
(verses)
describe the involvement of Betzalel and the chachomim
(sages)
in
the building of the Mishkan
(Tabernacle)
and its keilim
(vessels).
Betzalel actually received a few personal shout-outs among the
passukim
because, as Rashi1
explains, Betzalel was even more devoted to the building of the
Mishkan
than
the others.
Why
was Betzalel one of the few individuals who were so heavily involved
in the building of the Mishkan?
Rashi2,
based on a Gemara3,
relates
an incident through which Moshe was certain that Betzalel had
achieved a level of Ruach
HaKodesh.
When Hashem commanded Moshe to tell Betzalel what to do, He said, “Go
tell Betzalel to make Me a Mishkan,
an aron,
and the keilim.”
However, Moshe, to test Betzalel's wisdom, reversed the order and
told him that the commandment was to, “Make an aron,
keilim,
and the Mishkan.”
At that point, Betzalel said to Moshe that he must have misunderstood
what Hashem had told him to say, because as Betzalel said, “The way
of the world is that a person first builds a house and then brings
its furniture
into
it. However, you are telling me to do the opposite. Perhaps what
Hashem really told you is to build the Mishkan
first.”
To this, Moshe responded, “And perhaps you were in the shadow of
G-d4
and that is how you were able to figure this out”.
Clearly,
Betzalel was someone who was privy to understand the ways of Hashem.
Where did this skill come from? From where did Betzalel learn this
ability?
The
Torah5
tells us that Betzalel was one of the people who earned a level of
Ruach
HaKodesh
and a special degree of understanding and wisdom from Hashem. The
Rosh6
comments that even before Hashem granted Betzalel this knowledge, he
was already someone of great wisdom. The Rosh
then
comments that we learn from this passuk
that
Hashem only gives wisdom to those who already have it.
This
Rosh
is
very complex and paradoxical. First of all, why would Hashem only
grant His wisdom to those who already have it? Is this a “the rich
get richer” scheme? Would it not make more sense for Hashem to
bestow His wisdom on those who have yet to achieve it? Second of all,
this Rosh
presents
a paradox. If Hashem only gives His wisdom to those who already have
wisdom, how does one get knowledge in the first place?
The
Nefesh
Hachaim7
explains that only those who are deserving and capable of receiving
Hashem's wisdom could in fact be a receptacle. The way one prepares
oneself to achieve this readiness is by working on one's yiras
shamayim
(fear of Heaven). Yiras
shamayim is
the “knowledge” required as a prerequisite in order to attain a
level of Ruach
HaKodesh
and chochma
from Hashem. This is what Dovid ha'melech
taught in Tehillim8
that, “The beginning of wisdom is fear of Hashem”. Similarly,
Rebbe Chanina taught, “Everything is in the hands of Hashem except
for fear of Hashem.”9
It is our job to work on our yiras
Hashem.
This is the one thing we are here to accomplish, as the Torah itself
challenges us, “And now, Yisroel, what does Hashem, your G-d, ask
of you but to fear Him?”10
Fear
of Hashem is necessary to achieve a level of divine understanding.
This is the knowledge required in order to be a fitting vessel to
contain the wisdom of Hashem. As a matter of fact, the Gemara11
offers
a parable for this, “R' Zeira or R' Chanina bar Pappa once said:
Come and see how different the characteristics of Hashem are from the
characteristics of humans. The characteristic of humans is such that
an empty vessel could hold things you pour into it, whereas a full
container cannot hold anything more. However, regarding matters
involving Hashem, it is exactly the opposite. A full vessel (one with
yiras
shamayim and
Torah knowledge) can hold even more, whereas an empty vessel cannot
hold anything.”
The
Orchos
Tzadikkim12
in his hakdama
(introduction)
writes that a person must train his middos
in
a way of yiras
shamayim because
yiras
shamayim is
the kesher
(connector,
knot) which ties and strengthens the middos
together
in the right way. Yiras
shamayim
is as vital a part in sharpening one's traits, as the string of a
necklace is necessary to hold its jewels. Just as if the string of a
pearl necklace would be cut, the pearls would all scatter –
bouncing across the floor, so too without yiras
shamayim
to channel the middos
in a person, the middos
would run wild without restraint.13
Our
job is to make ourselves into vessels which could hold the deep
understandings of the Torah and the infinite wisdom of da'as
Hashem.
In order to accomplish this, one must work on his yiras
shamayim and
then direct his middos
appropriately.
However, for every area which one thinks is not important to channel
in the way of Hashem, one is essentially making a puncture in
himself. The vessel he is supposed to complete has holes! Anything
poured in is really only being poured in superficially, and it will
all just come pouring out. This person is handicapped; and just as a
handicapped man cannot climb a ladder, so too as long as this person
keeps his ways, he will never climb the stairs to greatness.14
Looking
back at this concept we see how, simultaneously, man is so small yet
so great. On the one hand, the only thing we are really capable of
doing is attaining yiras
shamayim.
But on the other hand, once that great task is accomplished, there is
no limit to the heights one could reach with siyata
d'shmaya
(Heavenly help). Moshe saw in Betzalel someone who had “insider
information” in the thoughts of Hashem. This was not a power that
Betzalel was born with, rather it came as a gift from Hashem to him
because he had already worked on himself to become a yarei
shamayim of
the highest degree. Betzalel truly reached the level of “reishis
chochma yiras
Hashem”15
(The beginning of wisdom is fear of Hashem), which is why he was hand
chosen to be showered with even more Ruach
HaKodesh.
It
is important to note, however, that the power of one who has yiras
shamayim
does not stop here. The Kli
Yakar16
writes
that when the B'nei
Yisroel and
all the chachmei-lev
tried
to erect the Mishkan,
they found themselves unable to do so. Hashem then said to them that
if they merely start to involve themselves in the construction of the
Mishkan,
that it would stand on its own.17
Now, if the Kli
Yakar would
stop here, we would say that he is saying something specific to the
Mishkan;
that
it stood through a miracle, and somehow, if the Jews in the desert
merely showed that they cared, by involving themselves, then Hashem
would take care of the rest. However, the Kli
Yakar continues
to comment that what happened at that time during the building of the
Mishkan
is
really an allusion to every
action a person does. Sometimes a person has a task before him that
he wants to do l'shem
shamayim,
but
he comes to the realization that it is an impossibility. Once these
thoughts start entering this person's head, he may get turned off
from going forth with the job. However, Hashem tells us that all we
have to do is start, He will help us finish. It will look as if we
are somehow doing the task on our own, just as it seemed Moshe was
carrying the heavy beams of the Mishkan
himself. In reality, though, as the beams, Hashem will make the task
carry itself.
When
Hashem decided to destroy Sodom, the Torah describes that Hashem
said, “Shall I conceal from Avraham what I am going to do?”18.
The Orchos
Tzadikkim19
writes that when Hashem says such things about a person, it is a sign
that that person is a tremendous ba'al
anavah (humble
person). Humility goes hand in hand with yiras
shamayim.
The anav
is
one who knows his place as a human being, and realizes that it is his
job to do only what Hashem wants of him. Such a person is privy to
Hashem revealing his plans to him. This is obvious. After all, if a
man achieves a level of wanting only what Hashem wants and has
developed da'as
Torah
and da'as
Hashem,
then clearly what Hashem wants and what this person wants should be
the same.
Yiras
shamayim
is the one thing we must achieve. As mentioned, this is an explicit
passuk
in
the Torah, “And now, Yisroel, what does Hashem, your G-d, ask of
you but to fear Him?”20
Once one achieves yiras
shamayim,
one enters a world with no limits. G-dly wisdom and understanding is
poured into his complete kli
(vessel),
and as long as he takes the first step in doing any task l'shem
shamayim,
Hashem will ensure that it gets completed.
1Shemos
37:1
2Shemos
38:22
3Berachos
55a
4The
name Betzalel in Hebrew comes from
two words: b'tzel (in
the shadow of) and [k]el
(G-d).
5Shemos
35:31
6Ibid.
7Nefesh
Hachaim: Sha'ar 4 Perek
5
8Tehillim
111:10
9Berachos
33b
10Devarim
10:12
11Berachos
40a
12Orchos
Tzadikkim: Hakdama
13This
is not only true for the bad middos within
a person, but for the good ones as well. The Orchos
Tzadikkim maintains that each
middah could be used
for good or bad. Even the middos we
generally
praise people with: kindness, patience, humbleness, etc.
could unfortunately be used at inappropriate times
as well if not
trained properly.
14Orchos
Tzadikkim: Hakdama
15Tehillim
111:10
16Shemos
40:2
17This
is actually a Medrash Tanchuma brought
by Rashi a little earlier in the parsha (Shemos
39:33). Rashi
writes that the B'nei Yisroel
brought Moshe the Mishkan
because they were unable to erect it. As Rashi says, “Because
Moshe did no work on the Mishkan,
Hashem left its erection to him. For no man was able to erect it
because of the weight of the beams, as a man does not have the
strength to set them upright, but Moshe erected it. Moshe then said
before Hashem, 'How can the erection be accomplished by man?' Hashem
said to him, “Involve yourself with your hand and it will appear
as if you were setting it up but it will rise upright and stand by
itself.'”
18Beraishis
18:17
19Orchos
Tzadikkim: Sha'ar HaGaivah
20Devarim
10:12
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