Transcript
Good morning, בוקר טוב Boker tov and welcome back to פרשה Parsha Perspectives for today our weekly analysis of the Torah portion. If you like learning one פרשה parsha a week, you're going to love this week because we've got a double פרשה parsha, a double feature for you, ויקהל Vayakhel and פקודי Pekudei. I want to thank as always our generous פרשה Parsha perspective sponsors for the year, the series, dear friends Becky and Avi Katz and family in loving memory of Becky's father David Grossman, לעלוי נשמת דוד בן מנחם מנש Leilui nishmas Dovid ben Menachem Manish. Thank you for your generosity and thank you for your friendship. This morning שיעור shiur is also sponsored by Sharon Wanger and Jonathan Wanger in loving memory of their dear husband and father Bruce Wanger, דוב ארי בן ישראל Dov Ari ben Yisrael on his fifth יארצייט yahrzeit. His נשמה neshama should have an עליה aliyah. A reminder if you'd like to sponsor an episode, if you'd like to sponsor a שיעור shiur, please email lee@brsonline.org, l-e-e@brsonline.org. Also a reminder, we are now off of Zoom and any other platform, we're streaming only on YouTube Live. To get a notification every time we go live, an opportunity to learn together, simply press the subscribe button. All you have to do is hit subscribe and you will be notified in real time every time we go live. פרשת ויקהל Parshas Vayakhel, page 516 in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash. And of course, the great question of ויקהל פקודי Vayakhel Pekudei bothering everyone each and every year. The question that jumps out, when we read ויקהל פקודי Vayakhel Pekudei, it sounds awfully familiar. And it's familiar not because of something that we read weeks or months or years ago, but it's familiar from a couple of weeks ago because ויקהל פקודי Vayakhel Pekudei seem to be almost exactly a repetition of תרומה תצוה Trumah Tetzaveh, leaving the reader wondering, why do we need to be told again? Does Hashem think we have such a short memory, such a short attention span that we can't remember what we were reading? Why are ויקהל Vayakhel and פקודי Pekudei repeated all over again? The truth is the answer is found in the opening words not only of ויקהל Vayakhel but of פקודי Pekudei. אלה פקודי המשכן Eleh pekudei haMishkan. These are the accountings of the Mishkan. The מדרש Medrash tells us that the word אלה eleh, the word these is an atonement, it is a כפרה kaparah, it is a repair from having said with the עגל הזהב Egel HaZahav, when it came to the mistake, the horrific judgment of the עגל הזהב Egel HaZahav, the golden calf, we said אלה אלהיך ישראל eleh elohecha Yisrael, this is the god of the Jewish people. The אלה פקודי המשכן Eleh Pekudei HaMishkan came in order to offset, in order to repair the damage that was done from אלה אלהיך ישראל Eleh elohecha Yisrael. So ויקהל פקודי Vayakhel Pekudei follow the חטא העגל cheit ha'egel because first we were told תרומה ותצוה Trumah v'Tetzaveh. God told us here is if you want me to live among you, you want to feel my presence, you want to connect intensely to me, here is the prescription, here is the formula, here is the way to do it. But we thought we could outsmart God. And we said God, those are nice suggestions, but we know better than you what we need. We know exactly what will make us feel connected. And so we tried to get creative, we tried to have some entrepreneurial spirit, we tried to invent our own way to connect to him, but that doesn't work. Hashem, the divine, the omnipotent, the infinite, the creator of the universe, he built us, he programmed us, he built our hardware and our software. He knows what makes us tick. He understands our psyche and he designed exactly the formula to connect to him, to live our best lives and to get the most out of this world. And therefore after the חטא העגל cheit ha'egel where we thought we could do it for ourselves, we weren't in fact, according to the כוזרי Kuzari, we spoke about this, we weren't in fact ignoring God, we weren't being disloyal or betraying God. We just thought we had a better way of connecting to him than he told us himself. So if you'll notice there's a major difference. The בית הלוי Beis HaLevi points out, the בית הלוי Beis HaLevi says that ויקהל פקודי Vayakhel Pekudei there is an expression that is used over and over and over again. We're going to look at it a little bit more closely together this morning. The expression of ויקהל פקודי Vayakhel Pekudei that's not in תרומה תצוה Trumah Tetzaveh over and over again is כאשר צוה ה' ka'asher tziva Hashem, that they did as God had commanded. They did as God has commanded. תרומה תצוה Trumah Tetzaveh are prospective. Here's what I want you to build, here is the commandment. But ויקהל פקודי Vayakhel Pekudei is they got it done, and they got it done exactly as God had said, because the message of ויקהל פקודי Vayakhel Pekudei, the Torah was ready to use up enormous real estate, to repeat things that we already knew. Why? To remind us that while there is room for individuality and creativity in Torah Judaism, however we have to remember it has to fit within the formula, the prescription הקדש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu, that the Almighty himself gave us. That we can't get too creative, we can't invent for ourselves, certainly not at the expense of doing what he's asked of us. And therefore, for the words כאשר צוה ה' ka'asher tziva Hashem, just for the words as God commanded, it was worth repeating ויקהל פקודי Vayakhel Pekudei over and over and over again. ויקהל משה את כל עדת בני ישראל ויאמר אלהם Vayakhel Moshe es kol adas Bnei Yisrael vayomer aleihem. Moshe gathers all the Jewish people. When is this? Says רש\"י Rashi, למחרת יום הכיפורים כשירד מן ההר lemacharas Yom HaKippurim k'sheyarad min hahar. This is when he descended from the mountain, it is the day after יום כיפור Yom Kippur. It is the fresh start, the new beginning. Moshe brings them and gathers them all together. Why did he need to do that? We have two מצוות mitzvos of ויקהל Vayakhel. Two times that a מצוה mitzva is delivered while we are assembled, when we are a community, and they are the משכן Mishkan and they are שבת Shabbos. We're not going to go into it today, but I leave you to think about and challenge you for your שבת Shabbos table. What do the משכן Mishkan and שבת Shabbos have in common and why specifically for both of those were we gathered and assembled together in a group. Many of the מפורשים meforshim say, what is the contrast, the juxtaposition of the end of last week's פרשה parsha of כי תשא Ki Sisa with the beginning of this week's פרשה parsha with ויקהל Vayakhel? And they say, at the end of last week's פרשה parsha, Moshe has these rays of light that emanate from his head. Moshe has this glow. Moshe clearly is categorically different than all others. The people were afraid, they recoiled and they said, he's so different. ויקהל משה את כל עדת בני ישראל Vayakhel Moshe es kol adas Bnei Yisrael. So he gathered everybody. We're all equal, we're human beings, we are all interconnected, we're one ציבור tzibbur, we're one community. We are one unit. That was the antidote, that was his response to their reaction to the קרן אור keren or, to the rays of light that emanated from him. So Moshe gathers everybody and tells them ששת ימים תעשה מלאכה sheishes yamim tei'aseh melacha, six days do work, וביום השביעי יהיה לכם קדש שבת שבתון לה' u'vayom ha'shvii yiheyeh lachem kodesh Shabbos Shabbason la'Hashem. In the seventh day you rest. We've spoken about this at length, go back to previous שיעורים shiurim. If you go on either yutorah.org and put in my name or rabbiefremgoldberg.org and go to the פרשה parsha perspectives, you can listen to all the previous years on any given פרשה parsha and you'll hear we discussed this section at length and analyzed what it is introducing, the deep deep concepts of שבת Shabbos, of לא תבערו אש בכל מושבותיכם lo seva'aru eish b'chol moshvoseichem. The קראים Kara'im, those who took the Torah literally, didn't have a fire burning even if it was lit from before שבת Shabbos. They sat in the cold and all the food they ate was cold. We talked about the history of טשולנט cholent and how טשולנט cholent is a מצוה mitzva to eat, not only because I happen to love טשולנט cholent, but טשולנט cholent is the affirmation I believe in the Oral Torah, not just the written Torah, that you are allowed to have a fire if it's from before שבת Shabbos. We spoke about the של\"ה הקדוש Shelah HaKadosh, לא תבערו אש בכל מושבותיכם ביום השבת lo seva'aru eish b'chol moshvoseichem b'yom haShabbos teaches me, I can't have a fire raging inside me. No anger on שבת Shabbos. A fire doesn't just mean literally a fire, it means the fire of rage, the fire of anger. שבת Shabbos is a time of peace, serenity, tranquility. Even if there are things that are worthy to be angry about, even there are things that we are in the right to be angry about, but שבת Shabbos is not a time for rage, anger, or outrage. שבת Shabbos is לא תבערו אש lo seva'aru eish, you can't have a fire burning, there has to be peace. Others interpret this, the אמרי חיים Imrei Chaim, we saw the בית חדש Beis Chadash, לא תבערו אש lo seva'aru eish, ביום השבת b'yom haShabbos, you can't just have the fire burning on שבת Shabbos. שבת Shabbos is a time that we daven slowly and we learn a little bit more, and we spend more time with our family, and we disconnect from our technology. You all know my love for שבת Shabbos, Friday afternoons we gather for turn Friday into ערב שבת Erev Shabbos. But says the ויז'ניץ Vizhnitz, the אמרי חיים Imrei Chaim, you can't just have the fire burning inside you on שבת Shabbos and then the וואך vach, the weekday, you go back to being a cold, heartless Jew, a mindless Jew. You can't go back to your technology addiction and obsession, you can't go back to the rigmarole of life, you can't go back to the stresses and the distractions, but לא תבערו אש בכל מושבותיכם lo seva'aru eish b'chol moshvoseichem, the fire can't just burn in your home ביום השבת b'yom haShabbos on שבת Shabbos. It can't be that's the only time your children see you, it's the only time you have a meal together, it's the only time that you actually set aside to learn, to grow. It can't just be on שבת Shabbos, it has to be much more. But let's keep going. ויאמר משה אל כל עדת בני ישראל לאמר זה הדבר אשר צוה ה' לאמר Vayomer Moshe el kol adas Bnei Yisrael leimor zeh hadavar asher tziva Hashem leimor. Moshe tells this assembly and he says this is what God commanded you and what is it? קחו מאתכם תרומה לה' k'chu mei'itchem trumah la'Hashem, כל נדיב לבו יביאה את תרומת ה' kol nediv libo yevi'eha es trumas Hashem, זהב וכסף ונחשת zahav vachesesef u'nechoshes. Giving a פרשה שיעור parsha shiur, a דרשה drasha, a דבר תורה dvar Torah on ויקהל פקודי Vayakhel Pekudei are challenging. Everybody used their best stuff already on תרומה תצוה Trumah Tetzaveh. We're seeing essentially the same thing, but there's always, always endless and limitless insights to share and we'll try to do our best this morning. So קחו מאתכם תרומה k'chu mei'itchem trumah, take from yourselves a portion, כל נדיב לבו kol nediv libo, anyone with a generous heart should bring this gift and they should give it from gold, silver, copper, we're going to list all the materials, the ingredients, תכלת וארגמן ותולעת שני ושש ועזים tcheiles v'argaman v'tolas shani v'sheish v'izim and so on and so forth. And here we hit our first אש קודש Eish Kodesh, our first Rav Druk of the day. בעזרת ה' b'ezras Hashem בלי עין הרע bli ayin hara Rav Druk is coming to Boca this week, later this week, and I look forward to either recording or having him on the פרשה שיעור parsha shiur. We've been learning his ספר sefer all year, his beautiful, beautiful insights and I want you to meet and see the extraordinary individual behind these beautiful דברי תורה divrei Torah בעזרת ה' b'ezras Hashem בלי עין הרע bli ayin hara. Says Rav Druk, יש לדקדק בביאור התיבה מאתכם yesh ledakdek b'veiur hateiva mei'itchem. The pasuk says Hashem instructs Moshe, tell the people קחו מאתכם תרומה k'chu mei'itchem trumah, take for yourselves, מאתכם mei'itchem, from yourselves a gift from Hashem. Why doesn't the pasuk simply say, קחו k'chu, take, take, כל נדיב לבו kol nediv libo, anyone who's generous, a donation, an appeal. What do you mean from yourself? נאמרו בזה כמה פירושים ne'emru b'zeh kama peirushim and Rav Druk quotes three interpretations of the כלי יקר Kli Yakar and then he throws in a מלבי\"ם Malbim for good luck. Here we go. You ready? First of first the three כלי יקר Kli Yakar. Rav Luntschitz. Says the כלי יקר Kli Yakar, number one, קחו מאתכם k'chu mei'itchem, בא למעט את הגזל ba l'ma'eit es ha'gezel. מאתכם Mei'itchem means you has to be, it has to be rightfully yours, it has to be authentically and genuinely yours. You can't give from that which is stolen. כשם שכתוב בפרשת הקרבנות אדם כי יקריב מכם k'shem she'kasuv b'parshas ha'karbanos adam ki yakriv mikem. Next week we're going to start ספר ויקרא Sefer Vayikra and we're going to begin ויקרא Vayikra by saying, אדם כי יקריב מכם adam ki yakriv mikem when a person offers, when a person sacrifices מכם mikem, from themselves, from themselves. So we'll דרשן darshan it next week. But the גמרא Gemara in סוכה דף ל' Sukkah daf lamed דרשן darshans it, להוציא את הגזל l'hotzi es ha'gezel. You're not allowed to bring a קרבן korban from stolen property. You can't cut corners, you can't cheat on your income taxes, you can't ruthlessly compete in business, you can't steal from others and then give צדקה tzedakah. You can't then give a קרבן korban. להוציא את הגזל L'hotzi es ha'gezel. אדם כי יקריב מכם Adam ki yakriv mikem when you offer the קרבן korban it has to come genuinely, authentically, honestly from you. It can't come from the stolen. הוא הדין כאן hu hadin kan, the same is true here, says the כלי יקר Kli Yakar. התורה באה לאמר קחו דוקא מאתכם haTorah ba'ah lomar k'chu davka mei'itchem. The Torah is saying, take from you, אך אם אין הממון שלכם אין הקדוש ברוך הוא מעוניין כלל בנתינה כזו ach im ein ha'mamon shelachem ein haKadosh Baruch Hu me'unyan klal b'nesinah kazu. Very important lesson, a פרשה parsha perspective for today. You know, what we give, what we offer, what we donate, you can't justify being ruthless in business. You can't justify cutting corners or being dishonest on income taxes and misreporting business expenses. You can't justify because I'm going to give צדקה tzedakah. Oh, he, she, they give a ton of צדקה tzedakah. It has to come מאתכם mei'itchem. It has to be rightfully, it has to be legally yours. Otherwise, Hashem is not interested. Hashem is not impressed. Hashem is able to get the money, the funding to support his institutions, his values, his mission from elsewhere. So קחו מאתכם k'chu mei'itchem, it has to come מאתכם mei'itchem. פשט Pshat number one says the כלי יקר Kli Yakar is, it has to be legally, rightfully, honestly from you. Number two, עוד פירש הכלי יקר מאתכם שכל אחד יזדרז למצוה מעצמו כי יש אדם שאינו נותן כלום עד שרואה אחרים נותנים ומתקנא בהם על כן הוא נותן להשוות את עצמו להם וזה אינו מאתכם כי הוא עצמו אינו סיבה על הנתינה אלא אחרים סיבבו וכן אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא סיבת הנתינה תהיה נטועה בכם ולא אחרים od peirash haKli Yakar mei'itchem, shekol echad yizdarez l'mitzva mei'atzmo, ki yesh adam she'eino nosein klum ad she'ro'eh acheirim nosnim u'mis'kaneh bahem, al kein hu nosein l'hashvos es atzmo lahem, v'zeh eino mei'itchem, ki hu atzmo eino sibah al hanesinah ela acheirim siv'vu, v'chein amar haKadosh Baruch Hu sibas hanesinah tihiyeh netu'ah bachem v'lo acheirim. I was told I have to read slower in the שיעור shiur so people can follow along and feel that they're listening and learning together. I'll try harder. So פשט pshat number two of the כלי יקר Kli Yakar. The כלי יקר Kli Yakar says, you know what מאתכם mei'itchem means? מאתכם Mei'itchem means that you should not be motivated to give because you're keeping up with someone else who gives. It shouldn't be you see the names of others on the list. Your name is missing from the tribute list, the pillar list, the donor list, the global list. So you say, you know, my neighbors, my מחותנים mechutanim, my others are on there. How's it going to look if I'm not there? I guess we have to give because others gave and we need our names to appear. Because that's certainly better than not giving at all. Let me make very clear. Even if it's not the highest or a high level of giving, that is certainly much better than not giving at all, but it's not a higher level. The higher level is not to give because others gave. It's not to give because you are peer-pressured to give. It is giving מאתכם mei'itchem without anyone seeing, without anybody knowing, without anybody pressuring, and without keeping up with anybody, מאתכם mei'itchem. You're self-motivated, you're driven on your own, you want to make a difference. This morning, this happened before Rosh Hashanah, but for the second time now this year, there's a box in the door to my office. People leave all kinds of שאלות shailos, anonymous questions, and all kinds of other things they drop off. There is an envelope with many gift cards to a local kosher market for anyone who needs for פסח Pesach. There's no note, there's no name, there's no letter, there's no desire for a tax deduction, there's no desire for me to mention their name in a פרשה שיעור parsha shiur. It's simply a gift מאתכם mei'itchem. Not keeping up with others and not for a name to appear. Again, those are better than not giving at all. And that's why there's many תשובות chuvos by אחרונים achronim we talk about, should you use your name when you give or give anonymously? And they conclude you should use your name because it will inspire and motivate others to give as well and there's value in that. But says the כלי יקר Kli Yakar, the higher level of giving should be מאתכם mei'itchem, not to keep up and not to appear on a list with others, but simply driven internally to give. Number three, כלי יקר Kli Yakar. מאתכם ממש כי הנושא מנדבת לבו דומה כאילו הקריב את גופו וכי העני הנושא כאילו מחסר מבשרו ונותן על דרך שאמרו מבשרך אל תתעלם אל תתעלם מבשרך ולתן זהו שביקש הקדוש ברוך הוא שתו את עצמכם ממש עבור המשכן Mei'itchem mamash, ki hanosein minidvas libo domeh k'ilu hikriv es gufo, v'od she'ani hanosein k'ilu mechaseir mibsaro v'nosein, al derech she'amru mibsarcha al tisaleim, al tisaleim mibsarcha v'lisein, zehu she'bikesh HaKadosh Baruch Hu she'tisnu es atzmechem mamash avur haMishkan. Don't just give superficially, don't just give externally. Don't write a check, Venmo, Zelle, or drop off the cash, but give מאתכם mei'itchem. It should be from you. From you doesn't mean that you have to give until it hurts, but you can. You can decide מאתכם mei'itchem is, it's a choice. I could have a bigger flat screen or I can make a bigger difference. I could have a more expensive wine or I could be smoking more expensive meats, or I can give more to make a bigger difference so others have basic food to eat. מאתכם Mei'itchem, מאתכם mei'itchem. Don't just give superficially or externally. Give not that it hurts, but give that you're making a decision, you're giving up something. It's selfless, you're giving a piece of yourself. Every time we give, we're giving a piece of ourselves, מאתכם mei'itchem, because it's blood, sweat and tears, it's our effort and our toil. We are giving that which we worked so hard for. And therefore number three, it's מאתכם mei'itchem. So three פשטים pshatim of the כלי יקר Kli Yakar, what does it mean מאתכם mei'itchem? Number one, it has to be honest. מאתכם mei'itchem, it can't come from that which is stolen. Number two, מאתכם mei'itchem, shouldn't be motivated by keeping up with others, should be an internal drive. And number three, מאתכם mei'itchem is you give a piece of yourself, not just externally money. But then Rav Druk throws in a fourth פשט pshat. כתב המלבי\"ם בשם ספר הזהר שבתחלה נאמר סתם ויקחו לי תרומה שכלל אפי' ערב רב, אמנם אחר חטא העגל אמר קחו מאתכם, שיקחו מאתם מיחס דבני ישראל בלבד kasav haMalbim b'shem sefer haZohar, she'b'techilah ne'emar stam v'yikchu li trumah, she'kolal afilu erev rav, omnam achar cheit ha'egel amar k'chu mei'itchem, she'yikchu mei'itam mi'yachas d'Bnei Yisrael bilvad. So at first we took a donation from anyone, anyone who wants to give, even the rabble-rousers, even the ערב רב erev rav, even those who joined who were not sincere or don't share the same history or destiny as the Jewish people. But now we got a little bit more particular. קחו מאתכם k'chu mei'itchem מיחס דבני ישראל בלבד mi'yachas d'Bnei Yisrael bilvad. שלא יקבלו מהערב רב שום דבר מנדבת המשכן shelo yikablu mei'haerev rav shum davar minidvas haMishkan. The Mishkan is a place of holiness and sanctity. And therefore we have to be careful from whom we take donations. And that's also very clear for Torah institutions, schools, shuls, קולל kollel, מקואות mikvaos, ערוב eruv, כשרות kashrus. Everyone has to be very careful. It's tempting to simply take from anyone, anywhere, anytime because after all, it's feeding and it is propelling the cause. But מאתכם mei'itchem, we have to be careful, we have to be scrupulous and vigilant to take from honest and genuine sources, מאתכם mei'itchem, not from a type of an ערב רב erev rav. Okay, then the pasuk says, pasuk lamed aleph, moving right along, turning the page, page 518 in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash. Page 520 in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash. The end of פרק ל\"ה perek lamed hei. The end of פרק ל\"ה perek lamed hei. So פרק ל\"ה perek lamed hei, I'm sorry, I went too far. Page 518, I was right the first time. ויבאו כל איש אשר נשאו לבו vayavo'u kol ish asher nesa'o libo. Again, chapter 25, chapter 35, verse 21. ויבא כל איש אשר נשאו לבו vayavo kol ish asher nesa'o libo, every person whose heart inspired him came, וכל אשר נדבה רוחו אותו הביאו את תרומת ה' למלאכת אהל מועד v'chol asher nadva rucho oso heivi'u es trumas Hashem l'meleches ohel moed, anyone whose spirit, whose heart motivated, brought the portion of Hashem for the work of the Ohel Moed, לכל עבודתו ולבגדי הקדש u'l'chol avodaso u'l'vigdei hakodesh, for all of its labor and for all of the sacred clothing, all of the sacred vestments. And here we go to Rav Druk number two. Says the רמב\"ן Ramban on this פסוק pasuk, ויבא כל איש אשר נשאו לבו וכל אשר נדבה רוחו vayavo kol ish asher nesa'o libo v'chol asher nadva rucho. All the people who were moved by their heart, who had a generous heart and a generous spirit brought their gift. Says the רמב\"ן Ramban, a very very important insight, and I want you to listen carefully. I love this insight. We're going to elaborate a little bit here. Says the רמב\"ן Ramban, Nachmanides, ר' משה בן נחמן Rav Moshe ben Nachman. ויבא כל איש אשר נשאו לבו Vayavo kol ish asher nesa'o libo, if you have the Artscroll, you can follow along inside in the רמב\"ן Ramban, פרק ל\"ה פסוק כ\"א perek lamed hei pasuk chaf aleph. Everybody who had a generous heart, על החכמים העושים במלאכה יאמר כן, כי לא מצינו על המזדבנים נדיבת לב אבל יזכיר בהם נדיבות והטעם אשר נשאו לבו לקרבה אל המלאכה כי לא היה בהם שלומד המלאכה אלא ממלמד או מי שאמן בהם ידו כלל al hachachamim ha'osim b'melacha yomar kein, ki lo matzinu al hamizdabnim nedivas lev, aval yazkir bahem nedivos, v'ha'taam asher nesa'o libo l'karvah el hamlacha, ki lo hayah bahem shelomeid hamlacha elah m'melamed o mi she'imain bahem yado klal. Says the רמב\"ן Ramban wondering a very compelling question. We are talking about a nation of slaves, a nation who spends two centuries in servitude, and now they've been liberated, they've been emancipated, they've been freed, and they're taken to הר סיני Har Sinai, and they're taken into the desert, and they're traveling through the desert. And here in the desert, God says to them, I have architectural plans, I have diagrams, I want you to build these utensils, I want you to weave complex, complex things. I want you to build and assemble complex, complex utensils and a structure. Wonders the רמב\"ן Ramban, where in the world did they know how to do this? How'd they know? Where was their training? Where was their apprenticeship? How did they know? They didn't go to school. They didn't go to an academy. How in the world did they know? These are slaves. They have no training, they have no education. אבל מצא בטבעו שידע לעשות כן ויגבה לבו בדרכי ה' לבוא לפני משה לאמר אני אעשה כל אשר אדוני דובר aval matza b'tivo she'yada la'asos kein v'yigbah libo b'darchei Hashem lavo lifnei Moshe leimor ani e'eseh kol asher Adoni dover. Look at the רמב\"ן Ramban. But Rav Druk unpacks the רמב\"ן Ramban. רמב\"ן כתב שישראל במצרים היו פרוכים בעבודת חומר ובלבנים Ramban kasav she'Yisrael b'Mitzrayim hayu pruchim b'avodas chomer u'v'leveinim. In Egypt, true, in Egypt they worked, they were slaves, they were bricklayers. Now, I speak like bricklaying is not a skill. Far be it for me to say. I don't know that I would be able to effectively in an organized straight row lay bricks that would withstand the test of time. So I do not mean to minimize the skill of bricklaying. But they were bricklayers. לא למדו מלאכת כסף וזהב ונחושת וארגמן וטובות lo lamdu meleches kesef v'zahav u'nechoshes v'argaman v'tovos. They didn't know how to work with fine metals. They didn't know how to be craftsmen. ולא ראו אצל אומן כלל v'lo ra'u etzel uman klal. And they see anyone, train under anyone, איך נתקבלה שימצא בהם אדם חכם גדול בכסף וזהב וחרושת אבן ועץ וכל שכן ברוקם ואורג eich ne'ekabalah she'yimatzei bahem adam chacham gadol b'kesef v'zahav v'charoshes even v'eitz v'chol shekein b'rokeim v'oreig. How did they know how to weave? How did they know how to melt? How did they know how to shape and mold? How did they know how to work with all these materials? כי אף בלומדים לפני חכמים לא ימצא בקי בכל אומניות כולם ki af b'lomdim lifnei chachamim lo yimatzei baki b'chol umniyos kulam. And even when you find somebody who excels at one, you don't find somebody who's an expert at all. ואף היהודים הרגילים בהם כאשר תבוא ידם תמיד בתיד ורפס לא יוכלו לעשות בהם אומנות דקות ויפות v'af hayod'im haregilim bahem ka'asher tavo yadam tamid b'tayid v'refes lo yuchlu la'asos bahem umnus dakos v'yafos. And the people who can do the major don't know how to do the fine, the people who do the fine can't do the major. And yet here, the Torah doesn't delineate or discriminate. It seems to say they all did it all. How in the world did it happen? Listen to this insight. מובא בדברים שבדרך הטבע לא היה שייך כלל שבני ישראל יבנו את המשכן Muvah bidvarim she'b'derech ha'teva lo hayah shayach klal she'Bnei Yisrael yivnu es ha'Mishkan. From the natural perspective, if you look logically, it's impossible to understand to believe how the Jewish people succeeded in building the Mishkan. כי לצורך אומנות כזו צריך ללמוד המלאכה היטב שנים רבות ki l'tzorech umnus kazu, tzarich lilmod hamlacha heitev shanim rabos. You got to go to school, you need to go to a fellowship and a residency, you need training and hours of internship. והם היו עם של עבדים שלא הרגילו כלל במלאכות אלו v'hem hayu am shel avadim she'lo hirgilu klal b'melachos eilu. It's a nation of slaves. וכיצד היו אנשים בקיאים במלאכות כאלו v'cheitzad hayu anashim b'ki'im b'melachos ka'eilu? אלא יסוד ההצלחה שלהם הייתה ela yesod ha'hatzlacha shelahem hayta... You ready for the answer? יסוד ההצלחה Yesod ha'hatzlacha, the core and the source of their success, הייתה נשיאת לב שהיה להם hayta nesias lev she'hayah lahem. They willed it in their heart, their generous spirit, their drive, their ambition. ויגבה לבו בדרכי ה' v'yigbah libo b'darchei Hashem. כל שהיה נצרך מצדם זהו רצונם העז להצליח וכאשר נשא לבם אותו נשאו בעלי אומנות kol she'hayah nitzrach mitzidam zehu retzonam ha'az l'hatzliach, v'cha'asher nasa libam oso, nas'u ba'alei umnus. What you make up for in training, and what may you make, what you lack in talent and what you lack in skill, you can make up for in will, in desire, and drive. What a life lesson. What a life lesson. We all know people like that. Their skills, their talents, their natural talents are not impressive or great, but they're so driven, and they're so ambitious, and this is where their heart is placed. They're so passionate. Says Rav Druk based on the רמב\"ן Ramban, you're right, this was a nation of no training, a nation of no education, a nation of no know-how. They should never ever have been able to succeed and yet, they had a נשיאת לב nesias lev, they had a drive, an ambition. This is what they wanted to serve Hashem and to answer and to build and to fulfill, fulfill exactly what he said. כל מי שהחליט שמסוגל לעשות העבודה כזו היה מגיע למשה ואמר אני אעשה כל אשר אדוני דובר kol mi she'hechlit she'mesugal la'asos ha'avodah kazu hayah magi'a l'Moshe v'amar ani e'eseh kol asher Adoni dover. Anyone who wanted to answer and heed the call, anyone who wanted to come to Moshe and say I'm in, count on me. Ah, but you don't know what you're doing. It's true. אף על פי שלא עמדו לעשות את הדברים מעולם אין לך דבר ברוחניות עומד בפני הרצון af al pi she'lo amdu la'asos es ha'dvarim mei'olam ein lecha davar b'ruchniyus omeid bifnei ha'ratzon. When it comes to something noble, when it comes to something spiritual, nothing stands in the face of the will. רואים זאת בחוש שכאשר יש רצון חזק לעשות ככל אשר הקדוש ברוך הוא מצווה מקבלים סייעתא דשמיא שאין לתאר ומקבלים כוחות הטבעיים שלא באו לידי שימוש אצל אדם מעולם ro'im zos b'chush she'ka'asher yesh ratzon chazak la'asos k'chol asher haKadosh Baruch Hu metzaveh, m'kablim siyata d'shmaya she'ein l'ta'er, u'mekablim kochos ha'tiviyim she'lo ba'u lidei shimush etzel adam mei'olam. When you are driven to do something godly, sacred, when you're driven for a holy mission to make a holy difference, then nothing can stand in your way. You merit סייעתא דשמיא siyata d'shmaya, divine intervention and divine inspiration. ומקבלים כוחות הטבעיים שלא באו לידי שימוש אצל אדם מעולם u'mekablim kochos ha'tiviyim she'lo ba'u lidei shimush etzel adam mei'olam. We see this. There are people who aren't the most brilliant, but they dedicate themselves to תורה Torah learning in ways they excel and they emerge great. There are people who dedicate themselves in leadership. There are orators who don't are not born with natural ability to speak, but they're passionate, they're driven for a sacred cause and a noble mission, and they merit סייעתא דשמיא siyata d'shmaya, divine intervention and divine assistance and divine help and divine success. You know, I thought about this not only in the area of רוחניות ruchniyus, that there are people who we see this coming true for in the world of learning and in the world of חסד chesed, in the world of leadership. But there was a documentary done on the first Air Force of Israel in 1948 surrounded by enemy nations who sought to destroy, and not only this first Israeli Air Force, which were airplanes made up of spare car parts. Absolute miracle, it's impossible not to see the miraculous nature of the founding of the modern State of Israel when you know the story of what it took. But how about the Holocaust survivors skeletons who walked out of concentration camps and held guns that weighed more than they did and fought in a war with no training as soldiers and founded the miraculous state of Israel. Was that not a noble cause and mission? Did Hashem not intervene and give them a הצלחה hatzlacha? Because their passion, their drive overcompensated for what they lacked in knowledge and knowhow and muscle. החפץ חיים מדייק את דבריו בלשון הפסוק HaChofetz Chaim medayek es dvarav b'lashon ha'pasuk. The החפץ חיים Chofetz Chaim sees this insight in the רמב\"ן Ramban in the pasuk itself. ויבא כל איש אשר נשאו לבו vayavo kol ish asher nesa'o libo. ולא נאמר ויבוא כל איש חכם לב v'lo ne'emar vayavo kol ish chacham lev. It doesn't say everyone who had a wisdom of the heart came, it said anyone who had a generous spirit of the heart. כל איש סתם היינו כל שהיה נדרש הוא רק נשיאת לב kol ish stam, hainu kol she'hayah nidrash hu rak nesias lev. All you needed was the passion, all you needed was the drive, all you needed was the dedication. ולא שום תנאים אחרים v'lo shum t'naim acheirim. You didn't take an IQ test or an entrance exam, you didn't have to have a skill set or the talent, you needed the drive. And if you had the drive, Moshe Rabbeinu enlisted you, and he enlisted you for this holy purpose, הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu took care of the rest. And only then it says ויקרא משה אל בצלאל ואל אהליאב ואל כל איש חכם לב אשר נתן ה' חכמה בלבו כל אשר נשאו לבו Vayikra Moshe el Betzalel v'el Oholiav v'el kol ish chacham lev asher nasan Hashem chachmah b'libo, kol asher nesa'o libo. בתחלה לא כתב שהיו חכמי לב b'techilah lo kasav she'hayu chachmei lev. It only adds that they were wise of the heart afterwards. Why? So מדייק החפץ חיים medayek haChofetz Chaim, the חפץ חיים Chofetz Chaim understood from here because what comes first is the passion and the drive. The knowledge and the know-how, they come after. הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu will provide them if first we have the drive. The גמרא Gemara continues. The גמרא Gemara מספיר mesaper, צלצל tziltzal, שני כלים מכים זה על גב זה וקולם דקה של נחושת שהיה במקדש shnei keilim makim zeh al gav zeh v'kolam dakah shel nechoshes she'hayah b'Mikdash. There were these two utensils that would produce a sound. They were made out of bronze in the temple. היה קולו ערב hayah kolo areiv, they produced a very sweet sound. ונפקם v'nifkam, and they broke. שלחו חכמים והביאו אומנים מאלכסנדריה של מצרים sholchu chachamim v'heivi'u umanim mei'Alexandria shel Mitzrayim, this is the גמרא Gemara in ערכין דף י' Erchin daf yud. So the the sages of Jerusalem sent for the experts, the experts. Your refrigerator, your oven breaks, you got to call the experts. What they charge per hour, the knowledge, the know-how, you're not an expert. Something breaks down, you need somebody who knows. Today you can Google it, you can watch a YouTube video and try to fix it yourself, but you might make a bigger problem. So they brought the experts from Alexandria from Egypt. ותיקנוהו ולא היה קולו ערב v'tiknuhu v'lo hayah kolo areiv. They fixed it but the sound was no longer sweet. נטלו את תיקונו והיה קולו ערב כמו שהיה natlu es tikuno v'hayah kolo areiv k'mo she'hayah. מכתשת היה במקדש של נחושת היסה והיה של משה רבינו machteshes hayah b'Mikdash shel nechoshes hayisa v'hayah shel Moshe Rabbeinu. היה מפטמת את הסממנים hayah mefatmes es ha'sammanim. They had a crusher that used to crush the ground, the spices. It broke, so they brought in the experts from Alexandria, they fixed it, but it didn't crush the spices the way it used to. So they took out the thing that fixed it and it corrected it. אף אומני מצרים של אלכסנדריה של מצרים ששלחו חכמים להביאם לשם סכין את כלי המקדש מסתבר שהיו בקיאים היטב באומנותם af umnei Mitzrayim shel Alexandria shel Mitzrayim she'sholchu chachamim l'havi'am l'sham sakhin es klei ha'Mikdash, mistaber she'hayu b'ki'im heitev b'umanusam. So you see in this גמרא Gemara, what's the moral of the story? What is the Gemara telling us this story? Says Rav Druk, they brought in the experts, and the experts had all the know-how, the experts had the training, but they couldn't produce the sweet sound, they couldn't produce the pleasant fragrance, because there is the intangible, there's the intangible of the person, not only the skill set and the know-how, not only the training and the education, but there's the intangible of the passion and of the devotion and that is what makes everything right. אין הדבר עומד בפני הרצון ein ha'davar omeid bifnei ha'ratzon. Nothing stands in front of the will when your will is to fulfill the will of Hashem. You see this also with אברהם אבינו Avraham Avinu says Rav Druk. יסוד זה מצינו במקומות רבות yesod zeh matzinu b'mekomos rabos. We find this in many places. אברהם אבינו Avraham Avinu when he was commanded in order to give himself a ברית bris, he was 100. So what was he thinking? To do a מילה milah on himself? Didn't he have to learn הלכות מילה hilchos milah? Didn't he have to practice on others? He's going to try an experimental surgery on himself at 100 years old. Is he out of his mind? He understood, says Rav Druk, התשובה פשוטה כיוון שהיה לו רצון עז לקיים את רצון ה' ha'tshuva pshuta, k'eivan she'hayah lo ratzon az l'kayem es retzon Hashem, he had this insatiable thirst. He had this appetite to fulfill the will of Hashem. באותו הרגע נסתייע על המילה ולא הסתמא כלל b'oso ha'rega nistaye'a al ha'milah v'lo his'mame'a klal. So when Hashem said do a bris on yourself, he didn't hesitate. He didn't pause. He didn't go for training. He didn't go for education, but rather אלא מתוך רצונו העז למול את עצמו ולהתבונן בשביל לקיים את מצות ה' נעשה מיד המומחה הגדול ביותר בברית מילה ela mitoch retzono ha'az la'mul es atzmo u'l'hisbonen bishvil l'kayem es mitzvas Hashem, na'asah miyad ha'mumcheh ha'gadol b'yoser b'vris milah. He became the instant expert. You know what they say? Necessity is the mother of invention. Necessity is the mother of invention. If you are driven to fulfill the will of Hashem, and that becomes a necessity for you, then that necessity to fulfill the will of Hashem is the mother of invention. It's the mother of education. It's the mother of expertise. The mother of expertise. Rav Druk applies this in several other places, it's pages long, I want to get to other ideas. He says this in the area of the מצוה mitzva of שחיטה shechita, of the קרבן פסח Korban Pesach. To שחט shecht the קרבן פסח Korban Pesach, they took לקחו איש לבית אבות שה לבית lakchu ish l'veis avos seh l'bayis, everybody took a lamb or a sheep or had to be less than a year old, all the criteria that it had to be met, and they shechted.
