Transcript
Okay, good morning. בוקר טוב Boker tov. Welcome back to Parsha Perspectives for today. We have the privilege of reading and learning פרשת פקודי Parashas Pekudei together. Page 530 in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash. Very often ויקהל פקודי Vayakhel Pekudei are linked together. This year we are learning them separately, and we're able to give each one its proper attention. Each פרשה parsha is filled with so many lessons and perspectives for today. We begin as we always do with gratitude to our generous sponsors. Thank you Becky and Avi Katz and family who have sponsored our series in memory of David Grossman, לעילוי נשמת le'ilui nishmas Becky's father, דוד בן מנחם מנש Dovid ben Menachem Manish. This morning is also sponsored by Naomi Belizon in memory of her mother, Sophie Mander, נשמה שתהא לה עליה neshamah shetehe lah aliyah. Thank you. By Amanda Lyons, thank you for all the learning, it's לזכות l'zechus her week. By Sharon Wenger and Jonathan Wenger in loving memory of their dear husband and father Bruce Wenger, דב ארי בן ישראל Dov Ari ben Yisrael on his ninth יארצייט yahrtzeit, his נשמה שתהא לה עליה neshamah shetehe lah aliyah as well. Thank you to all of our generous sponsors. It's great to be back together again after last week being off. This coming Tuesday, again traveling for a שמחה simcha, so שיעור shiur will be not Tuesday morning 9:30. It'll be either Tuesday afternoon or Tuesday evening. Stay posted in the Parsha WhatsApp group. We'll announce when it will be, either Tuesday afternoon or Tuesday evening. But for now we begin פרשת פקודי Parashas Pekudei. Page 530 in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash. אלה פקודי המשכן משכן העדות אשר פוקד על פי משה Eleh pekudei ha'mishkan mishkan ha'eidus asher pukad al pi Moshe. These are the accountings, the reckonings. This is the audit of the משכן Mishkan, the משכן העדות Mishkan ha'eidus, that was reckoned, was accounted for by משה Moshe. Among all of his jobs, משה Moshe, the righteous scholar, teacher of תורה Torah, the בעל המסורה ba'al ha'mesorah, among his many jobs, משה Moshe was an accountant. He was an auditor. He does a tremendous audit of the campaign. עבודת הלויים ביד איתמר בן אהרן הכהן Avodas ha'Leviim b'yad Isamar ben Aharon ha'kohen. This was the labor of the לויים Leviim under the authority of איתמר Isamar the son of אהרן הכהן Aharon ha'kohen. There are many peculiarities in this opening פסוק pasuk, including the repetition of the word משכן Mishkan, of משכן Mishkan. אלה פקודי המשכן Eleh pekudei ha'mishkan, משכן Mishkan. These are the reckonings, the accountings of the משכן Mishkan. Which משכן Mishkan? Getting confused? How many משכנים Mishkans are there? משכן העדות Mishkan ha'eidus, the משכן Mishkan, the Tabernacle of the testimony. Why does it have that name? משכן העדות Mishkan ha'eidus. Tabernacle, the משכן Mishkan. There was a dwelling place, a building built according to the specs that were given divinely by השם Hashem himself, followed through by בצלאל Betzalel, the great architect, engineer, and general contractor of the משכן Mishkan. We know which משכן Mishkan it is. Why does the תורה Torah further clarify or define not just משכן Mishkan, משכן העדות Mishkan ha'eidus? So says רש\"י Rashi, זאגט רש\"י zogt Rashi, משכן העדות Mishkan ha'eidus, עדות לישראל שוויתר להם הקדוש ברוך הוא על מעשה העגל eidus l'Yisrael she'viter lahem ha'Kadosh Baruch Hu al ma'aseh ha'eigel. The entire edifice, this building was a validation that the רבונו של עולם Ribono shel Olam was ויתר viter. הקדוש ברוך הוא Ha'Kadosh Baruch Hu was forgiving, was flexible, overlooked the מעשה העגל ma'aseh ha'eigel. Here, the Jewish people had infidelity. They cheated on God on their wedding night with him. We've spoken about this before. On that night, משה Moshe, השם Hashem held the mountain over their head like a חופה chuppah. They were married, an intimate embrace, a rendezvous with השם Hashem. And right from there where did they go? They built an עגל eigel. Incredible act of disloyalty. And they worked it through, they reconciled, they repaired. And what was the evidence that the relationship was restored? משכן העדות Mishkan ha'eidus. This משכן Mishkan was a testament, a testimony. It validated that the work was done, the repair happened. שהשרה שכינתו ביניהם She'hishra shchinaso b'nehem. השם Hashem moved back in. He moved back in. A couple have a crisis, and the crisis can be emotional, it could be physical. Crisis could be one of trust and faith having to do with money or with health. And there's a barrier, there's a breach, there's a break. There's a schism between them, and they separate. And what's the evidence they've reconciled and repaired and worked it out? A willingness to move home, a willingness to move back in, a willingness to be able to live a future together. Says רש\"י Rashi, this משכן Mishkan is not just called the משכן Mishkan, but rather it's משכן העדות Mishkan ha'eidus. It was an עד eid, עדות eidus is testimony. The משכן Mishkan itself gave testimony, was a testament that ויתר להם הקדוש ברוך הוא על מעשה העגל viter lahem ha'Kadosh Baruch Hu al ma'aseh ha'eigel. הקדוש ברוך הוא Ha'Kadosh Baruch Hu was forgiving about the מעשה העגל ma'aseh ha'eigel. Wonders, wonders the great רב שמואל בירנבוים Rav Shmuel Barenbaum in his ספר שמואל Sefer Shmuel. צריך עיון Tzorich iyun. דעיקר משכן הוא שהקדוש ברוך הוא ישרה שכינתו בינינו לקיים ושם נעבדך ביראה De'ikra Mishkan hu she'ha'Kadosh Baruch Hu yashreh shchinaso b'neinu l'kayem v'sham na'avodcha b'yirah. Are we reducing the משכן Mishkan to evidence that they repaired and recovered and reconciled? The משכן Mishkan has such a bigger purpose and mission. What's the purpose of the משכן Mishkan? שם נעבדך ביראה Sham na'avodcha b'yirah. It's where we offer קרבנות korbanos, it's where we draw close, it's where we have a rendezvous with the Almighty, it's where we feel the intense divine presence of the creator of the world. ולמה התורה קורא למשכן משכן העדות V'lama ha'Torah koreh l'Mishkan Mishkan ha'eidus? Why did we reduce it? שהיא עדות לישראל שוויתר להם הקדוש ברוך הוא על מעשה העגל She'hi eidus l'Yisrael she'viter lahem ha'Kadosh Baruch Hu al ma'aseh ha'eigel. מעשה העגל ma'aseh ha'egel. לכאורה המשכן הוא הרבה יותר מזה L'chorah haMishkan hu harbeh yoser mizeh. A home, a house, a place where people are experiencing and sharing love, building and raising a family, trying to make a dwelling place for God Almighty, is so much more than, we once had a fight, we made up, we're back together. What are you going to put a billboard, a big sign in the front of the house? The fact that we live together is testimony, all the rumors should stop, all the, all the controversy should stop, all the tabloid magazines, paparazzi get lost, put a big board on the front of the house, we moved back in. This home is evidence, is testimony, we worked it out. That's all the home is? That's what it's reduced to? That's what it's about?The משכן Mishkan is so much bigger, so much broader. It's so much more than just עדות eidus, than a testament that we worked it out. The וישלם אהרן Vayishlam Aharon says, Rav Shlomo Berenbaum, שכל המעלות הגדולות של המשכן לא היה באפשרות רק אם עשו תשובה ממעשה העגל shekol hama'alos hag'dolos shel haMishkan lo haya b'efsharus rak im asu tshuva m'maaseh ha'egel. All the possibility, everything that was achieved and accomplished, all the closeness, all the intimacy, all the rendezvous that we'd achieve in the משכן Mishkan, was only a result of the hard work of תשובה tshuva. Because we didn't gloss over it, and we didn't simply wish and hope for a better future. עיקר חטא העגל היה ריחוק מהקדוש ברוך הוא Ikar chet ha'egel haya richuk me'HaKadosh Baruch Hu. At the core of the חטא העגל chet ha'egel was a breach and a break of trust, unfaithfulness, disloyalty, distance, daylight from Hashem. שאמרו אלה אלקיך ישראל She'amru eileh elokecha Yisrael. We cheated on him, we declared something else, this gold, we declared it our God. אותי עזבו מקור מים חיים לחצוב להם בארות בארות נשברים Osi azvu mekor mayim chaim lachtzov lahem be'eros be'eros nishbarim, a pasuk in ירמיה Yirmiyah. והתיקון לחטא הזה היה בזה שכלל ישראל עשו ההיפך מזה V'hatikun lachet hazeh haya b'zeh she'klal Yisrael asu ha'hefech mizeh. And what's the repair? How do we fix it? We do the opposite. What's the opposite of distance? What's the opposite of putting daylight? What's the opposite of being unfaithful and disloyal? להתקרב להקדוש ברוך הוא L'hiskarev l'HaKadosh Baruch Hu, to draw close, שהשבו שיהיה משכן השכינה בתוכם shehishvu she'yihiyeh mishkan ha'shchina b'socham. I just want to feel close, I just want to feel connected, I just want to restore trust, I just want to recreate loyalty. ונמצא שבזה שהקדוש ברוך הוא התרצה לכלל ישראל והשרה שכינתו בתוכם, היא הוכחה על גודל הקירבה שנוצרה שוב בין כלל ישראל להקדוש ברוך הוא על ידי חפצם הקדוש שהקדוש ברוך הוא ישרה שכינתו ביניהם V'nimtza sheb'zeh sheHaKadosh Baruch Hu hisratza l'Klal Yisrael v'hishra Shchinaso b'socham, hi hochacha al godel ha'kirva shenotzra shuv bein Klal Yisrael l'HaKadosh Baruch Hu al yedei cheftzam ha'kadosh sheHaKadosh Baruch Hu yishreh Shchinaso b'neihem. Everything that would happen, all that they would build, everything that would come out of that place, was on the foundation of the hard work of the repair, of the תשובה tshuva, of the reconciliation they would do.So it's not a בזיון bizayon. It's not to disparage the Jewish people that we had made that mistake. It's not to hold on to the past with an inability to go forward. In fact, the משכן Mishkan was, everyone who would approach it would know and see and say to themselves, even with the mistakes I've made, no matter how far I've fallen, no matter what I've violated, no matter how unfaithful I've been to the Almighty, I can still come here. This is a place where I belong. This is a place where I find hope. This is a place where I can still connect. How do I know? Because that's what's at the core, that's at the foundation, that's what's central to this entire edifice. This is a place where there is forgiveness. But it has to be earned. It has to be achieved, it has to be worked on. But this is a place where you've never fallen too far, where you're never irredeemable, where you're never hopeless. This is a place where you can always come back. And that's why it was a משכן העדות Mishkan ha'eidus. It wasn't just a משכן Mishkan, righteous people, צדיקים, צדקניות, תלמידי חכמים tzaddikim, tzidkaniyos, talmidei chachamim, holy and pure and innocent people can come and connect. This is a place for everyone. If you've made mistakes, this is also your home. If you feel you've fallen, this is also where you belong. If you think you're irredeemable and you're hopeless, doesn't matter, we want you here. Because we can all come back. And that's why it wasn't just משכן Mishkan, it was משכן העדות Mishkan ha'eidus. This was a place of תשובה tshuva. This was a place of repair. This is a place of redemption. And this is the model for all of us and all of our communities. If every שול shul, in fact, is a מקדש מעט mikdash me'at, a temple in miniature, if every שול shul is a recreation and it's built on the model of the משכן Mishkan, it means our shuls need to be places that are welcoming and warm, that tell every יד Yid, every Jew, this is a home for you. If you're willing to put in the work, if you sincerely want to come back, if you want to improve, then you're all, we're all redeemable. No one's perfect. We all make mistakes, we've all fallen, and we can all get up, and we can all climb back, and we can all recover and we can restore. And not only that, I've shared with you before, there's a Jewish therapist, her name is Esther Perel. Esther Perel. I think she's from Amsterdam originally. She's a very famous therapist, she's written a lot of books, and best-selling books, she has a podcast, and one of the things she specializes in is helping couples navigate coming back from infidelity. And she has a TED Talk that was I think in the tens of millions of views, which is very powerful to watch. I've mentioned it before. And sadly, I've had to recommend it and share it with people who are working exactly on that circumstance. And what she talks about is, she says most people will be married more than once in their life. Question is, will it be to the same person or a different person? Will you discover through the mistakes and missteps of your life what was missing and what was wrong so you could repair and you can fix it and be closer than ever? Or will it dissolve, will it fall apart, will there be no recovery from it? And of course, הלכתית halachically it's complicated. אסור לבעל assur l'baal, אסור לבועל assur l'boel, which acts of infidelity can you return from, and which are irreparable? Leave out the הלכתית halachic, not because we ever set aside, but for this conversation, leave out the הלכתית halachic complication of it. But she talks about the path back, and that in every act of unfaithfulness, there was, in fact, a revelation of what was missing in the relationship. And if one does the hard work to take responsibility and ownership, to ask for and earn forgiveness, but also to learn and discover what was missing and might have caused it, without blame or judgment, but simply to grow, then one can have a greater and a better marriage than ever. And in fact, I've seen it. I can give testimony to it, that those couples who put in the hard work in whatever act, because infidelity and unfaithfulness comes in many forms, not only physical, a breach and a breakdown of trust. But when the hard work is put in, people can come back better and stronger and happier and healthier than ever. And that's what I hear the תפארת שמואל Tiferes Shmuel telling us. Why is the משכן Mishkan called משכן Mishkan? This is אלה המשכן Eleh haMishkan, אלה פקודי המשכן Eleh Pekudei haMishkan. משכן העדות Mishkan HaEdus. Welcome to the shul. Welcome to the משכן Mishkan. The shul of forgiveness, of second chances, of coming back, of improving, of being better than ever, of doing the hard work and discovering what's missing, in a place and a safe place for all kinds of people, for every Jew. We're all not hopeless, hopeful, and we're all filled with possibility and a future if we're just willing to do the hard work. And therefore, even though the משכן Mishkan is so much more than the חטא העגל chet ha'egel, like can't we move past it? Can't we move on? Why do you have to keep bringing that up? Maybe in a relationship it's bad to perseverate or to be paralyzed by the past. But when you're talking about this edifice, which is a model, this edifice which is a centerpiece for כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael, it has to, it has to resonate. It has to be something which when one approaches it, they're not recoil with a sense, I'm not holy enough, I'm not pure enough, I don't belong there. But this is a place for me, this is a place for everyone, for everyone.Our פרשה parsha, this last פרשה parsha of the book of שמות Shemos begins with a summary of the critical components of the משכן Mishkan. So we're starting with Moshe with this accounting, the donations, the materials, and then it goes through these critical components. Continuing בצלאל בן אורי בן חור למטה יהודה Betzalel ben Uri ben Chur l'mateh Yehuda did everything God commanded Moshe. He worked with אהליאב Ahaliav למטה דן l'mateh Dan, and he worked with all of these materials and all of these ingredients in order to be able to build, in order to be able to assemble the משכן Mishkan. Throughout these last פרשיות parshiyos, the Torah over and over again acknowledges the list of the builders and the craftsmen and the architects and the artisans, beginning with בצלאל Betzalel and אהליאב Ahaliav, and each time those who made the משכן Mishkan are called, they're referred to as חכמי לב chachmei lev. חכמי לב chachmei lev. חכם Chacham, חכמה chachmah is wisdom. Where do we normally associate wisdom? With the, with the head. And yet, they are described as חכמי לב chachmei lev. We ordinarily think of the heart as a place of emotion, the head is a place of intellect and wisdom. And yet the Torah says these people were endowed not only with great skill, which is in itself a conversation. How did slaves just redeemed from Egypt, who didn't graduate elementary school, lower school, let alone college or graduate school, they didn't go to any specialty school. Where did they learn these crafts? How did they become architects and engineers? How did they become builders and artisans? Where did they learn it all from? Is a question we've addressed in the past and not for now. But there are Torah highlights not their great skill, craftsmanship. What the Torah highlights is that they are all חכמי לב chachmei lev. They have the wisdom of the heart, the wisdom of the heart. Later the Torah calls לב לדעת lev lada'as. The Torah asks us to have a heart that knows, the wisdom of the heart and a heart that knows. And there's so much to talk about. Where is wisdom? Is it in the head or is it in the heart? Is the heart a place of only raw emotion, and it's the head that's disciplined intellect? Or is the wisdom and an intellect of the heart? And why do we want it to reside in the heart and not in the head alone? By focusing not only the plans, the measurements, the materials and the mechanics of the building, but also focusing in our פרשה parsha on the people, on their character, on their sincerity, on their their authenticity. The Torah is communicating a critical important lesson, which is it's not only what we do, but who we are and how we do it. It's not only the result or the outcome. It's not only what we do, but it's what do we bring to what we do? Who are we when we do it? And what are we thinking about? What is our intent? What is our consciousness? What is our mindfulness? What is our motivation? Do we have a presence in all that we are doing? We're gonna get into this more in the פרשה parsha. I'll just tell you for those who learned the דף יומי Daf Yomi. Today's דף יומי Daf Yomi, סנהדרין דף Sanhedrin Daf, what דף Daf are we on? It's the challenge of the דף יומי Daf Yomi, super speed. Today's What's today? ברוך השם Baruch Hashem, I'm in good company. Today's דף יומי Daf Yomi. In today's דף יומי Daf Yomi, the גמרא Gemara tells, we're in a series of דפים dappim that are talking about longing for משיח Mashiach, when will משיח Mashiach come? When will the Messiah come? We're so desperate for peace, we're so desperate for safety and security. We're so desperate for the days of משיח Mashiach. So אליהו Eliyahu, רבי שמעון בן לוי Rabbi Shimon ben Levi comes, I think רבי שמעון בן לוי Rabbi Shimon ben Levi rather. And he sees אליהו הנביא Eliyahu HaNavi, Elijah the prophet. And he says, נו Nu, when is משיח Mashiach coming already? And אליהו Eliyahu, Elijah the prophet says, go ask him, what are you asking me? He says, ask him, where can I find him? He said, in the marketplace, the lepers, those who are, who are struck with the malady of צרעת tzaraas, they are changing their bandages, they're healing themselves, and that's where you could find Mashiach. Go ask him when he's coming. So רבי שמעון בן לוי Rabbi Shimon ben Levi goes to the market and he finds משיח Mashiach. He finds משיח Mashiach. And how does he know who's משיח Mashiach? אליהו הנביא Eliyahu HaNavi gave him the hint and he finds him. Everyone else, they're taking off all their bandages at once and rebandaging everything at once in super speed, trying to expedite everything. And אליהו Eliyahu is doing it one by one, slowly and methodically. So he finds אליהו Eliyahu based on that, he finds משיח Mashiach based on that and he says, משיח Mashiach, נו Nu, when are you coming? And he says, היום Hayom. Today. So you can imagine רבי שמעון בן לוי Rabbi Shimon ben Levi gets very excited. היום Hayom, משיח's Mashiach's coming today. Wow, the world as we know, it's going to radically change. Finally, what we've been waiting for. משיח's Mashiach's coming היום Hayom, today. And the day passes and משיח Mashiach doesn't come. So רבי שמעון בן לוי Rabbi Shimon ben Levi goes back to אליהו הנביא Eliyahu HaNavi and he says, נו Nu, did you find משיח Mashiach? He says, yeah, I found משיח Mashiach. And did you ask him when he's coming? He said, he's a liar. שקרן Shakran. He's a liar. He said היום hayom, he was coming today and the day passed and he didn't come. אליהו הנביא Eliyahu HaNavi said you misunderstood him. He didn't mean today. היום, אם בקולו תשמעו Hayom, im b'kolo tishma'u. Today, if you listen to God's voice. And the simple understanding is, any day משיח Mashiach can come on any given day, if on that day we would earn, if on that day we'd be worthy, if on that day we would merit for him to come. היום Hayom, when is it that he's coming today? Today, אם בקולו תשמעו im b'kolo tishma'u, if you listen. However, I once saw a beautiful interpretation that it doesn't just mean that each and every day if we merit he would come that day. What does it mean היום hayom? And why was the hint you'll find משיח Mashiach among the lepers, they're all changing their bandages at once and he's doing it one by one. What משיח Mashiach was telling רבי שמעון בן לוי Rabbi Shimon ben Levi was, do you want me to come? Do you know what you need to do, what life you need to live in order to earn me? היום Hayom. You need to learn to live in the moment. Be mindful and present in everything that you do. Don't be stuck in the past, and don't be lost in thinking about the future, היום hayom. And everyone else is doing everything all at once, in a world, and we're talking the גמרא Gemara 2,000 years ago, of multitasking, in a world of distraction, in a world of competing interest, everyone else is taking off all their bandages at once, and משיח Mashiach is described as doing it one by one by one. Because whatever he's doing, he is fully immersed in, and he's fully present in whatever he's doing. So he wasn't lying when he said היום hayom. He didn't mean necessarily I'm coming today. What he meant was, if you begin to live a life of היום hayom, if you begin to live present today, in the moment, mindful, conscious, connected to whatever you're doing, then משיח Mashiach is going to come. So our פרשה parsha is beginning not only by focusing on the outcome, on the result. We got all the materials, the donations all came in, the accounting finally worked itself out, though it was complicated at first, and we have an edifice, we have a משכן Mishkan. No, it's not only the result and the outcome. It's about who did it and how they did it, and what they brought to what they were doing, intent and mindfulness and consciousness and motivation. Every action and each experience and all that we do is made up of the physical component, the physical act, but it also has the רוחניות ruchnius, the פנימיות pnimius, the frame, the context, the כוונה kavanah, the essence of what we are doing. Whatever's in our heart when we are challenged to make a particular choice, what are our thoughts and our feelings when we're going through a particular experience, we radically transform it, we elevate it, we energize it, we inspire it. We don't just do empty acts. acts. We don't just go through motions. We don't just live a checklist יידישקייט Yiddishkeit, but we're doing so much more. And because of this, the ספורנו Sforno, the great Italian commentator of עובדיה ספורנו Ovadia Sforno, describes how the gold and silver that fashioned the כלים keilim of the משכן Mishkan were categorically different than the gold and silver in the rest of the world. It was imbued with and transformed with the holy intent that the people brought. You see, all the gold and silver in your kitchen cabinets and drawers, in your breakfront, in your armoire, and everything in your home, you just bought it. You went to a fancy store, it was gifted to you. You went online and you ordered it. Somewhere it was manufactured and you have no idea who built it, who manufactured it, what they were thinking while they did it, and the thought and the intent. But this was different, says the ספורנו Sforno. אלה פקודי המשכן Eileh pekudei haMishkan. Listen to the ספורנו Sforno. כל אחד מחלקי המשכן הכתובים למעלה, הם עושים הפקודים שנאמר עליהם, ובשמות תפקדו את כלי משמרת משאם ביד איתמר. Kol echad mechelkei haMishkan haksuvim l'maalah, heim oisim ha'pkudim shene'emar aleihem, u'visheimos tifkedu es kli mishmeres masa'am b'yad Isamar. וזה, כי כל אחד מהם היה ראוי להיות נחשב וליקרא בשם, באשר הוא זה הפרטי. לא בלבד באשר הוא מזה המין. וכל שכן, שצדק זה על כל אחד מכלי המקדש אשר במשא בני קהת. V'zeh, ki kol echad meihem hayah ra'ui l'hiyos nechshav v'l'hikarei b'shem, ba'asher hu zeh ha'prati. Lo bilvad ba'asher hu mi'zeh ha'min. V'chol sheken, she'tzedek zeh al kol echad miklei haMikdash asher b'masa bnei Kehas. Listen to what the ספורנו Sforno says. Can you imagine? Open the drawer of your kitchen. Can you imagine if you gave a name to every fork, every knife, every spoon? Every cup, every serving platter, every crystal glass, every wine glass. Each one would have a name. Ooh, tonight I'm going to eat with you, אברהמל'ה Avramaleh the fork. Today I'm going to cut with you, שרהל'ה Saraleh the knife. I remember when I melted you and made you and molded you and created you, and how hard I had to work in order to earn this silver in order to melt into this קידוש kiddush cup. Tonight I'm making קידוש kiddush on you, מיכל'ה Michaleh. In the משכן Mishkan, every utensil had a name. And what is a name? It's a description. It's a connection with. It means that unlike the, and we can't live. ספורנו Sforno is not suggesting we live with the level of mindfulness that every pen, every paperclip, it has a name and a meaning and a purpose and a connection. We would not, we wouldn't get anything done. We couldn't start our day. That's not only not realistic, it's not a healthy way to live. But we do have areas of life where we try to elevate and uplift in that way. And says the ספורנו Sforno, one did not only refer to it by the nature of the category, a fork, a knife, and each had a name. And naming it individually gave it a permanent significance and elevated its usage, more than just functional or transactional, it had a holy intent and a holy purpose and fulfilled a holy mission. There's no doubt that anyone who saw the בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash of שלמה המלך Shlomo HaMelech, the temple that Shlomo King Solomon built was moved. We have testament in the in the נביא Navi and in the תורה Torah, in the in the תלמוד Talmud, the magnificence and the opulence and the ostentatiousness, they marveled at the absolute aesthetic beauty of the בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash. In terms of beauty, it was far larger, far more expensive, far more impressive, and far superior to the משכן Mishkan. After all, the בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash was built under Jewish sovereignty. And where was it built? In our homeland. Jewish royalty, Jewish wealth and Jewish prosperity. And the משכן Mishkan was built from the petty pathetic donations of a recently released poor slave nation constructed in a desert with little access to material or goods. The משכן Mishkan was put together by the modest jewelry and used clothings and sheets that they could scramble together. So which one would you think would last? The משכן Mishkan or the מקדש Mikdash? The beautiful, opulent, aesthetic, marvelous, magnificent, built under Jewish royalty and sovereignty and wealth and prosperity, and the little משכן Mishkan on the run in the desert, put together with whatever you could find. Which would last and be eternal and which would be temporary? ספורנו Sforno points out, the בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash of שלמה Shlomo, it was destroyed and it disappeared. It was built by hired laborers from צור Tzor with no emotional or spiritual connection to what they were doing. Yes, under the supervision of Jewish royalty, שלמה המלך Shlomo HaMelech, but they were hired laborers. And it was eventually destroyed and it was totally lost. And the inferiority of the building is evident from the fact that the building itself was in need of regular, almost annual repairs. If you look at the נביא מלכים Navi Melachim, you see the upkeep and the repairs that were necessary in this incredible edifice of the of the מקדש Mikdash. Second בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash was built by King Koresh, who hired pagans to build it. We're very grateful to him. We actually have an illustrious history with Persia. כורש Koresh, the king of Persia, is the one who allowed us and actually endowed, built the second בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash. We had here several years ago, believe it or not, and don't ask me why, but the son of the Shah, the prince of Iran spoke in our שול shul. And he shared and he appealed to us, the Jewish community and people. This has to be 10 years ago. And he said, Persia and the Jewish people have a very rich history, a good history. He said, don't forget what my ancestor כורש Koresh, what Cyrus did to build your temple in Jerusalem. And he said, now we've been taken over by the revolutionary guard and you need to help us. The Jewish people should be rising for a revolution in Iran to overthrow the tyrants and oppressors and to restore that wonderful rich history of a relationship of Persia and of the Jewish people. King Koresh built it, but who, he endowed it. He paid for it. But who built it? Pagans, idolaters that he hired. The משכן Mishkan on the other hand was made from genuine, authentic, sincere people. How do you know that? And that's what Torah tells us. They weren't just artisans and craftsmen and skilled workers and laborers. How does the Torah describe them? They were חכמי לב chachmei lev. They gave their heart. They were present and conscious and mindful. And they gave their heart to everything they did. Each donation they gave, in every object they constructed, carried their love, devotion, spirit, קדושה kedusha, carried their commitment to the Jewish people. Their devotion and selflessness to the Jewish cause, to the נצחיות nitzchiyus, to the eternity and immortality. And because they were connected to the eternity and immortality of what they were doing and what they gave, it lasted forever. The Sforno says that the original כלים keilim, the original vessels and utensils that we're reading about right now, we don't know where they are or where they went, but they will resurface in תחיית המתים techiyat hameitim. When the third בית המקדש Beit Hamikdash will come and there'll be a resurrection of our people, Sforno says, there won't only be a resurrection of our people, there'll be a resurrection of these vessels because they are unique. They are distinct. They singularly carry the חכמי לב chachmei lev, the heart of those who fashioned them. He learns this from the words עצי שיטים עומדים atzei shittim omdim. The word עומדים omdim, the the acacia word wood that stood in the construction of these utensils, עומדים omdim, we should take the word עומדים omdim literally. עומדים omdim is read in the present tense, and what does the word עומדים omdim mean? They will endure, they will stand indefinitely, forever. Says the Sforno, if they endure and they stand indefinitely and forever, no matter where they are right now, they will resurface. They will come back. Those are the ones we will use one day. And why? Why? What makes them so special? Why can't we replace them? Why can't we upgrade them with the newer and latest version of them? Because they're special. These were made and donated and molded with the חכמי לב chachmei lev, with those who gave their heart, with those who gave their heart. And that's that's who we are, what we're about, right? That's this last year and a half. That's this last year and a half. I spoke to a a woman whose husband was at war and kept going back and was in the reserves over and over again and had to manage without her husband raising her children with the terrible fear of his not coming home and the danger. And I asked her, how did you do it? How do you still do it? And she had two words: להתחבר לנצח l'hitchaber l'netzach. Connect with eternity. So every time you're giving a bath to your child because your husband's not home fighting a war for the future of the Jewish people, you're not just giving a bath. Every time you're doing bedtime, every time you're doing the laundry, every time you're making dinner, you're not doing mundane activities. You are connected to eternity by enabling that husband to go fight that battle. You're connected to eternity. That's all of us. Where do we find the strength and the energy? Where do we find the will and the resolve and the resiliency? להתחבר לנצח l'hitchaber l'netzach. Connect to eternity. That is the message of our people. That's who we are and how we are here, and that's what's going on in our parsha. Says the Sforno, בית המקדש Beit Hamikdash, enormous, opulent, ostentatious, magnificent, incredible, and it disappeared. It was destroyed and it was lost forever. משכן Mishkan, pretty, petty, pretty pathetic, pretty puny, just put together by the little donations they could get, it lasts forever. What's the difference between them? What we brought, who built them. One we hired laborers. You see this every Jewish funeral. Unfortunately, in other denominations, I've attended funerals and the eulogies are given graveside and then they'll skip right to קדיש Kaddish and then everybody leaves so that the workers can lower the body and fill in the grave. But the traditional, correct approach is to say to workers, thank you very much, stand on the side. We don't delegate this to others. This is holy work and holy activity. And it doesn't matter if it's July even that act of filling a grave is not mundane and empty. It's not just to bring about the result of a grave that's closed. Each shovelful is an act of holiness. We're tucking in that person for the last time here on earth. So we don't delegate that to others. We do it ourselves because when we do things ourselves, we elevate them, we lift them, we enrich them. We are connected to נצחיות nitzchiyus. The נביא navi in שמואל א Shmuel Aleph says נצח ישראל לא ישקר Netzach Yisrael lo yeshaker. The נצח ישראל Netzach Yisrael, נצח ישראל Netzach Yisrael, the eternity of the Jewish people, it doesn't lie. Be part of נצח ישראל Netzach Yisrael, attach yourself to eternity, be present and mindful and conscious. And that is a big message. I gave the pre-Pesach workshop on Sunday, which is my annual taking my life into my hands by telling the women around me that you should be able to clean for פסח Pesach in a couple hours and כשר kasher your kitchen in an hour and be ready for פסח Pesach in less than a day, if you're following הלכה halacha. If you're doing spring cleaning, you're doing something else altogether. But if you're following Jewish law, it shouldn't take long. But part of that lesson is, every drawer that you're wiping down and every every utensil that you're kashering and preparing, and every recipe that you're following, it's not a mundane act that's a necessary evil because it's הלכה halacha that we have to follow that is grueling and makes us exhausted and miserable. No. It's a holy act. Holy act. The תפארת שלמה Tiferes Shlomo of Radomsk and others talk about what you're listening to, what you're speaking about, what you're thinking when you make the חלה challah and the קוגל kugel is in the קוגל kugel and the חלה challah. What difference does it make? Follow the recipe, put it in the oven. The חלה challah knows what you're thinking about? The קוגל kugel absorbs your intent? The answer is, absolutely. 100%. And what do you want to feed the people around you? Gossip and לשון הרע lashon hara? נארעשקייט narishkeit and nothingness? Or are you listening to the פרשה שיעור parsha shiur while you're making the חלה challah and the קוגל kugel? Are you listening to the אמונה שיעור emunah shiur? Are you making phone call after phone call to check in on those who are isolated and alone? That goes in. To be a חכם לב chacham lev is to not just have a heart, to give heart to our intellect and to give intellect to our heart and to put all of ourselves in everything that we do. The last example of this and then I promise we'll move on, is again the work of the חברא קדישא chevra kadisha. On occasion our חברא קדישא chevra kadisha is called to do a טהרה tahara, the burial preparation, not in one of our locations, but to use a funeral home. And I remember once getting there early and finding that they weren't yet done, the funeral workers who were using the home before us. And without getting too graphic or gruesome, outside of the traditional Jewish world, when they prepare a body for burial, I remember the TV was on in the room, people were on their cell phones, and they were applying the makeup, and they're getting the corpse dressed, and they're just going through some activity. It's their job, that's their paycheck. Pretty gruesome and morbid, but that's their paycheck. And when a חברא קדישא chevra kadisha come into that burial preparation room, nobody talks about anything extraneous. There's no music, there's no TV, there's no radio playing. There's no conversation other than what's necessary for that loving, affectionate, careful preparation. It's the intent, it's the mindfulness that we bring to all that we do. It goes in, it sinks in, it is absorbed in everything. And if you want it to be eternal and everlasting, and you want it to endure, it's the attitude that we bring to what we do, to what we do. The לבושי שרד Levushei Srad of Druk also on this opening פסוק pasuk, then we'll move on. אלה פקודי המשכן משכן העדות Eleh pekudei haMishkan Mishkan ha'Edus. משכן משכן Mishkan Mishkan, שני פעמים shnei pe'amim. רש\"י Rashi says, we have the word משכן Mishkan two times in a row. רמז למקדש שנתמשכן בשני חורבנין בעוונותיהן של ישראל Remez l'Mikdash she'nismashken bishnei churbanin ba'avoneihen shel Yisrael. This is an allusion and a reference to the משכן Mishkan, the בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash that was destroyed twice. משכן משכן Mishkan Mishkan, two בתי מקדש batei Mikdash that were destroyed. מבואר כאן שחורבן בית המקדש שניתל מאיתנו בתורת משכון Mevuar kan shechurban Beis HaMikdash she'nital me'itanu b'toras mashkon. So the Rashi's alluding to, says Rav Druk, the word משכן Mishkan is made up of the same letters as the word משכון mashkon. What's a משכון mashkon? Collateral. What does this have to do with collateral? כשם שנוטלין משכון K'shem she'notlin mashkon, why does one take collateral? Because if you come to me and say, Goldberg, can I borrow some money? I say, sure. But we've done this before and I never get it back. So here's the deal. I'll lend you money, give me your watch. I'll lend you your money, give me your expensive sweater. I'll lend you money, give me a משכון mashkon. I need to hold collateral until you pay it back. כך גם נטל הקדוש ברוך הוא מאיתנו את בית המקדש כמשכון Kach gam natal HaKadosh Baruch Hu me'itanu es Beis HaMikdash k'mashkon. So השם Hashem took from us our Temple, our בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash, as collateral, עד שנפרע חובותינו כלפי שמיא ad shenifra chovoseinu klapei shmaya, till we pay our debt. of the mistakes that we've made. We made a withdrawal from the heavenly bank account through the mistakes, the error of our ways. השם Hashem said I'm taking your בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash. I'm holding it collateral and I'm not giving it back until you pay your debt of the mistakes that you've made. ואז יחזור לנו את המשכון v'az yachzor lanu es hamashkon, then he'll give us back our collateral, וישיב לנו את בית המקדש על מכונו v'yashiv lanu es Beis Hamikdash al mechono, and he will return and restore the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash. הקשה מורי זקיני רב שרגא שלמה גאון רב יוסף חיים זוננפלד Hiksheh mori zkeini Rav Shraga Shlomo Gaon Rav Yosef Chaim Zonnenfeld, says Rav Druck, asks the great rabbi of ירושלים Yerushalayim, Rav Yosef Chaim Zonnenfeld. However, the Torah tells us when it comes to collateral, what's the הלכה halacha? לא תשכב בעבותו עד בא השמש תשיבנו לו lo tishkav b'avoto ad bo hashemesh teshivenu lo. What do you have to do with that collateral? You have to give it back every night. The person needs it. They need to sleep in it, they need to hold on to it, they need to get it back. You have to give it back every night because the person needs it. So הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu, we need it, we need you. You took our בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash as collateral till we pay the debt. Good. We still owe you. We still have a debt. We still have to pay it. But until then, you have to give us back our בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash every now and then. After all, that's a law of collateral. It's a unique law of collateral. There's no bank that you borrow from that asks for collateral that when you say, but I need it, says no problem, here it is, give it back to me again. That's not the way the banking industry to the best of my knowledge works, but the Torah, הלכה halacha, Jewish law requires us to act at a moral level far above the banking industry. And so even when it is right to collect collateral, it's righteous to return it when the person needs it. So השם Hashem, you took the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash as collateral, we need it, give it back. אזוי פרעגט רבי יוסף חיים זוננפלד Azoi fregt Rav Yosef Chaim Zonnenfeld, that is the געוואלדיגע קשיא gevaldige kashe, the great question that he asked. And you know what he answers? Listen to this answer. What is the driver of when you have to give the collateral back at night to a person who needs it, who wants it, who feels they're missing something without it? That's what you have to give it back to. But if what you took as collateral, the person who borrowed the money has duplicates of, they have many more of, they don't need it back, they don't ask for it back, they don't want it back, you're entitled to hold on to it. ואבוי לנו הרבים אינם יכולים לומר לעצמנו שאנו מצויים בתחושה כזו שאין לנו אפשרות להסתדר בלי בית המקדש Va'avoinu harabim einam yecholim lomar l'atzmeinu she'anu metzuyim b'tchusha k'zu she'ein lanu efsharus l'histader bli Beis Hamikdash. We, said Rav Yosef Chaim Zonnenfeld, we're living such a life and lifestyle that we say to השם Hashem, בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash? We don't really miss it. We're good without it. We're pretty happy. It's nice palm trees in Boca. It's good pina coladas, poolside, in Boca. Nice golf courses and tennis courts, and Mahjong games. Life's not bad in Boca, and Teaneck, and Monsey, and Lakewood, and the Five Towns, and South America, and Australia, and South Africa, and Europe. We're doing pretty well. We don't miss it. We don't need it. We don't want it. We're okay without it. And that's why השם Hashem doesn't give it back to us. If we were to live our days and our lives, השם Hashem I'm incomplete, something's wrong, something's off. I'm missing something, I'm missing you. I can't live this way without a בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash, he would have no choice, following the laws of משכון mashkon, to give it back. But because we've adapted, because we live comfortably, because we live just fine without it, he's not obligated to give it back. אילו באמת היינו מרגישים את צער השכינה Ilu b'emet hayinu margishim es tza'ar haShechina, if we really felt the pain and the absence of a בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash, of that closeness, of that connection, היינו מרגישים שבלי בית המקדש חסר לנו עיקר החיים hayinu margishim shebli Beis Hamikdash chaser lanu ikar hachaim, that without בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash we're missing a central part of our lives, then עליו היינו נושאים את נפשנו בידיעה שחיינו עתה אינם חיים לעומת החיים שבזמן בית המקדש alav hayinu nos'im es nafsheinu b'yediah she'chayeinu atah einam chaim l'umas hachaim shebizman Beis Hamikdash, if we knew that our lives today are incomplete, our lives are nothing like they were or they should be, he would have no choice. And then Rav Yosef Chaim continued, חז\"ל בגמרא Chazal b'Gemara tells us, גמרא שבת דף ל\"א Gemara Shabbos daf lamed aleph, when after 120 we will all get upstairs and meet our maker, when we will ascend to the heavenly court, we will be asked a series of questions famously about our honesty in business, did we set aside time for Torah learning? If you come to the Parsha class on Tuesdays, you can answer yes. You need to do more than just that, but it's a good start. Did you set aside time for Torah learning? And one of the questions we're asked is ציפית לישועה tzipisa l'yeshua. Did you hope for and long for and wait for salvation, משיח Mashiach? In other words, were you satisfied with your life the way it was, or did you say, השם Hashem, there's something's missing. The world is so unfair, the disdain. You know, just today, Israel took out one of the founders of Hamas today. One of the founders, ברוך השם Baruch Hashem. Over this last week, 10 days, since they went back in Gaza, they have been eliminating one by one and as as many have said, may they rest in pieces. Terrible, evil, horrific, horrible people. They should rest in pieces, many of them. And including the founder. One of the people they took out today, it's so painful to be a Jew, was a so-called reporter for Al Jazeera, but who himself was not a journalist, he was a... member of חמאס Hamas. And how do you see it reported, even by the way on Fox News today, that Israel killed a journalist. We've seen now so many of these journalists were workers for UNRWA, were actually חמאס Hamas terrorists and accomplices, and it's so unfair and unjust and painful to be a Jew. And do we realize that's because there's no משיח Mashiach? If we live in the period of משיח Mashiach, the time of משיח Mashiach, justice and order, fairness and truth would be returned to the world. Jews would live in safety and security and peace and harmony with our neighbors. That's what we're longing for. That's what we're missing. And that's what we will be asked, ציפית לישועה tzipita liyeshua? Were you happy because you had two cars in your driveway, food on your table, a roof on your head? You were happy, putting an addition on your home, you're going away this פסח Pesach. Life is good. Or did you realize there are hostages still in tunnels? If my friend Coach Bruce Pearl, the coach of Auburn, number one in the country, could on the biggest stage being interviewed for March Madness as his team is winning in the tournament, and he starts out a press conference, not talking about basketball. Auburn is not in Lakewood, New Jersey. Auburn doesn't play in Brooklyn, New York. Auburn doesn't practice in Monsey. Do you know where Auburn is? Alabama. I've been there. I went to visit him. I went with a group, a delegation that gave him an award for his pro-Israel work. Auburn, Alabama doesn't have a minyan of Jews. It's not popular there to do what he does. What does he do? He starts a press conference by saying that he got permission from his team, most of whom probably never met a Jew for most of their life, that he could start the press conference by talking about the American held hostage in Gaza, said his name, Aiden, and said, everyone needs to know his name and we can't stop till we bring them home. He wouldn't talk about basketball till he talked about hostages. His Hebrew name, Bruce Pearl's Hebrew name is מרדכי Mordechai. You could hear his whole life story on Behind the Bima from a couple of years ago when he did this once before in an interview during March Madness. And he's a special איד Yid, a special Jew. Of course, because he has connections to Boca. I think his mother and sister live in Boca. But anyway, ציפית לישועה tzipita liyeshua. He interrupts his career, risks his career and his life by talking about hostages. So, do we go on and say, oh, Pesach is going to be beautiful, my kids are coming in, I'm going away. I'm all well and good. Or do we realize something's missing? There are hostages underground. There are soldiers risking their lives. There are lies being told on networks of news. And ציפית לישועה tzipita liyeshua, are we longing for משיח Mashiach? When do we fulfill this obligation? How will we answer in the affirmative when we get upstairs that indeed ציפית לישועה tzipita liyeshua, we longed for משיח Mashiach? So the יערות דבש Yaaros Dvash, רב יונתן אייבשיץ Rav Yonasan Eibshitz says, in we say the ברכה bracha in the עמידה Amidah, if you learned Siddur Snippets with me, you remember we said this a few ברכות brachos ago. Which ברכה bracha? את צמח דוד Es tzemach David. מצמיח קרן ישועה Matzmiach keren yeshua. If in that blessing את צמח דוד es tzemach David, the blossoming of King David and the beginning of redemption, we say Hashem, please redeem this world. It's so dark, it's so broken. It is, needs your repair. It needs your light. Please bring משיח Mashiach. If we actually concentrate and we're חכם לב chacham lev, we give our mindfulness and we think about that ברכה bracha when we say it, that's how we'll be able to answer positively when we get upstairs. ציפית לישועה Tzipita liyeshua. And Rav Drucker goes on and on, he has a long essay here about ציפית לישועה tzipita liyeshua and how we fulfill it. That's what we say in the three weeks, the nine days, תשעה באב Tisha B'Av. The גמרא Gemara in תענית דף ל' Taanis Daf Lamed, כל המתאבל על ירושלים זוכה ורואה בשמחתה kol hamisabel al Yerushalayim zocheh v'roeh b'simchasa. Anyone who mourns for the destruction of Jerusalem merits and sees its rebuilding. What does that mean? זוכה ורואה Zocheh v'roeh, in the present tense, merits and sees. It should say יזכה ויראה yizkeh v'yireh, you will merit, you will see when it will be rebuilt. The answer is, how do we build it? Just by missing it. What's the first step towards redemption? Realizing we need it. You can't get better till you realize something's wrong. So the first step, the first step of recovery, of repair, of redemption is to know something's broken and to know something is wrong. Okay, I told you we'd get past the first pasuk in this relatively short parsha. פרק ל\"ח פסוק כ\"ב Perek Lamed Ches, Pasuk Chaf Beis. The next pasuk. ובצלאל בן אורי בן חור למטה יהודה עשה את כל אשר צוה ה' את משה U'Vetzalel ben Uri ven Chur l'mateh Yehuda asah es kol asher tziva Hashem es Moshe. Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur from the tribe of Yehuda did all as God commanded to Moshe. Says the תפארת שלמה Tiferes Shlomo, we're back to רב שמואל ברנבוים Rav Shmuel Berenbaum. Quotes רש\"י Rashi. אשר צוהו משה לא נאמר כאן אלא כל אשר צוה ה' את משה Asher tzivahu Moshe lo ne'emar kan, ela kol asher tziva Hashem es Moshe. That God, אשר צוהו משה asher tzivahu Moshe doesn't say Moshe commanded him, it says that God commanded Moshe. In other words, בצלאל Betzalel should have done everything that Moshe told him to do. But that's not what the verse says. What does it say? Not that בצלאל Betzalel did all that Moshe told him, בצלאל Betzalel did all that God told Moshe. אפילו דברים שלא אמר לו רבו Afilu devarim shelo amar lo rabo, even things that his rebbe. didn't tell him. הסכימה דעתו למה שנאמר למשה בסיני Hiskima da'ato l'ma she'ne'emar l'Moshe b'Sinai. כי משה ציוה לבצלאל לעשות תחילה כלים ואחר כך משכן Ki Moshe tziva l'Betzalel la'asot t'chila keilim v'acharkach mishkan. Moshe commanded Betzalel what should he do first? Build the home or buy the furniture? Moshe said first comes the furniture. אמר לו בצלאל מנהג העולם לעשות תחילה בית ואחר כך מכניסים כלים לתוכו Amar lo Betzalel, minhag ha'olam la'asot t'chila bayit v'achar kach machnisim keilim l'socho. What are you talking about? We've got our great campus, our construction, so excited, we're building. Could you imagine if we order and we get delivery of our new tables and chairs and pews and desks and ארון aron and שולחן shulchan and נר תמיד ner tamid. Hello, the walls aren't up yet. You don't get the furniture before you built the building. Moshe tells Betzalel, build the furniture. And then we'll build the building. And Betzalel says, Moshe, with all due respect. After all, how old was Betzalel? 13 years old at the time. And he says, with all due respect, I don't know much, but I know that first you build the home, and then you get the furniture. אמר לו כך שמעתי בהקדוש ברוך הוא Amar lo, kach shama'ati ba'hakadosh baruch hu. And that's what I heard from God. אמר משה בצל קל היית Amar Moshe, b'tzel Kel hayita. Betzalel, the name Betzalel, is a conjunction of, בצל b'tzel, in the shade, קל Kel, of God you were. כי ודאי כך ציוה לי הקדוש ברוך הוא וכן עשה Ki vadai kach tziva li hakadosh baruch hu v'chein asa. You're right. Indeed that is what God commanded and therefore that's what we should do. משכן תחילה mishkan t'chila, first the Mishkan, and then the כלים keilim. And you read Rashi, quoted חז\"ל Chazal, and you can't help but think and ask, what in the world is going on here? What's this conversation? What's this debate? Of course Betzalel's right. Of course that's God's vision. Why did Moshe disagree? Why did Moshe give a different instruction? What is going on? What is going going on over here? The גמרא בברכות Gemara b'Brachos says in the Tiferes Shmuel, אמר רב שמואל בר נחמני אמר רבי יוחנן amar Rav Shmuel bar Nachmani amar Rabbi Yochanan, בצלאל על שם חכמתו נקרא Betzalel al shem chachmaso nikra. Betzalel got his very name from his wisdom. בשעה שאמר הקדוש ברוך הוא למשה לך ואמור לבצלאל עשה לי משכן ארון וכלים B'sha'ah she'amar hakadosh baruch hu l'Moshe, lech v'emor l'Betzalel asei li Mishkan, Aron v'Keilim, when God told Moshe, go to Betzalel and have him make for me the ארון Aron and the כלים Keilim and then משכן Mishkan, Moshe went and changed the order. ארון וכלים ומשכן Aron v'Keilim u'Mishkan. השם Hashem said to Moshe, מנהג העולם minhag ha'olam is the other order, and Moshe finally conceded. What's this מחלוקת machlokes? Moreover, says the Tiferes Shmuel, there's another debate that Moshe has. What's his other debate? We read about this in פרשת ויקהל Parshas Vayakhel last week, and we spoke about this back in תרומה תצוה Trumah Tetzaveh. The women donated their mirrors, and the mirrors were accepted by Moshe, and what did he use those mirrors for? They were the basis of the basin, the sink where the כיור kiyor, where the כהנים kohanim every day would come in to wash their hands and feet to prepare for their service. The base of the basin was made out of those mirrors. And Moshe says, mirrors? Instruments of vanity? Of beauty? There's no place for that in the holy משכן Mishkan. And God says, those are most, my most holy and precious materials. Absolutely you're accepting them. Those are the most precious to me, חביבן chavivin, those are the most precious to me. Absolutely accept them. So wonders Rav Shmuel Berenbaum, what are these two debates? Moshe's debating Betzalel, what order, first the furniture or first build the building. He's debating God, the mirrors, accept them or don't accept them. What's going on over here? What are all these debates? And he has a long essay in the Tiferes Shmuel and he says the following. Listen to this fast, fantastic. יש לומר דמשה רבינו סבר Yesh lomar d'Moshe Rabbeinu savar, Moshe thought, שכדי לבנות את המשכן she'kdei livnos es hamishkan, מקום של השריית השכינה בעולם הזה makom shel hashras hashchina ba'olam hazeh, צריכים לזה מעשים גדולים tzrichim l'zeh ma'asim gedolim. If you want to build a משכן Mishkan, if you want to build a holy, holy place for God's presence and dwelling, what do you need? You need big things. כנגד דרך העולם k'neged derech ha'olam. You need to do something that is, that is outstanding, that is extraordinary. You need to do something that's supernatural. You need to do something that's extra. כדי לזכות ושכנתי בתוכם k'dei lizkos v'shachanti b'socham. You want God to dwell in a simple building made by man? You've got to do something out of the ordinary, something fantastic, something special, something big. ומחמת כן אמר לבנות את המשכן היפך מנהג העולם u'meichamas kein amar livnos es hamishkan heifech minhag ha'olam. So Moshe thought to himself, yeah, yeah, the rest of the world, you go build your house, then you get your furniture. But this is a different place and I want the world to be talking about it and I want everyone to be watching it and everyone who comes to it to feel there's something extraordinary, out of the ordinary, something special, something that's not natural and nature, but it's supernatural. And then you'll put, ולפיכך אמר לבצלאל u'lfichach amar l'Betzalel, that's why he told him do it out of the order. And similarly, he says to God, no mirrors? No vanity? No beauty? Nothing that women used in order to entice their husbands, to tempt their husbands, to seduce. What place there is in the holy holy משכן Mishkan, you're going to have something that was used for seduction? To provoke? To tempt? That doesn't belong in a משכן Mishkan. אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא למשה Amar hakadosh baruch hu l'Moshe, says השם Hashem to Moshe, יש מעלה יותר yesh ma'alah yoser, you know what's even greater than something out of the ordinary? Finding holiness. in the ordinary. You know what's even greater than supernatural? Creating holiness in the natural, in the natural. כשאדם הולך בדרך העולם ועושה כל מעשיו לשם שמים, על ידי זה הוא מקדש כל עניני העולם הזה להיות ענינים רוחניים. K'she'adam holech b'derech ha'olam v'oseh kol ma'asav l'shem shamayim, al yedei zeh hu mekadesh kol inyanei ha'olam hazeh l'hiyot inyanim ruchni'im. We don't achieve spirituality and holiness by transcending and by escaping from the natural and by the normal and from the ordinary. השם Hashem doesn't want us to live not normal lives, out of the ordinary lives. Don't stand out, don't be not normal. You know what he wants us to do? Be normal. רב שמואל בירנבוים Rav Shmuel Berenbaum is the ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva of the מיר Mir Brooklyn, זצ\"ל zatzal. And listen to his words. אדרבה Adraba, יעשה את המשכן כדרך העולם ya'aseh es haMishkan k'derech ha'olam, מיט נורמלקייט mit normalkite. מיט נורמלקייט mit normalkite. That's a Yiddish word, apparently. מיט נורמלקייט mit normalkite. שבונין בית תחילה ואחר כך Shebonin bayis techilah v'achar kach השם Hashem says to משה Moshe, what are you doing? We're just we're normal. We're normal here. First you build a building, then you put in the furniture. Normal people have relations with their spouse. It's beautiful, it's holy, it's pleasurable. It's obligated in the כתובה kesubah. It's part of marriage. It's the foundation of intimacy. So yes, I want those mirrors. You know why? This is a place for normal people, living normal lives and finding holiness in the normal. נורמלקייט normalkite, נורמלקייט normalkite. על ידי זה יעשה זה לשם שמים לי, לשמי, כאשר צוה השם את משה. Al yedei zeh ya'aseh zeh l'shem shamayim li, lishmi, ka'asher tziva Hashem es Moshe. יוכל להביא לידי השרת השכינה yuchal l'havi lidei hashras haShechinah. If you want me to dwell, I'm not going to dwell in a place that's fanatical. I don't dwell among extremists. I don't dwell among out of the ordinary. I want normal, ordinary, physical world following my word, my prescription, my blueprint, and that's where I'll come. That's זה השרת השכינה zeh hashras haShechinah. And he has a long essay and he develops this, but I love it, because I think it's so important, it's so correct. We saw it back in פרשת יתרו Parshas Yisro he writes. ויבוא אהרן וכל זקני ישראל לאכל לחם עם חתן משה לפני האלקים. Vayavo Aharon v'chol ziknei Yisrael le'echol lechem im chosen Moshe lifnei haElokim. יתרו Yisro comes, and what do they do? They break bread. Torah describes they sat down, they ate bread with the father-in-law of משה Moshe, לפני האלקים lifnei haElokim. No, you should talk about קידוש kiddush in the social hall, the דאווענען davening's in the sanctuary. When are you before God? At the קידוש kiddush or in the sanctuary? Where is God? Well if he's at the קידוש kiddush, he probably gets an elbow to the eye, got run over by somebody aggressively trying to get to the food. If you're at the קידוש kiddush, I hope we're showing him respect there. But the reason, says רב שמואל בירנבוים Rav Shmuel Berenbaum, that the פסוק pasuk describes ויבוא אהרן וכל זקני ישראל לאכל לחם עם חתן משה לפני האלקים. Vayavo Aharon v'chol ziknei Yisrael le'echol lechem im chosen Moshe lifnei haElokim. You know where השם Hashem is? At your dining room table, at your kitchen table, even in your bedroom. הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu is in the normal activity and mundane places and parts of life. And when we do it with חכמת לב chachmas lev, when we do it, when we do it with intent and with depth and with personality and with purpose, then השם Hashem is found in the normal, in the נורמלקייט normalkite. A יידישקייט Yiddishkeit of נורמלקייט normalkite. Should be a title of an article. יידישקייט Yiddishkeit מיט נורמלקייט mit normalkite. Be normal. Don't be extreme, don't be fanatical, don't be out of the ordinary. This is רב שמואל בירנבוים Rav Shmuel Berenbaum, ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva of the מיר Mir telling us. And that's why they broke bread with יתרו Yisro because that's what you do when your father-in-law comes, you say, I'm making a barbecue. You say we're having dinner. Let's sit, let's talk, let's connect. And that makes it לפני האלקים lifnei haElokim. Listen to what he says. אין הכוונה דבשביל שדיברו שם דברי תורה נחשב לפני האלקים. Ein hakavanah d'bishvil she'dibru sham divrei Torah nechshav lifnei haElokim. Well you say, well this is משה Moshe and יתרו Yisro. For sure they were talking דברי תורה divrei Torah, they were reviewing the פרשה parsha. That's what made it לפני האלקים lifnei haElokim, right? Wrong. אלא האכילה עצמה לאכול לחם. Ela ha'achilah atzmah le'echol lechem. Breaking bread, schmoozing about sports and the news and the stock market. Asking, how was your trip? Did you get upgraded? Did you have extra legroom? Was it a smooth flight? How was the food? Just the לאכול לחם le'echol lechem is לפני האלקים lifnei haElokim when you do it with purpose, when you do it with personality, when you do it as a חכם לב chacham lev, when you do it מיט נורמלקייט mit normalkite, when you do it as a normal person. ומי שרוצה לנהוג הפך מנהג העולם וחושב שעושה דבר גדול מזה בדרך כלל אינו מצליח בדרך הזה. U'mi she'rotzeh linhog hefech minhag ha'olam, v'choshev she'oseh davar gadol mizeh, b'derech klal eino matzliach b'derech hazeh. And when a person does something in the extreme, out of the ordinary, fanatically, in extremism, a person is not successful. They're not successful. בדרך כלל אינו מצליח. הרי רצון השם הוא שיתנהג בדרך זה של נורמלקייט. B'derech klal eino matzliach. Harei r'tzon Hashem hu sheyis'naheg b'derech zeh shel normalkite. השם Hashem wants you to be normal. We heard this in שיעור shiur over and over from מורינו ורבינו Moreinu v'Rabbeinu from רב שכטר שליט\"א Rav Schechter shlita. רב שכטר Rav Schechter would say, השם Hashem wants normal, be normal. רבי Rebbe, do I have to and the do and the eat at this way and then the הלכה halacha and then hang off the roof and thing the thing and the thing? No, השם Hashem wants you to be normal. Be normal. Be normal. How do we know what's normal? Is it normal to not wear wool and linen? That's our normal. Is it normal to wear a יארמולקע yarmulke when you're? That's our normal. But within הלכה halacha. tells us and defines for us what's normal, be normal. Not extreme. It's not normal, for example, to live an ascetic life. השם Hashem doesn't want you to fast every day all day. השם Hashem doesn't want you to be to be celibate and to abstain within marriage. He wants normalcy, love and intimacy and connection. So the mirrors were brought into the משכן Mishkan and השם Hashem says, not only am I okay with them, not only do I accept them, חביבן chaviven. They're the most precious, they are the most beautiful to me. כאשר צוה השם את משה Ka'asher tziva Hashem es Moshe. We find these פסוקים psukim in ויקהל פקודי Vayakhel Pekudei, they weren't in תרומה תצוה Terumah Tetzaveh. We keep seeing over and over and over again that השם Hashem says that משה Moshe and everyone else did as God commanded, as God commanded, because the whole root and the core of the חטא העגל Chet Ha'egel was not doing it as God commanded. Now we're told, no, you can't have a creative, spiritually entrepreneurial יידישקייט Yiddishkeit. We have to do and follow as God commanded, as God commanded. We almost forgot the ווי העמודים Vavei Ha'amudim. ווי העמודים Vavei Ha'amudim. פרק ל״ח Perek Lamed Ches, פסוק כ״ח Pasuk Chaf Ches. את אלף ושבע מאות חמישים ושבעים עשה ווים לעמודים Es elef v'shva meos chamishim v'shivim asa vavim la'amudim. Out of the 1,775 שקל shekel he made hooks. The גמרא Gemara in בכורות דף ה Bechoros daf hei, this is in Rav Soloveitchik's חומש Chumash, a conversation is recorded between a non-Jewish officer and רב יוחנן בן זכאי Rav Yochanan ben Zakkai. The officer argued that משה Moshe was not precise in his accounting. In each of the 603,550 Israelites give a half שקל shekel of silver, there'd be over 200 כיכר kikar silver. Yet, משה Moshe used less than half, 100, to make the silver sockets for the משכן Mishkan. רב יוחנן בן זכאי Rav Yochanan ben Zakkai answered, משה Moshe used the remainder to make the hooks, as recorded in this verse. There were hooks that held the pillars that were in the sockets together, and if you took away those hooks, what happens? The whole משכן Mishkan collapses. The non-Jewish world does not understand why we are so concerned with details, writes Rav Soloveitchik. Why do we not have a system which would be which would free us from having to keep מצוות mitzvos that are difficult to observe under specific circumstances? Why are there any significance to the tiny hooks? Why should they be accounted for? We have so many minutiae. You have to eat this much מצה matzah in this much time, in this much way. It has to be baked in this, this much מרור maror, this size and one of the things that we do, this is normal for us. We bring rulers and measuring devices to the פסח סדר Pesach Seder. The romaine lettuce has to be this many inches by this many inches, and the מצה matzah has to be this many inches by this many inches. And you have to eat it in your mouth in this much amount of time. Why does God care? If you like the the popcorn flavor jelly beans, those are the best ones, and you want them on שבת Shabbos, so you have to take the good from the bad and do it immediately and not with an instrument because otherwise it's בורר borer. That's how you take and select and and separate the good jelly beans from the bad jelly bean. God really cares how you take the jelly beans? God cares about the jelly beans? If your תפילין tefillin are not perfectly square, God cares? He really it bothers him? How you heated the food on God really cares about minutiae and the details? That's what the world doesn't understand. Orthodox Jews, he writes, are vilified for being pedantic, concentrating too much on small details, losing sight of the important principles. I once approached a college president on behalf of an Orthodox student who needed to have an exam rescheduled so he would not have to violate שבת Shabbos or יום טוב Yom Tov. The president asked why I could not grant the student a one-time dispensation, wondering why we should invest so much time and effort on halachic minutia. חז״ל Chazal indicate that משה Moshe himself initially lost track of these hooks, until the Holy One blessed be He enlightened משה's Moshe's eyes and showed him the ווים vavim, the hooks, illuminated like the stars in the sky. משה Moshe realized that without the hooks, the sockets could not structurally bear the weight of the משכן Mishkan. Without the small details, the fundamental principles would have long since disappeared. And do you want the evidence? I'll give it to you right now. Look at the segment of the Jewish world who've done away with the minutia and details of Jewish law. I say this not triumphantly or with any joy in my heart. I say it crying, sadly, mourning, grieving. The denominations of Judaism that have done away with הלכה halacha, the minutia and the details, the whole structure has fallen apart. The intermarriage rate, the disappearance, the erosion, it's falling apart. The denominations that embrace not having to care about the minutia and the details, following Jewish law, שבת Shabbos and כשר kosher and blessings and prayers and fast days. If you don't have the details and the minutia, then the whole structure falls apart. Whole structure falls apart. And that's true for every area of life. Marriages are made up not of anniversaries and beautiful cards and wonderful high moments and vacations. They're made up by, did you put the cap on the toothpaste or not? Was the toilet seat put down? Did the socks make it into the hamper or next to it? Who cares? Those minutia, those small details? That's what make or break marriages? Yes. Because the whole system, the whole structure either stands or falls apart because of these ווים vavim, because of these little hooks that משה Moshe himself almost overlooked, almost overlooked. Okay, we're just starting. I had so much more, but we'll save it for next year. So next week again, next Tuesday, a different time. I'll let you know when, but it will be on Tuesday, please God. And please remain to say all תהילים Tehillim. Please God we should get the hostages home, our soldiers should be safe, and we should be able to answer and see צפה לישועה tzipeh l'yeshua, should long for and also merit to see the coming of משיח Mashiach.
