D'Var Torah - Parsha Vayakel
The Torah describes in great detail the building of the
Mishkan (Temple). It was an impressive work with stunning beauty. It had fine
detailed gold, jewels and intricate tapestries. When the Jews donated
builiding materials to the Mishkan it was important that they did so with the
proper intent. The Mishkan was not just a cold lifeless edifice; rather, it
was the living house of Hashem. The dedication and love for Hashem were
as vital to the construction as the actual wood and stone. Then
intention makes the gift, as the following anecdote illustrates:
The story goes that some time ago, a man punished his
5-year-old daughter for wasting a roll of expensive gold wrapping paper.
Money was tight and he became even more upset when the child pasted the gold
paper so as to decorate a gift box.
Nevertheless, the little girl brought the gift box to
her father the next day and said, "This is for you, Daddy." The father was
embarrassed by his earlier overreaction, but his anger flared again when he
found the box
was empty. He spoke to her in a harsh manner:
"Don't you know, young lady, when you give someone a
present there's supposed to be something inside the package?"
The little girl looked up at him with tears in
her eyes and said: "Daddy, it's not empty. I blew kisses into it until it
was full."
The father was crushed. He fell on his knees and put
his arms around his little girl, and he begged her to forgive him for his
unnecessary anger, and thanked her for her precious gift.
Only a short time later, a tragic accident took the
life of that child. The father kept that gold box by his bed for all the
years of his life. And whenever he was discouraged or faced difficult
problems he would open the box and take out an imaginary kiss and remember
the love of the child who had put it there.
The foregoing story was submitted by Larry & Aviva Kessler.
D'Var Torah - Parsha Vayakel
By Rabbi Baruch Lederman
A man once asked a great Rabbi to give a blessing for his children. The
Rabbi did so, but then told the father the following: The Torah tells us
that Betzalel son of Uri son of Chur was selected to be in charge of the
building of the Mishkan. The Mishkan was a transportable temple used by
the Jews in the wilderness to worship G-d . It was the prototype for
Solomon's Temple which would later be built in Jerusalem. It was a great
honor to be in charge of this vital project, and G-d bestowed Betzalel
with many spiritual and intellectual gifts to help him be up to the task.
It is considered unusual that the Torah mentions Betazalel's grandfather
Chur. Usually people are mentioned with their father's name, not with
their grandfather's name. Our sages tell us that Chur was mentioned
because he was the reason Betzalel was chosen by G-d to build the
Mishkan. Chur was the only one who stood up and protested the making of
the golden calf. Tragically, he was killed by the crazed angry mob. In
the merit of Chur's dedication for G-d's honor, G-d gave the great honor
of the Temple construction to his descendent Betzalel. Though Chur didn't
realize it at the time, it was his selfless dedication that brought
spiritual greatness to his grandson Betzalel. The Rabbi concluded, "The
greatest blessing your children can have is a father who is dedicated to
G-d and follows his Torah with devotion."
DVAR TORAH: Vayakel/Pekuday
by
Rabbi Baruch Lederman
Before the kohain brought the atonement offering on behalf of
the nation, he had to bring a personal atonement offering. Rashi
gives the reason as, “K’shote atzmacha, v’achar k’shote achairim.”
Adorn yourself, then adorn others. He needed to do his own
repentance and attain his own atonement before atoning for others.
The following story was told to me by Yaakov Lederman:
Two men came to a great and pious sage with the request that he
help them settle a dispute. The men agreed that after telling their
story, they would abide by whatever the Rav would decide.
The
Rav listened patiently as each told his side of
the story:
The two men owned adjacent fields. The branches from one of the
men’s trees protruded into his neighbor’s property. The neighbor
wanted the branches to be removed. The first man felt that such a
request was unreasonable. After all, the base of the tree was on his
side of the line; you have to expect the branches to grow out. What
was the harm? The neighbor felt that it did harm him because it took
away his sunlight and airspace and in the future could prevent him
from planting or building in that spot.
The Rav told them that he would give them his decision tomorrow.
The two returned the next day and stood before the Rav, who very
briefly, said, “This is a very simple clear cut case. The branches
need to be cut down by the owner of the tree.”
After the men left, one of the Rav’s disciples asked him, “If it
was so simple and clear cut, why was it necessary to make the men
wait a day before giving them the answer. Why couldn’t you have
rendered this decision for them yesterday, when they first came.”
The Rav explained, “When the men related their dispute, it made
me realize that I own trees with branches that protrude into my
neighbors airspace. I went out early this morning and had all those
braches cut down, because I didn’t want to tell others to do
something that I wasn’t doing myself. Only after my own branches
were removed could I tell another to do the same.”
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