|
שבת שלום - פרשת ויקהל
|
|
Video Shiur
|
Click play to watch the video shiur by Rav Yosef Kaminetsky
|
|
News and Notes
|
The entire yeshiva wishes a tremendous mazal tov to our alumnus, Zalman Nemoy, and to Lori Polly of Beit Shemesh, on the occasion of their marriage last night in Jerusalem. Shetizku livnot bayit neeman b'Yisrael!
The yeshiva enjoyed a four-day tiyul to Tzfat beginning last Friday morning and continuing through Monday night. Friday's activities included a visit to the kever of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, and a three-hour hike in Nachal Meron. On Shabbat, the students were joined in Tzfat by Rabbi Ariel Greenberg, Rabbi Meir Arnold, and Rabbi Jeff Aftel and their families.
Apart from davening in some of the famous synagogues - including a wonderful Friday night Carlebach minyan, and mincha on Shabbat afternoon in Rav Yosef Karo's beit midrash - we also had delicious meals,an oneg Shabbat at the hotel, and a guided walking tour of the old city. On Motzaei Shabbat, we met with the kabbalist-artist Rav Avraham Levintal, and visited the kever and mikvah of the Arizal.
On Sunday, the students continued the tiyul with a walking tour of Tzfat, a trip to the HaChula Nature Reserve, a hike in the Banyas, and a stop in Teveria. On Monday, everyone went on the Tzuk Manara Cable Cars and hike, and had a terrific time ATVing afterwards before returning to the yeshiva.
We thank the Greenbergs and Aftels for joining us for Shabbat, and the Arnolds, who stayed throughout the tiyul.
At the same time as the Tzfat Shabbaton was taking place in Israel, Rav Kahn and Rav Wolicki attended the first annual Yesodei HaTorah Alumni Shabbaton at Congregation Keter Torah in Teaneck, NJ. Along with davening and sharing Shabbat meals together at the shul, the alumni heard several shiurim from the roshei yeshiva; Rav Kahn and Rav Wolicki also addressed the entire shul several times over Shabbat. We thank the Keter Torah community for their outstanding hospitality, as well as all the alumni who came and made the Shabbaton the success that it was.
On Tuesday morning, Yesodei HaTorah hosted Rabbi Yitzchak Rubinstein of Shem Olam, who gave an elaborate and meaningful presentation on the History of the Holocaust. Among the topics discussed were Kavod haMet, and the character, personality, and heroism of Rav Yosef Carlebach.
|
Parsha Insights
By Rabbi Scott Kahn
Parashat Vayakhel describes the building of the Mishkan, and the admirable zeal of the Children of Israel in working on and donating to the cause of creating a dwelling place for the Shechina. Indeed, the Midrash Tanna Devei Eliyahu metaphorically describes G-d as almost "worrying" that the Children of Israel would not donate generously to the Mishkan, and being pleasantly surprised by their complete willingness to comply:
Once Israel joyfully accepted the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven, and said, "All that Hashem says we will do and we will listen," the Holy One, Blessed be He immediately told Moshe to tell Israel to make a Mishkan, as it says, "Speak to the Children of Israel... that they should make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell in their midst." At that time the Holy One, Blessed be He said in His heart that perhaps the Children of Israel will not bring their gifts before Me, and perhaps will say regarding the One Above, does He need silver and gold?! All silver, gold, precious stones, jewels, and valuable vessels are His... and why does He say to people to bring Him gifts so that they can make a sanctuary for Him? But that which the Holy One, Blessed be He requested of Israel, Israel gave Him; and He therefore does for Israel that which He promised them [i.e., to dwell in their midst]." (Seder Eliyahu Raba 17:12)
The Torah itself describes Israel's desire to give to the Mishkan, as well - a desire so intense that they brought more than was even necessary:
Moshe called Betzalel and Oholiav and each wise-hearted man in whose heart Hashem placed wisdom - anyone whose heart inspired him to come close to the work to do it - and they took from before Moshe all the offerings which the Children of Israel brought to make the work of the holy divine service, and they brought him more gifts each morning. And all the wise men who were doing the holy work came... and spoke to Moshe, saying, the nation is bringing more than necessary for the service of the work which Hashem commanded to do." (Shemot 36:2-5)
Rav Yaakov Kaminetsky ZT"L notes that this zeal for the commandment was even more impressive than we would naturally assume. According to Rashi, the collection for the Mishkan began the day after the first Yom Kippur - that is, the day that Moshe returned from Mount Sinai with the second set of luchot habrit. The dedication of the Mishkan occurred on rosh chodesh Nisan, approximately six months later. The sin of the spies took place on Tisha b'Av, just over four months after the Mishkan's dedication. Had the Children of Israel refrained from sinning, they would have entered the Land of Israel shortly afterwards; they only remained in the desert for forty years because of their abominable behavior during the episode of the spies. This means, then, that the Children of Israel were planning to enter the Land only months after the building of the Mishkan, at which time the Mishkan would be rendered obsolete by the immediate building of the Beit HaMikdash. Accordingly, the people spent more time building the Mishkan than the time they believed they would actually need it! Moreover, the Midrash cited above notes that it would be reasonable to wonder why G-d requests donations at all, as all possessions are in reality His. From every perspective, then, it appears clear that the Children of Israel ignored pure logic, and instead gave everything they could to make the Mishkan perfect.
Rav Kaminetsky thus says that the Children of Israel demonstrated unsurpassed zeal and tremendous generosity in building the Mishkan not because it would be a permanent dwelling for G-d, but simply because G-d commanded them to build it. It was not going to last for very long; it was designed to be a temporary sanctuary for the few months left until the genuine article - the Beit HaMikdash - could be built. But despite its temporary nature, Israel worked hard and showed phenomenal dedication for no reason other than that Hashem said to build such a Mishkan. Israel's love for the divine command, regardless of the building's temporary nature, drove them to unsurpassed levels of generosity and dedication.
Rav Kaminetsky concludes that Israel's fine behavior here provides a model for how we should always act when confronted with the opportunity to do a mitzvah. We are taught in Pirkei Avot (2:1), "Be as careful with a seemingly small mitzvah as with a great one, for you do not know the reward for the mitzvot." Although the Mishkan was meant to be a temporary dwelling place for the Shechina, the people acted as though they were building a permanent sanctuary. Similarly, we should muster all the enthusiasm possible every time we are afforded the opportunity to do a mitzvah - no matter how seemingly insignificant it appears. Our finite minds cannot comprehend the ultimate reasons that the Infinite One commanded us to perform any given mitzvah, and we should, therefore, never assume that it is unimportant or undeserving of our complete dedication. Just as the Children of Israel gave everything they could to erect the temporary desert structure, we should dedicate our entire beings to constantly ensure that we are living our lives according to the Divine will.
|
