Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Hello, my friends, and welcome back to this week's episode of the Practical Parsha podcast. This is Rabbi Shlomo Cohon, and I hope you are well.
[00:00:08] I was able to get a couple of minutes of shut eye when I came home from work today, and I feel rested and rejuvenated. No pun intended right there.
[00:00:19] To get out another episode of the Practical Parasha podcast. It's been a little bit busy, thank God, with the new baby in the house. Eliyahu Baruch Hashem. Not complaining, very happy. It's always a little challenge getting into that routine with a new baby. So we're getting there.
[00:00:38] Got to give my wife a lot of credit for manning the ship and still letting me get to get out and to record this episode.
[00:00:45] Thank God we're here and ready to record this amazing episode. This week's parsha is Parshas Cheruma, and as usual, the usual.
[00:00:57] If you have any questions, comments, want to say hello, want to introduce yourself, I know you've been thinking about it. Should I send the email to Rabbi Cohen? Maybe I'll do it next week. Just do it. Don't worry, I don't bite. I'd love to hear from you.
[00:01:15] My email address is Rabbi Shlomo Cohen, kohnmail.com I'd love to hear from you.
[00:01:22] This week's Parasha is Parshas Truma.
[00:01:25] And for the next bunch of weeks, the Torah portions are going to deal exclusively with the Mishkan, the tabernacle, the vestments of the Kohanim, who served in the tabernacle in the Mishkan, as well as the Avodah, the service that was to be done in the Mishkan.
[00:01:50] Now specifically, Parshas Truma deals with the building of the Mishkan, the structure and aside from the different, you know, the size of the Mishkan, this mobile temple that the Jewish people had while they were in the desert, the parsha tells us how it's to be built, its walls, its curtains, and the actual different the altars that were inside the menorah was inside the special ark.
[00:02:21] You had the table, the shulchan, the measurements of the Mishkan, the perohes, the special curtain that's separated between the different sections, between the regular, the Kodesh and the Kodesh, Kadashim and the holy of holies, where the ark was actually placed.
[00:02:39] Now, you may ask, what was the purpose of this Mishkan that Hashem commanded the Jewish people to create, to build according to his word while they were in the desert and the answer to that we're going to get into a little bit today, but really to synopsize this is that the Mishkan was going to be a central point where Hashem's presence, the Shechina, would rest in this world.
[00:03:07] And the commentaries explain that each component of the Mishkan and the vestments of the Mishkan were all symbolic of different, um, concepts, different ideas, different parts of the body, different significances in Judaism.
[00:03:30] And really there's many, many different levels and depth.
[00:03:34] And actually, I think I've gone into this a little bit in previous years. But the point is that there's a lot of depth here to how the Mishkan was built and the vestments that the Kohanim wore when they served in the temple. And it was all really just a unifying factor to bring the people together to serve, uh, Hashem on the most deepest level. And from this avodah, from this service, Hashem Shechina, his divine presence, would manifest itself.
[00:04:02] Now, before we jump into this, I just want to bring out a Ramban.
[00:04:08] The Ramban Nachmanides explains on this parsha, really these parshios, these Torah portions where Hashem is commanding the Jewish people to build the Mishkan was that when the Jewish nation came out of Mitsrayim, when they were liberated from Egypt, that wasn't just the point to be liberated from Egypt. Hashem brought us, you know, through Kriyas Yamsuv, through the crossing of the sea.
[00:04:36] He performed a miracle for us, and then he led us through the desert. He provided man for us this miraculous food. And 49 days later, after leaving Mitsrayim, after leaving Egypt, the Jewish people accepted the Torah. At Har Sinai, where God revealed himself to the entire Jewish people, there was a mass revelation.
[00:04:59] Now, the Ramban explains that even the revelation at Sinai wasn't the end all be all of the Jewish people being liberated from Mitzrayim.
[00:05:13] Really the culmination of the Jewish people getting out of Mitzrayim was, you know, sure, Har Sinai was a big part of it, but the culmination of gaining of, uh, getting to that level of Har Sinai, that was really a temporary status that the Jewish people attained. This tremendous high level of revelation of Hashem at Harsina, that was more temporary.
[00:05:37] But the true, I guess, point of destination which Hashem wanted Moshe to take the Jewish people to was the creation of the Mishkan, where his essence or, uh, where Hashem's presence, his Shechina, would rest in a permanent way. In this world.
[00:05:58] So it comes out that the Mishkan was sort of.
[00:06:05] A, uh, reenactment on a more permanent level of the experience and at Sinai. And the Ramban explains on this, you know, through many different verses which correlate the actual structure of the verses when it comes to the building of the Mishkan or the building of the tabernacle to actually the giving of the Torah on Har Sinai, that there's a lot of parallels between them, between the two moments, because the revelation at Sinai was a moment where we had clarity and we saw that there's Hashem. Hashem manifested himself openly to the entire nation.
[00:06:44] And now the building of the Mishkan, more on a more. Maybe not as in the same way, uh, as the giving of the Torah, but also.
[00:06:54] But the building of the Mishkan was going to be a place on a more. Maybe not hidden, but not the same as Harsinai, but God's presence would manifest itself there.
[00:07:04] Now, why is this important? How does this relate to each and every one of us? Right. This is the Practical Parsha podcast, right? I'm talking about ideas and concepts that happened a long time ago. And I think I was thinking a little bit about this. And, um, perhaps maybe one idea we could bring out from this, and maybe this is what the Ramban is coming to teach us. Perhaps, you know, we. The question has been asked, you know, why doesn't Hashem manifest himself openly like he did at Sinai? Now, that's a question which can be dealt with. And actually the Ramban Nachmanides M. Deals with that question. He himself deals with that question, which I've talked about on this podcast.
[00:07:54] But perhaps what he's, you know, maybe he's alluding to here as well, is that the building of the tabernacle, which obviously was a temporary temple, which eventually culminated in the building of the Beis Hamikdash, the building of the temple in Jerusalem.
[00:08:09] Right. Which we don't have at this point in time. And God willing, the third temple will be rebuilt when Mashiach comes, is that the temple and Harsinai, they sort of correspond in what they were, you know, representing and what we're showing to the Jewish nation because the. The revelation at Sinai was a moment when we had this clarity that Hashem existed. There was no questions now. And the Mishkan and the temple was a place of unity where the Jewish people served Hashem. And through that service, Hashem shechina manifested itself.
[00:08:47] Now, it's hard for us to imagine exactly what that means. What does it mean that Hashem shechina manifested, uh, itself. But the way it's understood is that it was clear to each and every person when they would come to the Beis Hamikdash, when they would come to the temple, when they would come to the tabernacle, that Hashem was there, that Hashem was running the world. And then when they would come, when a person would come to the Beis Hamikdash, to the temple or to the tabernacle, they would feel reinvigorated with a spirit to serve Hashem on an even higher level.
[00:09:19] And that's the connection.
[00:09:22] Sure, uh, Hashem is not doing revelations at Sinai every moment for us, but what he is doing for us is that he's giving us a mishkan, a tabernacle where we can feel his presence if we so choose to do so.
[00:09:40] Now, how does this relate to me and you today? Today we don't have this tabernacle. We don't have a mishkan, we don't have a bis Hamikdash.
[00:09:49] How do we feel Hashem? How do we see his manifestation?
[00:09:54] The answer to that is that the Talmud tells us that when the Beis Hamikdash, when the temple is not around, since we don't have it, when we don't have it, we don't have the mishkan, the tabernacle, the batiknisiyis and the bati midrashos, the houses of prayer and the houses of study, take the place of the mishkan, that they become a mikdash ma', at, a miniature temple, a miniature tabernacle. And I think if we think about this on a deeper level, why is it that those places become the place where we could, you know, see the manifestation of the shechina? Right? It's not on the same level as when we had the Beis Hamikdash, but it's there now. The question is why? And I think maybe perhaps the answer is that when we study Torah or when we daven, you know, there's a certain sense of fulfillment, a certain sense of connection that a person feels when they do that. It's undeniable. I've asked people that I study with, you know, why do you keep coming back to learn?
[00:11:03] And when we talk about it a little bit, there's always this pull. When you give some Torah, you know, soul food to your neshama, there's a certain sense of satisfaction that nothing else in the world can give you. And I think perhaps this is you know, since the study hall and the houses of the synagogues, there are places where people daven, where they pray and where they learn. So that is the place where it's manifested the most.
[00:11:31] And I think it doesn't necessarily mean that a person has to go to the house of worship or the house of Slut. I mean, sure, you should go there. It's a great thing to do. And we should go to David and we should go to shul, and we should go to the programming at the synagogue. It's a great thing to do. My point is that it's not limited just to that, is that if a person connects himself, whether he davens, wherever he or she may be to daven, to learn, to try to really tap in, if we do that enough, we're able to feel that manifestation, which is similar in a sense to that revelation at Sinai. So I think this idea, you know, perhaps I don't want to say it's, you know, uh, you know, who am I to say a pshat, to say what the Ramban meant, but perhaps we could say that this is maybe a little bit an understanding of what Nachman means when he is referring to the connection between the Mishkan, the Tabernacle, and Har Sinai, the revelation at Sinai. Now, just to shift gears for a moment, note everything in the Torah, how the Torah is set up, it's divine. Nothing is by accident. And I saw brought down, actually, that the juxtaposition of these or this parsha, which talks about the Jewish people giving donations for the tabernacle, is next to last week's parsha, which is Parshas Mishpatim. Parshas Mishpatim deals with civil law, you know, to be honest, to be fair, to not cheat. Right. And I saw that Rabbi Plissken brings down one of the reasons why the connection here between Parshas Mishpatim, which deals with being honest, being straight, and Parsha struma, which in the beginning of the parsha, really talks about giving tzedakah. There's a lot of beautiful concepts about giving the psukim. And I've talked about this on previous years, that when you give tzedakah, you're really, um, gaining yourself, you're not giving away. But one important lesson which I saw brought down here is that we see the connection between the two parshios, the two Torah portions. It teaches us something very, very powerful. You know, um, there's a legend, Robin Hood. Now, Robin Hood is a.
[00:13:49] In the stories, he's a great Guy. Why is he a great guy? Because he steals from the rich to give to the poor.
[00:13:57] And I think even in society we live in today, this is like a very popular concept. It's very, um. It's very. It seems like it's very. It's the right thing to do if it's. It's okay if you steal from the rich and give to the poor. Now, the Torah is telling us that from the fact that the two parshios, the two Torah portions, are next to each other, teaches us that two wrongs don't make a right. That if someone steals something or takes something improperly, even if they want to, they can't take it. And to use it, to use it for something good. And I think that's. That's, um, One of the lessons here that we see from these. These two parshios is that even if a person takes something that doesn't belong to him, he can't take it. Now to give it, to do a mitzvah with it. Two wrongs don't make a right. To steal from the rich, give to the poor is not a proper thing to do. Fine. Maybe people should feel that they should give their fair share. That's a discussion. We'll leave that for the politics podcast. But the point is, to steal from other people, even with the best of intentions, is wrong.
[00:15:01] We only are obligated, uh, to do what Hashem tells us to do. More than that we shouldn't do, we can't do. It's not right. And this idea from the Beis Alevi, we see that if a person steals to give charity, it's not considered charity. This is a very powerful idea we see from this week's Parasha. Now, if you jump into the parasha, the verses read as vayedaber hashem hamish oleimar hashem spoke to Moshe, saying, daber elbenei yishv vikh huli truma meyes kalish ashid venu libo tikhus shumasi speak to the children of Israel and let them take for me a portion from m. Every man whose heart motivates him, you shall take my portion.
[00:15:40] Now the commentaries discuss at length the reason why the psukim, it should say, uh, give, right? If we're talking about donations for the Mishkan, just say everyone should give a certain donation. What's this taking for me?
[00:15:55] So one of the basic understandings of this, you know why it says this? Is because when a person gives tzedakah, he's not really giving he's taking, he's gaining the merit of giving tzedakah. He's helping himself.
[00:16:08] Now Rabbi Tversky brings down an, uh, interesting reason, uh, another reason perhaps of why the tsukim pasuk says yichu li truma, that it should take from Yitrouma, that it's sort of like a, ah, taking. They should this. It references the taking more than the giving.
[00:16:29] We all know that we all enjoy being, you know, giving. We like to give to people. We like to help people out. It feels very good to be a giver, to not have to come on to other people. No one wants to be a burden. No one wants to be a, uh, bother to other people.
[00:16:46] But at the same time, there's a place for being a taker. And it's not just something which is nice, it's something we need to do.
[00:16:58] You know, the Talmud tells us how important it is for a person to live, you know, a more basic life and not come on to people.
[00:17:11] You know, don't live a life of luxury, live a life of necessity, and don't have to come on to other people. It's better not to. We encourage that. But at the same time, it's clear from the Torah, um, that a person who doesn't take when he should is an uncompassionate person. He's not being compassionate, he's being, you know, in a sense, ruthless to himself.
[00:17:36] It's very important for us to remember that as much as we like to give at times in our lives, it's necessary for us to take. And even more than that, we have to remember that in order for us to continue to be givers, we have to take as well. And just to remind you, a little story could be. I've talked about this in the past, maybe other episodes or maybe on the Perkievos podcast, that one time I was actually flying on a plane from New York to Israel.
[00:18:14] And on the plane it was stopped over in London.
[00:18:18] I remember clearly. They had those, um, they took us on a bus and we had to go up the stairs, those, you know, that truck that has those staircase to the airplane. And I remember seeing this older woman who was traveling by herself and she had a large suitcase, a carry on suitcase. And I remember thinking to myself, like, should I offer her to help her with the suitcase? And I decided to. I went over to her, she was next to me. I just said, can I help you with your suitcase up the stairs? And she was a bit hesitant. You know, when you travel, you're always wary of Strangers. She was a little bit hesitant. She didn't really give me an answer. And I just, you know, I just picked the suitcase up, brought it to the top of the stairs and left it there for her. I didn't think too much about it.
[00:19:03] Now at the end of the plane ride, she comes over to me, the same woman with her little British accent, and says to me, you know, they told me you keep kosher, so I bought you this. And she drops these, a bag, a duty free bag on my lap. And I open the duty free bag, actually, when she walked away, of course, and I see it was like a bunch of mini whiskeys that she had purchased from the airline, you know, so the joke is, help old ladies get free booze.
[00:19:33] But on a serious note, I tried to give it back to her, but she refused to take it back. I said, uh, you know, I just did something for you because it's the right thing to do. I didn't do it to get rewarded, to get, you know, these mini alcohol, mini, mini whiskeys. But she refused. And she said a line that has stayed with me to this day. She said, with her, you know, very quaint British accent, sometimes in order to, to give, you have to take. And she, like, gave me a little wink. That was it. And I think it's an important concept. We see here from the Torah itself, when Hashem is telling Jewish people that about building the Mishkan, about giving donations, you know, it could have used the word give, but it used the word take, that all of us, at certain times we need to take. And when we take, we could use it as an opportunity for us to learn how to give, to be better givers, right? Maybe now we need to take something from somebody. But we could remember about this experience, uh, in this moment, for the future, when we're able to be the givers, to use it, then to help us go forward. So I think it's a very powerful idea that we should keep in our mind. Now, one last thought I want to share with you today.
[00:20:44] Such a beautiful idea, and I think I might have said it in the past, but it's just such a nice idea. I want to say it again.
[00:20:50] We see that when it comes to all the different Kalem, all the different vessels of the Mishkan, um, it was built by, you know, under Moshe Rabbeinu's guidance.
[00:21:01] And there was. Beitzalel was the foreman, and the Jewish people built the Mishkan. There was one vessel in the Mishkan that was not built by the Jewish People was not built by Moshe. But it's interesting. If you look at the verses, it's not clear exactly right.
[00:21:20] Which vessel of the Mishkan am I referring to? I'm referring to the menorah. The verse reads as, vasisa menorah zohav, uh, tohar miksha tehaseha ha menoira yerecha vikhana giviyya kaftarea parchea mimena yiyu.
[00:21:35] You shall make a menorah of pure gold. Hammered out shall the menorah be made. Its base, its shaft, its cups, its knobs, and its bosom shall be hammered from it.
[00:21:46] Now, Rashi points out from it that the wording in the pasuk, the grammar doesn't make sense. First it says, you shall make the menorah, and then it says, it shall be made. So first the pasuk seems to be saying that Moshe Rabbeinu, the craftsmen, they were trying to make the menorah. And then it seems from the end of the puzzuk, from the end of the verse, that it was made.
[00:22:11] It was sort of made on its own.
[00:22:13] What's going on over here? And Rashi is the one who points this out for us. Rashi explains that in the beginning, Moshe Rabbeinu was trying to understand how the menorah should be made. And he's tried. The craftsman tried to create this menorah Based on the instructions that Hashem had given Moshe.
[00:22:34] And the menorah was very complex. Had to be chiseled out from one solid piece of gold.
[00:22:39] And they weren't able to do it. They tried, but they weren't able to do it. Till it came to a point where Hashem, uh, said, throw the. Throw the chunk of gold into a fire, and out came the menorah. So G D himself made the menorah. It was a miracle.
[00:22:54] Now, what's the interesting part over here, right? You could have. Many times a person, we could think to ourselves, everything's in our hands. We could do everything. We're able to do it.
[00:23:05] But we have to realize that's wrong. That's not the right attitude.
[00:23:09] Right? Hashem, uh, is the one who causes us success, who grants us success.
[00:23:15] Now, I could go to the other side, though. This could lead to an attitude where a person says to himself, okay, if God does everything, I'll just sit back and relax. I won't do anything. That's also not right. Because, you know, we see that from the pasik as well. There's the menorah. We got to Remember the menorah, because what's the menorah represent to us? It represents us doing our part. Right. That Moshe Rabbeinu started the process. He tried. He tried to create the menorah. But ultimately it was Hashem, um, who put the menorah out. The finished product of the menorah. What mean to say is when it comes to our own efforts and our own successes, we have to realize we have to do our part. We have to do our Hashtadlis. We can't just sit back and relax.
[00:23:59] That's the point. There's this balance of the two. It's not either extreme. It's not us thinking that our destiny is in our hands, and therefore our actions control everything. And on the flip side, it's not us. It's not, you know, we can't just sit back and do nothing and expect Hashem, uh, to just miraculously do everything for us. There's a middle ground that we have to get to, which is us doing our part, whatever that is, whatever that threshold is. And Hashem, you know, being the one who gives us that success, who gives us that finished product. So with that, I'm gonna finish for today's podcast. I hope you enjoyed. If you have any questions, comments, would like to reach out, feel free to send me email at rabbi shlomo kon kohnil.com have a great day.
