Netvort Vayakheil-Pekudei 5772:        The Real Blessing

By Rabbi Joshua (pleasantly known as The Hoffer) Hoffman

Dedicated by Oren Ghashai in memory of Reb Elimelech of Lizhensk, whose Yahrzheit occurred this past Wednesday night/Thursday, and for the swift, complete recovery of Rav Yosef Shalom Eliashiv, who is widely recognized as today's leading halachic authority.

The parshiyos of Vayakheil and Pekudei deal with the command and execution of the building of the Mishkan and the making of the bigdei kehunah, the priestly vestments. Parshas Vayakheil, however, begins with some matters that, ostensibly, are not connected to the Mishkan and the vestments. First, we are told that Moshe gathered the entire Jewish people together. Then, we are told, he commanded them concerning the laws of Shabbos, with particular emphasis on the prohibition of kindling a fire on that day. Only then does he command the people to build the Mishkan. In what way do these matters serve as an introduction to the command regarding the Mishkan?

Perhaps we can explain that a prerequisite for building the Mishkan is a sense of peace and unity among the Jewish people. After the sin of the eigel, there existed a rift among various elements of the people, and, as Rav Aharon Lichtenstein has pointed out, between the people and Moshe, as well. These rifts had to be healed before the Mishkan could be built. In regard to Shabbos, an atmosphere of peace needs to be created in order to experience the special blessing that Shabbos provides. This is alluded to in the verse that prohibits the kindling of a fire on Shabbos. Rashi, citing the Talmud, says that the singling out of this prohibition has halachic implications, which are a matter of dispute. However, there are also symbolic messages that emerge from this mention of fire. Before Shabbos, Reb Elimelech of Lizhensk would have everyone in his household ask forgiveness from each other, in order to enter Shabbos with the proper spirit. As the author of the work Noam Elimelech, perhaps he wanted them, in this way, to experience the noam, the pleasantness, of Shabbos. As Shabbos ends, in fact, we say the verse in Tehillim (90), ascribed to Moshe, which asks that the noam of God should be upon us, meaning that the pleasantness experienced on Shabbos should extend into the week. What, precisely, is this noam? To answer this question, we must look at the end of parshas Pekudei.

At the end of parshas Pekudei, when the people have completed the construction of the Mishkan, Moshe blesses them. Rashi, citing the midrash, asks, what beracha did he bestow upon them? The blessing was, May it be His will that the shechinah, the divine presence, hover over the work of your hands. He also recited the verse, which we mentioned earlier, which asks that God's pleasantness should be upon us and upon the work of our hands. Rav Kook, in his Oros HaKodesh (vol. 2, pg. 509), as cited by the recently deceased Rav Chanan Porath, a founder of Gush Emunim, in his book Me'at Min HaOr, on Shemos, in a lengthy discussion of Moshe's prayer, explains by first mentioning the Mishnah at the end of Uktzin, which says that God did not find a better vessel than shalom, peace, to contain blessing. The implication says Rav Kook, is that peace is only a vessel, and not the blessing itself. What, then, is the real blessing? The blessing, he says, is that which Moshe prayed for upon the completion of the Mishkan, the attainment of God's noam, which, Rav Kook explains, is a very high level of the dwelling of the divine presence.

The beginning of parshas Vayakheil, then, teaches us the proper way of building the vessel to contain blessing, by inculcating shalom among the Jewish people. However, it is only at the end of parshas Pekudei that we learn what the true blessing is. As important as it is to live in peace among our fellow Jews, it is closeness to God that is the greatest blessing.