Parsha Paragraphs
Rabbi Naftali Moshe Kassorla
Parshat Pikudei 5779
Soulful Sounds
The
Parsha this week recounts for us again the details of the Mishkan.
Though it may seem to our superficial perspective that this parsha is
a mere repetition, as we all know, nothing in the Torah is said
unnecessarily – there is always something to be gleaned from the
depths of the Torah.
The
pasuk says:
וּבְצַלְאֵל
בֶּן־אוּרִי בֶן־חוּר לְמַטֵּה יְהוּדָה
עָשָׂה אֵת כָּל־אֲשֶׁר־צִוָּה ה׳
אֶת־מֹשֶׁה
Now
Betzalel, son of Uri son of Chur, of the tribe of Yehuda, had made
all that Hashem had commanded Moshe.
Rashi,
quoting the Yerushalmi (3:1) and the Midrash Rabbah (1:14) notes the
oddity of the phrasing of “That Hashem had commanded Moshe”, and
not “what Moshe had communicated to Betzalel.”
ובצלאל
בן אורי וגו'
עשה
את כל אשר צוה ה'
את
משה.
אֲשֶׁר
צִוָּה מֹשֶׁה אֵין כְּתִיב כָּאן,
אֶלָּא
כָּל אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה ה'
אֶת
מֹשֶׁה,
אֲפִלּוּ
דְּבָרִים שֶׁלֹּא אָמַר לוֹ רַבּוֹ,
הִסְכִּימָה
דַּעְתּוֹ לְמַה שֶּׁנֶּאֱמַר לְמֹשֶׁה
בְּסִינַי
It
is not stated here: “that Moshe commanded”, but “all that the
Lord commanded Moshe” — even regarding such things which his
teacher (Moshe) did not tell him, his own opinion was in agreement
with what had been told to Moshe on Sinai.
Seemingly,
Betzalel was not told everything in it specifics from Moshe. Rather,
there were some details which Betzalel inherently understood on his
own. Despite the fact that it had not been directly communicated to
him, he was still able to understand what Hashem intended.
Why
and how was Betzalel was able to do this? To discern the ratzon
Hashem on his own? I believe the answer is thus: Hashem, by
implanting within us a neshama, has allowed us the ability to reach
deep into the recesses of ourselves
to
touch Divinity.
This
is because the Neshama of a Jew is a חלק
אלוקי ממעל – a
piece of G-d Himself. And when a person truly connects to that piece
of Kedusha, he is connecting to Hakadosh Baruch Hu directly. Using
this means, Betzalel was able to correctly intuit what Hashem wanted
– because the answer was already within
him.
Not
everything needs to be spoken out directly (and sometimes things
aren’t able to be spoken out). A person can intuit within the
expanses of the Neshama. But this is only true when one has done the
requisite work to actually reach the truth that lies in their
Neshama. Only then is he able to draw upon that latent inspiration.
The
way to do this is by actively changing the perspective of the “self”
– to view oneself and our interactions with the world through the
prism of being a Neshama. By doing this, a person connects to the
Divine. The more Mitzvos we do, the more we are nourishing the true
self. The logical and obvious inverse is that when a person does
Aveiros, it drags him further away from the conscious connection to
G-d that lies within him. This makes it more difficult to connect to
the רצון
ה׳ – the
true Will of G-d.
There
is a beautiful piece in צוואת
הריב״ש (Last
Will and Testament of the Baal Shem Tov). There he discusses this
concept – of viewing our reality through the prism of our neshama –
as a tool to further our connection to tefillah.
אין
מתפללין אלא מתוך כובד הראש.
פירוש
אל תתפלל בשביל דבר שחסר לך כי לא יקובל
תפלתך.
אלא
כשתרצה להתפלל תתפלל על כבידות שיש בראש
כי הדבר שחסר לך החסרון יש בשכינה.
כי
אדם חלק אלקי ממעל והחסרון שיש בהחלק יש
בכלל.
והכלל
מרגיש את החסרון של החלק.
א"כ
תהי'
תפלתך
על החסרון של הכלל וזהו פירוש אלא מתוך
כובד הראש.
The
Gemara (Brachot 30b) says that a person should pray with a serious
frame of mind [lit. a heaviness of head]. Meaning, do not pray for
something that you yourself are lacking, for this prayer will not be
accepted. Rather, when you wish to pray, pray over the “difficulty
you have in your head”
-
for that which you are lacking, the Shechina [presence of Hashem]
lacks as well! For a person is part of the Divine above, and
the lack which is felt in the part [us] is also felt by the Whole
[G-d]. And the Whole [G-d] feels the lack of the part [us].
Therefore, your prayer should be with the awareness of the lack of
the Whole. This is the meaning of praying with a “heaviness of
head”
Here
we see that when we consciously realize that we are a part of G-d and
truly tap into this notion, it will change our entire outlook on the
world and how we relate to it. We are not merely a body with a
Neshama; rather we are a Neshama
with a body.
We can pray with the awareness that when we feel lacking, Hashem
so-to-speak feels that lack, for we are a part of Him. We do not live
alongside G-d, we live with
G-d,
in unison. And our mission in this world is: to bring out the
G-dliness that is contained within each of us.
The
awareness of our individual Divine spark should give us the
confidence necessary to confront some of the big questions in life.
Though it is unquestionably a prime Jewish value to seek guidance and
direction from those greater than us, it is important not to neglect
the need to foster within ourselves a healthy trust of the Chelek
Ha’Elokus that Hashem gave us.
A good mentor will try and nurture that within his student.
Even
with the awareness of the importance of being attuned to the sounds
and emanations from our Neshamas, we must still endeavor to create
the proper environments to be able to hear Hakadosh Baruch Hu. It
feels almost impossible in our day and age to find a moment of quiet
and calm. We are bombarded with a world that is always in motion,
always jumping to the next step. We must make a concerted effort to
create an outer calm, to be able to hear the inner calm. This is
integral to cultivating a real connection with the Borei Olam.
This
is also a very timely and important lesson to focus on as Purim
approaches. The Gemara tells us: “Nichnas
Yayin, Yatzah Sod”
– When
one gets drunk, the truth comes out (Eiruvin 65a, Sanhedrin 38a). The
true personality surfaces as the person loses their inhibitions. If
one has done the proper work on his character in polishing off the
aveiros that have tarnished his Neshama, the great sterling qualities
of his Neshama will shine forth.
As
we embark on the path of finding that outer and inner calm and
reaching our souls, may our efforts to come closer to Hashem be
blessed with success.
Shabbat
Shalom
