4 HHaammooddiiaa MMaaggaazz iinnee March 18, 2009

TORAH THOUGHTS VAYAKHEL - PEKUDEI

A fter amassing what theyneeded to build the Mishkan,the people in charge of its

construction approached Moshe andinformed him that they felt inundatedwith materials to be used for theMishkan. The materials they hadgathered far exceeded their needs.These men, referred to by the Torah as“wise men,” were not feelingoverwhelmed or flustered — they hadsimply done the math in their headsand knew when they had received thenecessary amounts. Therefore, theyquestioned Moshe, why were theycontinuing to take unnecessarydonations (Shemos 36)?

Moshe knew that their calculationswere correct and thus spread wordamong the Jewish people to cease

bringing items (ibid. 36:6). Moshewould not permit Bnei Yisrael to givemore than was needed so that therewould be a surfeit of material ormoney for a future “rainy day.” Moneywas being collected for a specificproject; when that goal was reached,the campaigning stopped.

Yet the Torah says that when Moshegave the order for people to stopdonating, they were actually held backbecause they really wanted to donatemore. In fact, Bnei Yisrael had beenbringing contributions for the buildingof the Mishkan with such generositythat the entire “fundraising” processwas completed in just two days (ibid.36:3).

In the sefer Menachem Tzion, HaravMenachem Zaks asks why Moshe told

the Jewish people to stop donatingmaterials; why not let them give asmuch as they wanted, and use thesurplus to make additional, fanciervessels? After all, the Beis Hamikdashdesigned by Shlomo Hamelech and theconstruction done by Hordus wereboth much more elaborate than theMishkan and contained many morevessels. Why couldn’t the people in thedesert do the same for the Mishkan?No matter how minor, functions couldhave been found for an unlimitednumber of items in the Mishkan. Incontributing more, the people wouldbenefit from fulfilling a mitzvah, andthey would further beautify theMishkan. What was the reason Moshestopped the collection?

Harav Zaks answers that there wasa fundamental difference between theMishkan and the Beis Hamikdash, andthere evolved separate ways to handlethe collection of surplus materials. TheMishkan was built as a temporarystructure that did not stay in one placeall the time. It was built while the

Rabbi Moshe Hubner

SETTING LIMITSBased on Insights of Harav Menachem Zaks, zt”l

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nation was traveling through thedesert on their way to Eretz Yisrael,and it was carried to each new locationby the leviim. Every time Hashemsignaled to set it down, it wasreconstructed to the exactmeasurements as before.

Since the Mishkan was to be carriedby people, it was not fair to keepaccepting donations and addingvessels to the structure, which wouldmake it more unwieldy and moredifficult for the leviim to carry. Out ofconsideration for the leviim, whowould have to carry additional vessels,Moshe put an end to furtherdonations.

On the other hand, the BeisHamikdash was a stationary building;Bnei Yisrael were never going to moveit to a location outside Yerushalayim.Therefore, the more donations wereaccepted, the more mitzvos the giverswould acquire and the more gloriousthe Beis Hamikdash would appear, atnobody else’s expense.

Harav Zaks stresses that this shouldteach us all a great lesson inconsideration. In attempting to fulfill acommandment, a person must firstconsider the impact of the mitzvah onothers. Even if a deed appears good orcharitable, one must contemplate andproject the outcome beforehand. Anindividual will not receive the samebenefit and reward for doing a mitzvahif it creates a burden for someone else.

One often-cited example is when aperson enters a crowded shul afterdavening has started and pushes hisway through the other mispallelim toreach his seat. In general, a person issupposed to daven in a set place anduse the same seat. (One reason broughtdown is that when a person is familiarwith a set place, it helps himconcentrate on the words he is saying.)The latecomer may feel that theimportance of his own tefillah justifiesdisturbing all the other people andcausing them to lose theirconcentration. Is this person actingproperly? Clearly, he is putting his

own needs ahead of everyone else’s.So too, we see that it was not right

for people to gain honor by continuingto contribute to the Mishkan, eventhough it was a mitzvah, if it added tothe burden of the leviim, who would

have to carry all the additional items. Taking a lesson for ourselves, we

can learn from here that when wespend money, we should consider theburden we place on another Jew. Wemust establish a strict spendingstandard, giving utmost considerationto how our spending might affectanother person. When we spend a fewextra dollars on fancier clothing forour children or furnishings for ourhomes, we must stop and considerwhether we are creating a burden forour friends, who may not be able tokeep up but feel they must. What givesus the right to pressure others? Onlyfor the sake of a mitzvah can we allowourselves to overspend — and eventhen, with caution; certainly when itcomes to things like extra features in anew car, we should be careful withwhat we choose.

Of course, we all may agree that aperson who drives in comfort has theability to be more alert, just like theone who comes to shul and has a setseat is capable of better concentrationin his davening. But that doesn’t meanhe is permitted to drive over someoneelse to reach his place.

The Torah is giving us a clearguideline for our behavior bein adamlachavero. A person must consider howhis actions will affect his friends at alltimes, including when he is in theprocess of a major purchase. If hethinks there is a possibility that his

purchase will make his neighbors lessthan happy, either out of jealousy orbecause of the pressure they will feelto “keep up with the Cohens,” then hemust make a true cheshbon hanefesh,facing the fact that perhaps he should

not buy this item at all. Particularly during this difficult

time, when the majority of us areextremely anxious about maintainingour current level of parnassah — letalone exceeding it — those who arefortunate enough not to have to facethis challenge from Hashem shouldreconsider how they appear in publicso as to not cause others unnecessarypain. This is its own nisayon andshould be kept in mind at all times.

If a purchase has a negative impacton others, the item should not bebought. (Of course, one can buy anitem and keep it hidden from view, butsuch extreme privacy generallyprecludes the urge to make a largepurchase in the first place — which is agood-enough reason to forgo thetransaction!)

We see again and again from thewords of the Torah that each of itslessons can apply to all of Hashem’schildren, generation after generation.We can now understand the reason theTorah tells us that Bnei Yisrael were“forced” to stop being so free withtheir money for the sake of the mitzvah.When spending our own money —however honestly it is earned — mightcause pain to someone else, we shouldavoid doing so. And that can be ourown personal way of creating a restingplace for Hashem on this earth, untilHe feels that we are deserving ofbuilding Him a proper home. ❚M

HHaammooddiiaa MMaaggaazz iinnee 22 Adar 5769 5

An individual will not receive the samebenefit and reward for doing a mitzvah ifit creates a burden for someone else.

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