Effort unlocks Divine assistance to accomplish the impossible.
By Rabbi Ari Enkin, Rabbinic Director, United with Israel
This week’s Torah portion is “Pekudei” (Exodus 38:21–40:38) and with it we conclude the story of the construction of the Tabernacle and the book of Exodus. Pekudei, meaning “accounting” essentially summaries and takes inventory the work and materials that were used in the construction of the Tabernacle.
The reading begins with “These [Eleh] are the accounts of the Tabernacle…”.
The Midrash tells us that the opening word in the reading, “Eleh” is related to the word “Eleh” in the story of the Golden Calf when the leaders of that fiasco declared “These [Eleh] are your leaders, Israel…”. This was when the Golden Calf was being declared a replacement for Moses.
As the teaching explains, the word “Eleh” over here serves to atone for the “Eleh” over there. Indeed, we are told that the completion and existence of the Tabernacle was a constant reminder that God forgave the people for the sin of the Golden Calf. So too, we are told that hey built the Tabernacle with even more enthusiasm than they built the Golden Calf which also added to their merit.
In another teaching from this week’s Torah portion, after the construction of the Tabernacle was completed, all the individual components of it were brought before Moses for assembly. This was because no one else seemed capable of assembling it!
One reason was that the pieces were too heavy, bulky, and tall, for even a team of people to properly assemble. We are told that it was Divinely ordained that no one would be able to put the Tabernacle together and that this final act and honor would be reserved for Moses to do.
But when God told Moses to assemble the Tabernacle, he too said that it was too heavy for him to do!
So God told him to “pretend,” to go through the motions of putting it together, and it would miraculously come together on its own. And so it was.
Moses would give a tiny lift to a panel, for example, and the panel would lift as if it were weightless and be put into place. Moses did this for every component of the Tabernacle, and Moses, as mentioned, was honored and accredited for its construction.
What we learn from this is that one’s effort is all that matters. Moses is accredited with the construction of the Tabernacle, but let’s face it, he didn’t do it on his own! He had Divine assistance!
Even though Moses had Divine assistance and even though God knew that He was essentially going to make it happen, he told Moses to “go through the motions” of lifting a plank here a bit and moving a plank there a bit. All God wanted was for Moses to make the effort to do the impossible.
So it is with us too.
God doesn’t expect us to succeed in everything we do . But He expects us to try. And when we do…we’ll get the credit we deserve!
For more insights by Rabbi Enkin on this week’s Torah portion, click on the links below.