How can the Parasha help us grow this week?
In this week’s Parsha, Hashem instructs Moshe about the making of the Mishkan and the special utensils to be used in the Mishkan – including the Aron, the Shulchan and the Menorah.
“And you shall make a menorah of pure gold. It
shall be hammered out, its base and its stem, its cups, its knobs and its
flowers shall all be one piece with it.”
(Shmot
25:31)
The Menorah had a very intricate design. It was required to be made from one solid piece of gold hammered into the correct shape. The Midrash[1] explains that Moshe struggled to understand Hashem’s explanation of how the Menorah should be formed. To assist him, Hashem showed Moshe an image of what the Menorah should look like. Moshe still struggled to grasp the requisite form. Hashem then told Moshe that He would help him. A piece of gold should be thrown into the fire and the piece of gold would miraculously fashion itself into the correct shape.
The difficulty of this Midrash does not lie in miraculous manner in which the Menorah would form itself. This whole period was full of miraculous occurrences. Rather, it is hard to understand why Hashem allowed Moshe to struggle and fail twice before showing him how to make the Menorah. First, Hashem allowed Moshe to struggle to try to understand His oral instructions. Then, Moshe was shown an image of the finished Menorah and he had to struggle to understand how to recreate that image in reality. Finally, when Moshe still couldn’t understand, Hashem told Moshe that He would help. Surely Hashem knew that Moshe would fail to understand from the instructions how to fashion the Menorah. So why didn’t Hashem simply tell Moshe from the outset that the menorah would be fashioned miraculously?
Perhaps we can see from here that Hashem wanted Moshe to do his hishtadlut (personal effort) and try to independently achieve understanding. Only after Moshe had put in his requisite avodah (effort) did Hashem then step in to assist.[2]
There is a very important lesson here for us. We first need to put in the effort and only then Hashem will assist us. We have to put in the hard work, and then recognise that the final result is not up to us, it is up to Hashem.
When we finish learning a masechet of Gemara, we celebrate with a festive meal and recite special prayers of thanksgiving called the Hadran.[3] As part of the words recited during the Hadran, we compare toiling in Torah with toiling in physical work:
“We toil and they toil. We toil and receive reward and they toil and do not receive reward.”
This comparison seems strange because those who toil in the physical world do receive reward. They receive payment for their work. Perhaps a parable will help to elucidate the true meaning of this verse. Imagine going to tailor and asking him to make a suit. You pick out the material that you like and he measures you up. A couple of weeks later, you turn up to pick up the suit. Unfortunately, the tailor had made some drastic mistakes and he totally ruined the material. There is now no suit and no material! The tailor apologises profusely. He explains that he put a lot of effort into making the suit according to your instructions and therefore he still deserves to receive his payment. Of course, you refuse to pay him. You agreed to buy a suit. It is irrelevant how much effort the tailor put in. You only pay him for his results, not for his effort. This can be compared to work generally in the physical world – it is the results that we pay for, not the efforts or intentions alone.
In contrast, things work differently in the spiritual world. Hashem rewards us for the effort that we put in to improve spiritually, regardless of the results.
The Gemara[4] teaches us the following in relation to Torah study (in the name of R’ Yitzchak):
If someone tells you that they have worked hard and failed or that they have not worked hard and succeeded, don’t believe them. Only if they tell you that they worked hard and succeeded can we believe them.
Initially, this teaching may seem difficult to understand. Some people are naturally intelligent. They understand difficult concepts with ease. Other people are not blessed with much intelligence. They can put in hours of hard work and still not comprehend. However, this statement of R’ Yitzchak makes sense in light of what we have learnt above. When it comes to the spiritual world, we are rewarded for our efforts, not for our achievements. Only Hashem knows exactly how much effort each person has put in and the level of difficulty of each challenge for each individual. So of course, only Hashem can truly and accurately judge the effort and provide the appropriate reward.
Consider the following story.
Reuven didn’t have to work many hours to make a living. He was also quite intelligent and he naturally found learning enjoyable and easy. He would spend a lot of time sitting comfortably in the Bet Midrash learning. He didn’t have to push himself very hard but he was able to cover lots of material. Reuven’s neighbour Shimon had to work long hours to support his family. Each night he would come home exhausted. Before he collapsed into bed, he would take down a volume of Mishnayot and try to learn for a few minutes. He would often nod off to sleep before he made much progress. Reuven felt superior to Shimon for achieving so much more tangible Torah study. However, in reality Shimon was earning a far greater reward in the World to Come because Hashem recognised the effort that Shimon was putting in to try to learn. Each minute that Shimon expended such effort was exponentially greater than the time spent by Reuven.
Let’s try something this week:
- Remember that when it comes to spiritual work, the effort we invest is the main thing. Let’s make a genuine assessment – are we struggling to grow as much as we can or could we be doing more?
- Keep in mind that hard work is required in order to accomplish in our spiritual endeavours.
- Don’t measure your spiritual growth using physical yard sticks – be reassured that regardless of tangible outcomes, Hashem knows how much effort you have expended.
Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Ledder
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[1] Tanchuma Beha’alotcha 3, quoted by Rashi.
[2] This idea is brought in the Gur Aryeh.
[3] This is known as a siyum.
[4] Megillah 6b