fedtalk Parshas Pekudei (Rabbi D Tugendhaft)
The Jewish people had donated so generously and now the mishkon in the desert was all but complete. Towards the end of this week’s Parsha, Parshas Pekudei, we find: “vayevorech osom Moshe”- and Moshe blesses the Bnei Yisroel. What was the brocha that he gave? Rashi tells us that he said “yehi rotson”- may it be Hashem’s will. “Shetishre Shechinah bema’asei yedechem”- that Hashem’s Divine presence should rest in the work of your hands.
Question number one, we know from parshas Terumah that Hashem said, “ve’osu li mikdash veshochanti besochom”. Hashem said “you make for Me a sanctuary and I will dwell amongst you”. So why did Moshe Rabeinu need to give them this brochah, we knew this was what was going to happen. Secondly, it’s very unusual, this expression, “Shetishre Shechinah bema’asei yedechem”- that Hashem’s presence should rest in the work of your hands. It should have said that Hashem’s presence will reside in the Mishkon. Why does it say “bema’asei yedechem”?
There was a great Chassidishe Rebbe, the Tiferes Shlomo of Radomsk. A leader of thousands and thousands of people in Poland, who died in 1866. And he answers these questions as follows. He says that often people think that ‘I have my resources and either I can put my resources towards my own life, towards my house, my car, my exquisite dining, or I could put my resources towards holy endeavours, donating it to a shul, to a mikvah, to a Torah organization, to a yeshiva. And we think that it’s either one or the other, but in actual fact, the way that it works is different. Because when we do something to give, so to speak, to Hashem, when we’re involved in spiritual pursuits and when we donate to spiritual matters then Hashem sends us siyata dishmaya, He sends us help from above that will benefit our physical lives as well and therefore we’re not going to lose out. It’s not as though there’s one pot and I put my money either towards some holy endeavour, or it goes to me. Actually by putting my money in appropriate amounts towards Torah endeavours then Hashem will bless my resources even more.
This is the explanation of these pesukim according to the holy Tiferes Shlomo of Radomsk. Moshe Rabeinu knows that the Shechina is going to come to the mishkon. We already have a guarantee. But he’s telling the Bnei Yisroel, ‘you know, you’ve done such an amazing job. You’ve been so generous. “Yehi rotson shetishre Shechinah”, you know where else Hashem is going to reside: “bema’asei yedechem”- in the work of your hands and your own businesses and your own endeavours. When you go out to your jobs, may Hashem send you tremendous brocha in those as well as a zechus, in the zechus, in the merit of your donating so much to the mishkon, to the sanctuary in the desert.’
So the message over here is very, very clear. We don’t lose out by donating to Torah institutions. Aderaboh, it’s the opposite, we can only gain from doing these things. Baruch Hashem there are so many charity drives that are happening at the moment. Rarely that there’s a few days that go by and that people aren’t asking us to give of our resources to support their Torah institutions.
You know, this is a tremendous merit for all of klal Yisroel and in that merit, be’ezras Hashem, yehi rotson shetishre Sechinah bema’asei yodeinu, that please G-d, we should be blessed in all of our livelihoods and Hashem should send us all tremendous brocha.
Wishing you all a wonderful Shabbos!