Shalom my friends, this is Simcha Hochbaum of Hebron. We are coming off of the great spiritual high of Purim. In this week’s parsha, Parshat Vayakhel, we read about the culmination of the building of the Tabernacle. The enthusiasm of the Jewish people was so great that they even exceeded the amount that was needed in order to build the tabernacle.
The Ohr HaHayim HaKadosh described that God made a great miracle that even those extra donations, that which was superfluous and wasn’t really a necessity to the completion of the tabernacle would be able to be included and in some miraculous way would be able to be included as a part of the essential building. We know that every Jew brought gold, some brought silver, some brought copper. Hashem didn’t want any Jew to think that his donation is superfluous and his contribution is not necessary, that the world could exist without his particular donation.
This Friday, is the yahrzeit of the great Hasidic master Rabbi Elimelech of Lizkensk. Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach would tell a story that once Reb Elimelech at the end of his life had a dream. In his dream he saw hundreds of Jews running up in heaven and each one is running with the brick, running with enthusiasm. There was so much traffic, thousands of people. And he asks, what’s going on? Where are you running with these bricks? And they tell Reb Elimelech, don’t you know? The building of the third temple!
And Reb Elimelech says, can’t you have a philanthropist, can’t you have a rich man just give a big donation? Why does everyone have to bring a brick? And there they explained, don’t you understand? Every Jew has his own special contribution to bringing the geula, to bringing the third temple.
We should be privileged this Shabbat to be able to take that specialness and nekudah tova of every single Jew, whether he’s rich, whether he’s poor, whether he’s bringing gold or silver, or just copper or animal skins together gather all the special nekudot todot and bring them together in order to bring the divine presence down. We should be privileged to see ויהי נועם ה’ אלקינו עלינו God’s divine presence resting upon us, and all the hard work and all the hard labor. Amen and amen.
