JHI Dvar Torah on Parshat Vayakhel

We apologize. We emailed this basic Dvar Torah last year on March 11 for Parshat Vayakhel. This year’s incarnation was further edited, but fundamentally the two are the same. Unfortunately, time exigencies made it difficult to produce a totally new Dvar this week.


PARSHAT VAYAKHEL – FROM NOBLE TO IGNOBLE

Parshat Vayakhel describes the construction of the Mishkan (Tabernacle). The Mishkan was extraordinarily miraculous and sacred – even more so than the two Temples that would later be built in Jerusalem (Commentary of Sforno on Parshat Pekudei). For example, the Midrash writes that a person IN the inner sanctum of the Mishkan could look upward and somehow see the Heavens.

The primary builder of the Mishkan was Bezalel. He was chosen from the entire Jewish Nation as the person most qualified for this task. Regarding Bezalel, The Almighty said, “See that I have called by name Bezalel, son of Uri, son of Chur” (Parshat Vayakhel, 35:30). What these words refer to is unclear; Bezalel already had his name. What do the Scriptures mean in saying that G-d ‘called him by name?’

The Midrash Rabbah (48:7) explains that the words allude to a specific incident that occurred. After Bezalel completed this fabulous structure, the people began to extol him for what he had accomplished. However, their tribute included accolades that should have been directed instead to Hashem (G-d), the real source of Bezalel's greatness. This made their praises excessive to the point of being improper. With the phrase, “See that I have called by name Bezalel...” G-d was pointing out that the degree of praise for Bezalel was inappropriate.

To explain the point, the Midrash provides an example of a doctor's disciple who cured a disease utilizing the skills he was taught. People then heaped lavish praises upon the student for what he did. The student certainly deserved some of those praises. Nevertheless, much of that praise should have been directed to the teacher whose wisdom the disciple made use of.
So too, the acclaim for Bezalel was richly deserved. His great wisdom and understanding deemed him more qualified to construct the Mishkan than all other Jews. Had they not praised Bezalel at all, it would have been improper. But they carried the adulation to an excess, and much of what they said about Bezalel’s greatness should have instead been directed at Hashem.


This means that Bezalel was being praised with accolades applicable only to Hashem. One can thus infer that the Jews were beginning to invest Bezalel, a human being, with G-d - like qualities. What was transpiring therefore was the beginning of idolatry; the praises accorded Bezalel, a mortal human, were in fact appropriate only to The Almighty.

It is interesting: The motivation to perform a righteous deed emanates from the nobility and holiness within the human, while sin is an expression of the profane – especially the sin of idolatry which is one of the Torah’s three most serious transgressions. (The other two are adultery and murder.) Yet, one can lead to the other.

This teaches that a truly noble pursuit can give rise to an inadvertent error that could in turn, ultimately evolve into apostasy.

Upon reflection, one can easily see how this sacred-to-evil segue transpires. This phenomenon can be observed through the example of someone rushing a heart attack victim (G-d forbid) to the hospital. Arriving at the hospital ASAP is critically important. Hence, the driver would not bother with the niceties of red lights and stop signs whenever possible. In a similar vein, those who are avidly pursuing truly noble undertakings might fall prey to a tendency to ignore some of the ‘niceties’ of human conduct. In the case of honoring Bezalel, the ‘nicety’ was the exact line of demarcation, after which this honor became inappropriately excessive. Left uncorrected, that ‘small’ error could have led to idolatry.

This type of problem can beset almost any everyday human activity. Following are some illustrations of basically praiseworthy activities gone awry:
Many have observed a friendly group of people that undertook an exalted project (such as the building of a synagogue or yeshiva) where the end results were dreadful. Differences of opinion on how to accomplish the task rapidly became personal, and great disputes arose. Best friends become enemies, and at times, communities that were once tranquil were torn by strife and rancor. Why did this happen? The original intent was genuinely high-minded. The problem often is that people don’t realize that the intense stress to complete the sacred task at hand can beget a tendency to overlook what they see as ‘less important’ issues. Those issues for example, might include a concern for careful speech. When this care is not being exercised, insults might be more easily exchanged, and quarrel can result.

It is normally the responsibility of parents to provide for the family. The dedication to this task, however, can be readily carried to improper extremes. It can become so all encompassing that it results in a virtual personal abandonment of that same family that the parent is providing for.

Discipline of young children is certainly vital to their well being. However, left unchecked, discipline can evolve into emotional if not physical abuse. Conversely, an unrestrained urge to nurture and help one's younger or even adult children can foster unwholesome dependency.

This dynamic can also play itself out on a governmental level. For example, many if not most of Russia’s 19th Century Communists sincerely sought to create a ‘worker’s paradise’ that would bring dignity and prosperity to all. But the principal architects of that revolution deemed their cause too vital to be hindered by all of the ‘niceties’ of proper conduct. After the revolution, the Czar - but not his young children - might have been sentenced to death in a courtroom for crimes against the Russian people. Rather than being bothered with courtrooms, the Communists secretly murdered the Czar and his entire family. This established a pattern of brutality for the sake of “the higher good.” What ultimately resulted was tragic. It has been said that the 20th Century Communists in Russia and China each killed far more people than the WW II Germans. And unlike the Germans, the Communists primarily murdered their own countrymen - those very same people they ostensibly came to help.

Undertaking good deeds is noble and virtuous. Doing them enthusiastically is even more honorable. However, without adequate safeguards, the pursuit of even sacred causes can quickly morph into catastrophic wrongdoing.



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