Two
of our daughters, (8th grader and 6th grade), are on the
middle school basketball team. After weeks of practice, they had their first
game earlier this week. Our older daughter played for the team last year. For
our younger daughter, this was the first time she had played organized
basketball. As a father, and as someone
who played college basketball, (albeit Division III), I have no dreams of
grandeur. I have no fantasy that my girls would be heavily recruited out of
Toronto by the University of Connecticut Women’s Basketball team.
I am pretty sure that neither of my daughters will receive a full scholarship to play basketball at U Conn. Still, I have a healthy respect for how the game should be played. I feel
compelled to review with them after practices and after games. So after their first game in which they lost
by 18 points and they walked off the court dejected, I pulled them aside and brought
them back onto the court. There, on the court, for the next few minutes, I reviewed
a couple of things with them, things that they were aware of while playing in
the game. The next morning, we reviewed a
couple of other concepts that each had become aware of after experiencing the
game. My daughters commented that they
received more coaching, more instruction, and learned more in the few minutes
that I spent with them, than all the weeks of
practice with their coach. John Wooden I am not. However, it seemed to me that after
engaging an event, there is an opportunity to take stock, review, and learn
from the experience in order to improve for the next time.
This week's Parsha is Pekudei. It is the last Parsha of
Sefer Shmot. The Parsha provides us with an
accounting of all the material that used for the Mishkan. The Parsha tell us all that Bezazel and Oholiab had done while
inspired by God and their art. We derive this idea of "taking stock"
from the first Pasuk. Eilah F'kudei
Ha'Mishkan Ha'Eidut Asher Pukad Al Pi Moshe Avodat Ha'Leviim - These are the countings of the Tabernacle,
the Tabernacle of Testimony, which was reckoned at Moshe's bidding
(Ex.38:21). What follows is essentially a ledger of all materials that were
used in the Mishkan's construction. What
follows is essentially a ledger of the order in which Bezazel, Oholiab, and
B'nai Yisroel used these materials and actually constructed the Mishkan. Why do
we need this accounting? We have been reading about the Mishkan for the last
four Parshiot. However it was not until now, when Moshe and B'nai Yisroel were
able to look back at the process and see exactly how far along they have come.
Think about it. For a lengthy period of
time, B'nai Yisroel, as told to us in
the Torah, had experienced an individual, communal and spiritual revolution.
They watched Ten Plagues destroy Egypt, fled Egypt, and experienced the miracle
of the Crossing of the Yam Suf. They witnessed the revelation at Sinai,
received the Ten Commandments, panicked and built the Golden Calf. They began
the T'shuvah process by bringing a half Shekel as a means of expressing
atonement. They willingly brought their precious jewels and raw materials for
the construction of the Mishkan. They came together as a community and they
successfully constructed "God's dwelling place."
Certainly
there were specific events that we would deem as vitally important, including
the actual exodus from Egypt, the Crossing of the Reed Sea, and the Revelation
at Sinai. However, in each of these three pivotal moments, B'nai Yisroel
behaved as individuals. During each of these three pivotal moments, one could
argue that B'nai Yisroel was more reactive than proactive. After the Tenth
Plague, following God's direct command, B'nai Yisroel left Egypt. After God
opened the Reed Sea, B'nai Yisroel began to cross it. It is the Midrash that
explains that B'nai Yisroel took the first steps into the water prior to God's
miracle. Even the Revelation at Sinai was a more reactive experience than a
pro-active one. Even the Golden Calf fiasco could be argued as B'nai Yisroel's
response to the fact that Moshe delayed his descent from the mountain. However
Tshuva, and last week's Parsha's explanation that B'nai Yisroel brought its
offerings willingly, suggests that B'nai Yisroel took a more pro-active role in
the construction of the Mishkan. Constructing and completing the Mishkan, for
this generation was perhaps its greatest achievement. They were finally, at
least for the time being, pure of soul and pure of heart. They understood what
it meant to be a community, a holy community, and the Mishkan was an expression
of that. Therefore when B'nai Yisroel completed this transition to “people-hood”
culminating in the completion of the Mishkan; it makes sense that an accounting
of the Mishkan's construction would occur.
From Moshe's "accounting", we learn
something very important about human nature. As individuals, as part of a team
and as part of community; we need to do Cheshbon HaNefesh, an accounting of our
souls. While it is certainly important to do Cheshbon HaNefesh at prescribed times with the community (Yom
Kippur for example); it is also vital that we engage in this process when we
have survived and successfully or unsuccessfully navigated through transition.
These transitions and changes are not necessarily confined to lifecycle events
or the calendar but as a part of life in general. Parsha Pekudei teaches us
that we must possess the self-awareness to step back and look back at the
process and own it, and if it is appropriate, mourn it, celebrate it, or learn
from it. The result is that when the time comes for the next project, (The Holy
Temple), the next national endeavor (Bnai Yisroel’s entry in to the land of
Israel), or the next basketball game,
those participating will know how to do
it better. I suppose that is what good coaches and leaders are supposed to do;
prepare the team for the next game, the next obstacle and the next test.
Peace,
Rav Yitz
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