One of the joys of parenthood as
well as the inconveniences of parenting occurs when I have to help my children
with homework or a school project. It’s a joyous exercise because, hopefully, I
will see our children intellectually stimulated and engaged. Watching our children
think and arrive at the answer or a possible answer; might very well be one of the
top activities I get to witness. However the inconvenience lies in the fact that
sometimes they are intellectually lazy, they aren’t interested in learning but
only desire the answer. Very few things leave me more frustrated than my
children exhibiting intellectual laziness. The other day I had a difficult but
joyous moment with our ten year old son.
Earlier in the week, we all watched the news out of the Middle East; the
growing evil known as ISIS and the recent be-headings of more than 20 Egyptian Christians
on the shores of Libya. We all watched; we were all repulsed; and we all
wondered when this evil will be vanquished.
Later that night I was helping our son with a book report. He needed me
to help him find pictures that focused upon the Ukrainian and Polish partisans
that fought against the Nazis. Needless to say we found some pictures of
partisans taken by partisans and we found many pictures of Partisans taken by
Nazis. Needless to say the pictures taken by Nazis always featured the Partisan
corpses, either hanging on a gallows or, piled in an open grave. Some showed
partisans in Nazi custody. Only pictures
taken by partisans or the press featured partisans alive and free. As our son
continued to scan the pictures looking for something appropriated for his book
report, he began to well up and he found it more and more difficult to
look. Finally he said that he couldn’t
look anymore and asked why there was and continues to be so much evil. “The
world is such an ugly place.” Then he hugged me. For a moment I had no words. For what seemed
like an interminable amount of time, I couldn’t think of what to say, I couldn’t
find words of comfort; words that my son needed to hear.
This week’s Parshah is Terumah.
Terumah means “a portion”. In the context of this week’s Parsha, the portion in
question is the portion of wealth that B’nai Yisroel would dedicate to the
construction of the Aron, the ark that would hold the Luchot Habrit (the stone
tablets upon which the Ten Commandments were written), the lamp, the table, and
the material for the Ohel Moed (the tent of the meeting). All of which
comprised the Mishkan or the Tabernacle. If you are in construction, interior
design, or architecture, the details in Parsha Terumah are fascinating; and if
you’re not then all those details might seem a bit dry. Whether a fan or not,
whether an architect or not, there are certain objects, the construction of
which is nothing less than miraculous and perhaps more allegorical than literal
in meaning. However what is not allegorical but rather spiritually re-assuring
given the myriad of laws that we have read from Yitro and Mishpatim is the
goodness and kindness in the human soul.
There are two moment in the Parsha
that stand in stark contrast to assumptions about human nature from Parsha
Mishpatim. In the previous Parsha, when we read about the prohibition of
accepting bribes, perverting justice, selling servants to third parties rather
than returning to them to their original owner;
we understand that there is an assumption that human nature is not so
wonderful. In fact one could argue that we are supposed to rise above human
nature, rise above our animal like inclination, Yetzer HaRah (the evil
inclination), and be better. So when we read that God wants to live among Bnai
Yisroel: V’Asu Li Mikdash V’Shachanti B’Tocham; a Godly aspect
would only do so if the dwelling, if the people’s behavior merited God’s
presence. Certainly the physical qualities
of the structure would be impressive but more important is the fact that
Shechinah would dwell among Bnai Yisroel as long as they did not succumb to
human nature. Not succumbing to human nature became evident immediately. Before
the construction, before the blueprints, Bnai Yisroel already operated above
human nature. They contributed materials Kol
Ish Asher Yidvenu Libo – ‘every man
whose heart motivates him’ (Ex.25:1). Contributions were based upon the
most divine aspect of their souls. Every aspect of the process focused upon
that part of the human soul that was beyond human nature. That divine aspect
merited God’s presence in the camp. That divine aspect galvanized a community,
and figured out how to serve God in a way that appealed to the best of
humanity.
I finally figured out the words
that might bring comfort to our son as he could only see darkness, evil, and
awful way in which people have been treating each other for centuries. Like the
Aron would be a beautiful gold arc carrying the Ten Commandments, like people
contributed selflessly rather than selfishly; I was reminded that the world has
a lot of beauty. I told our son that despite what he had seen on the news and
the pictures he saw while putting together his book report; the world had lots
of beauty. Maybe we have to look a bit harder to find the beauty rather than
ugliness, but it is there and when we find it we appreciate that much more. I
reminded him that he should always work hard and search for the beauty in spite
of the all the ugly he will encounter.
Peace,
Rav Yitz
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