Who Built It 3 (פרשת כי תשא)

Some time ago, I wrote a drash about Parshat Eikev (פרשת עקב) entitled, “Who Built It?” I drew attention to this verse: “And you will say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand made me this wealth.’ And you will remember the Lord your God, for He it is Who gives you power to make wealth” (Deuteronomy 8:17-18). While the wealthy person is inclined to believe that he is singularly responsible for his own success in life (“I built that”) this portion teaches us otherwise.

Parshat Ki Tisa (פרשת כי תשא) extends this point from economic capital to what sociologists call cultural capital. It’s not just the wealthy person who is inclined to commit the aveirah (עבירה) of believing he built his good fortune on his own. Learned and brilliant people often fall into an analogous error, believing that their intelligence and wisdom made them successful. They too forget the Source of their power—in this case, the power to understand. 

Parshat Ki Tisa makes this point through Bezalel, the man upon whom the Lord calls to manage the construction of the Mishkan (משכן or Tabernacle). Bezalel is chosen for this role because of his wisdom (חכמה), understanding (תבונה), and knowledge (דעת) (Exodus 31:3). But notice what the portion teaches about these qualities. Just as it is the Lord “Who gives you power to make wealth” (Deuteronomy 8:18), so it is the Lord who imbues Bezalel with wisdom, understanding, and knowledge (Exodus 31:3). For good measure, the Torah makes clear that the point does not apply to Bezalel alone, for “in the hearts of all that are wise-hearted I have put wisdom that they may make all that I have commanded” (Ex. 31:6). The verse reminds us of the Source of these qualities and how we are instructed to use them: to build a sanctuary (more figuratively to sanctify the world) so that we may foster the divine presence among us.

Who Built It 2 (פרשת תרומה)

Some time ago, I wrote a drash about Parshat Eikev (פרשת עקב) entitled, “Who Built It?” I drew attention to this verse: “And you will say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand made me this wealth.’ And you will remember the Lord your God, for He it is Who gives you power to make wealth” (Deuteronomy 8:17-18). While the wealthy person is inclined to believe that he is singularly responsible for his own success in life (“I built that”) this portion teaches us otherwise. “Wealth,” I wrote in that drash, “is a social product of many people working together.”


Getting from the Lord “gives you power to make wealth” to “wealth is a social product of many people working together” required some admittedly convoluted reasoning. Parshat Terumah (פרשת תרומה) makes this point more simply and directly. The portion begins with this instruction:
 

וְעָשׂוּ לִי, מִקְדָּשׁ; וְשָׁכַנְתִּי, בְּתוֹכָם

Let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them (Exodus 25:8)

A few verses later a further instruction is given concerning the making of the ark (ארון), the primary article of furniture in the Mishkan (משכן or Tabernacle):

וְעָשׂוּ אֲרוֹן

And they shall make an ark… (Exodus 25:10)

Nehama Leibowitz draws attention to the mode of address used here. She quotes the eighteenth-century rabbi Or Ha-hayyim:

The change in the wording from the second person singular [you shall make] to the third person plural [they shall make] is to illustrate that the essence of the Torah can only be fulfilled by Israel as a whole. For instance, a priest cannot fulfill the bestowing of the 24 priestly gifts, the redemption of the firstborn etc., whilst an Israelite cannot fulfil the positive commands of the sacrifices and the same applies to the Levite. But, taken as a whole, the Israelite people can keep the entire gamut of Jewish observances. For this reason the Torah states: “they shall make the ark.”

Nehama Leibowitz also quotes Midrash Tanhuma, which makes a similar point:

We find that when the Holy One Blessed be He instructed Moses to build the Tabernacle He used the expression ועשיתה “thou shalt make” but with regard to the Tabernacle He said: ועָשׂוּ “they shall make.” Why? The Holy One Blessed be He wished to stress that the command applied to each and every Israelite alike. No one should have the excuse to say to his fellow: I contributed more to the ark. Therefore I study more and have a greater stake in it than you! You contributed hardly anything therefore you have no share in the Torah…. That is why it is written (Deut. 33, 4): “An inheritance of the congregation of Jacob.”

If the ark is the product of many people working together, how much more so does this point apply to lesser achievements!