Credit When Credit is Due

Parshat Terumah

by Rabbi Avi Billet

In just about all of the instructions for the making of the Mishkan (Tabernacle), the Torah utilizes the singular “V’asita” – and you shall do or make – the items for the Mishkan. “V’Asu” – and they shall make – appears only twice.

The Midrash Rabba (35:3) asks what should be the obvious question. These instructions are being given to Moshe. Moshe, as we know, was neither architect nor builder. He was the conceptual theorist, the instructor. Perhaps we can even argue he was merely God’s mouthpiece for what the Almighty wanted in His Mishkan. So why is he the one being told “You shall make?” The Torah even tells us that Betzalel and Oholiav made the Mishkan. (36:1)

The Midrash concludes – perhaps also obviously – that Moshe’s role was instruction (“Moshe L’Talmud”) while Betzalel’s role was one of action and doing (“Betzalel L’mayseh”).

But where the Midrash moves from the obvious to the profound is in the very next sentence. “From this the Rabbis said to give merit for a task as if one has done it. This is what we find with Moshe: Betzalel did all the work for the Mishkan, and nonetheless the Almighty made it as if Moshe had done it, as it says, ‘And the Mishkan of God that Moshe made in the wilderness (Divrei Hayamim I 21:29).’”

While the Midrash does not spell out exactly what it means, a simple reading between the lines will enlighten our reading of this passage.

The Midrash is not saying Moshe did nothing. The Midrash is also not saying Betzalel isn’t given credit. The Mishkan was absolutely built by Betzalel, and Moshe did not play any significant role in the physical construction of the building.

How then does Moshe share equal billing as a maker of the Mishkan?

Think of it this way. If you build a new house or fix up something in your home, who gets the credit? The workmen who poured the concrete and laid the tile? Or you? There may be some people who do the actual work in their homes, but then they say, “I did it myself.” If someone else did the actual labor, the people who sponsored the project will still say, “We built the house. We fixed up the kitchen.” No you didn’t! All you did was pay for it.

Or, as President Obama famously said, “You didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.”

But the truth is, you did build it. Had you not had the idea, had you not hired the architect to draw the plans, given your input into what you wanted, hired the contractor and the workmen, the new thing would not have been built. And of course, had you chosen not to pay for the resources and materials, it also would not have been built.

In Iggerot Moshe Yoreh Deah 4:37, Rav Moshe Feinstein described the “Yissachar Zevulun” relationship as being a business arrangement in which the Yissachar partner provided the raw materials which the Zevulun partner processed and utilized to create a marketable product. “The partnership was not to be confused with Tzedakah.”

In any type of partnership, it takes two to tango. But each side must contribute something that speaks to particular strengths. Moshe’s contribution was essentially being the overseeing contractor, while his man-on-the-ground doing all the work was Betzalel. Both will get credit for making the Mishkan, because both are working.

It is important to remember that the only ideal in Judaism is when all people make a contribution to society. It is absolutely OK for a person to be a learner, as long as the person is contributing to the community: whether as a teacher or as a commodities trader who provides raw materials to a business company partner who will create marketable goods out of them. Or whatever the person chooses to do beyond the Beis Medrash walls.

Judaism views “tzedakah” as God’s gift to the fortunate to help the unfortunate. But in an ideal world, the so-called unfortunate are producers and not just receivers. Because they are partners in creating their destiny.

Moshe was not sitting in a Beis Medrash waiting for them to ask him what to do. He was out there with God’s instructions, clarifying the blueprints and seeing the job got done.

You don’t have to be the builder to get the job done. But you need to be making a significant contribution to the effort. Without that contributory effort, a person is no more deserving of credit (or payment or compensation) than a person who never showed up in the first place.