Blessing Our Works – with Strength and the Divine

I often check to see what I've written in the past to avoid repeating. Would have been a good move, especially since this Parsha has limited components where most commentaries bother at all to comment. What follows is a different take on one source quoted in last year's (so sorry!) comments on this Parsha, though it goes in a different direction. 

Parshat Eileh Fekudei

by Rabbi Avi Billet

After seeing that all of the work for the Mishkan was concluded, with everything having been done exactly as God had commanded Moshe, the Torah reports to us that Moshe blessed the people. 

 That blessing, according to Rashi, was “It should be that His Shekhinah should be present in all the works of your hands.” (יהי רצון שתשרה שכינה במעשה ידיכם) In other words, God’s contribution to your success in building the Mishkan should be palpable. 

Rabbi Baruch HaLevi Epstein asks why this blessing was necessary at all. After all, God had promised in Terumah (25:8) that “when you make a Mishkan, I will dwell (ושכנתי – the Shekhinah) in it.” It would seem that by dint of finishing the job, Moshe’s blessing now, in 39:43, is superfluous.

Honoring Our Past and Building Our Future (homage to Betzalel and his forebears)

Parshat Vayakhel

by Rabbi Avi Billet 

While he was introduced to us in last week’s parsha, the Midrash goes on a bit of a wild tangent over the introduction of Betzalel this week, when we meet him along with his father and grandfather and Shevet. The Midrash ties this introduction to the concept of שבח לו ולמפשחתו ולשבטו (praise for him, his family, and his tribe), for both Betzalel and Oholiav, while comparing to other characters who are introduced to us with ancestry (the megadef in Emor – שם אמו שלומית בת דברי) and Akhan - עכן בן כרמי בן זבדי בן זרח למטה יהודה, who was from the tribe of Yehuda and stole from the Cherem against the city of Yericho in the time of Yehoshua. 

Man Plans and God Also Plans

 Parshat Ki Sisa

by Rabbi Avi Billet

Many years ago I read an essay entitled “Welcome to Holland” written by Emily Perl Kingsley to try to explain what life as a parent to a child with a disability is like – in her case, I believe it was Downs Syndrome. She compares it to intending to go on a trip to Italy, which ends with the flight attendant welcoming you to Holland.  Apparently there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay. Her point being it’s a journey – not what you expected – but Holland has its fine points as well. It's not a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place. So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met. It's different! It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts. 

Zachor Sermon: Mitzvot of Memory – and Aharon HaKohen

Zachor and Tetzaveh

Mitzvot of Memory – and Aharon HaKohen

Parshas Zachor literally means the section of memory. Its name comes from the first word of the segment – זכור את אשר עשה לך עמלק – Remember that which Amalek did to you. But the message of זכור is much bigger and much greater than just remembering what Amalek did. 

While it is summarized in today’s Maftir, the story is the last 9 Pesukim in Parshas B’Shalach. It will be our Torah reading Purim morning. It concerns Amalek attacking a fledgling nation, just recently having experienced the Exodus, the Splitting of the Sea, and being recipients of Manna from heaven. Amalek took advantage of a weak point in the story of Bnei Yisrael, their fights with Moshe concerning water in Rephidim, and aimed to further weaken Bnei Yisrael at a time when Bnei Yisrael felt God had taken them out of Egypt to have them die in the wilderness. Amalek came… to remind them that abandoning their Father in Heaven was a recipe for disaster. 

Using Religion Improperly – Can We Atone For a Lack of Sechel?

Parshat Tetzaveh

by Rabbi Avi Billet

In the context of a discussion surrounding tzara’as and Lashon Hora, the Talmud in Arakhin 16a asks “Why are the vestments of the Kohanim mentioned near the section about offerings? To teach us that just as offerings bring atonement, the Kohen vestments bring atonement.” 

The Talmud goes on to list what sin each garment atoned for: 

The tunic (כתונת) atones for murder; the pants (מכנסים) atone for sexual sins/immorality; the hat (מצנפת) atones for those who are haughty; the belt (אבנט) atones for sins of the heart; the breastplate (חשן) atones for sins in judgment and law (דינין); the apron (אפוד) atones for idolatry; the cloak (מעיל) atones for lashon hora; the forehead plate (ציץ) atones for those who are bold-faced (in a negative way). 

(This is also discussed in Zevachim 88b)

Clearly the significance of the Kohanim wearing their garments is meant to not only make them look polished and holy, but to work behind the scenes so that those who see the garments would achieve atonement for certain private sins. 

Finding Our Potential For This World and Next – Through Body and Soul

Parshat Terumah

by Rabbi Avi Billet 

In his comments on the Menorah, Kli Yakar (Rabbi Shlomo Efraim Luntzchitz) goes into great detail about the 3 indoor Mishkan vessels instructed consecutively in our Parsha: the Aron (Ark), Shulchan (Table for Showbread), and the Menorah. [The small Mizbeach is instructed at the end of Parshat Tetzaveh.]

“These include [a reference to] all successes of a person in this world and the next world. 

“The Ark is the guide for a person to achieve one’s potential… which is through the Torah which provides for lengthened days on its right, and wealth and honor on its left. (אורך ימים בימינה לעולם שכולו ארוך ועושר וכבוד בשמאלה). The section on the Ark simply focuses on its design and how to build it without referencing the benefit the person gets from it. In truth it has its own benefit in that when one studies the Torah it is its own rewards… 

Distance From Falsehoods

 Parshat Mishpatim

by Rabbi Avi Billet

There is a passage in the Talmud Shavuos 30b-31a. which asks the question – how do we know…. (there are many fillings for that blank - though most deal with the behavior of judges in a courtroom). And the answer, in each case, is מדבר שקר תרחק – because we are commanded to distance ourselves from falsehoods (23:7) 

 These are the questions the Gemara asks – and the answer is always the same (translation is from Sefaria, with a slight expansion to explain the words of the Talmud): Because the Torah says to distance from falsehood.