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.
He suggests, based on Midrashim that reference a Shamir worm, that the way the Beis HaMikdash of Shlomo’s time was created included supernatural assistance, what we might call miracles. That was a demonstration of God’s approval of that building, through His desire, and therefore assistance, that some of the harder tasks, such as fine-hewing stones and cutting glass, would be assisted by a unique creature from the natural (?) world.
However, when it came to the Mishkan construction in the wilderness, there were no such miracles. Moshe thus felt that perhaps people felt disheartened. If God doesn’t show Himself through the process of the building, perhaps He doesn’t really to have His presence be felt. Maybe the people at least feel they are undeserving, if they are not outright undeserving. So Moshe’s blessing comes to uplift them that no matter how they might feel, he is blessing them that they should nonetheless merit to experience the Divine presence in their works.
But it goes a step further, because it is not just about the Mishkan! Look carefully at the language of the blessing noted by Rashi. It’s a blessing for “all the works of your hands.” This includes EVERYTHING one works on, not just an action that can be easily associated with Mishkan construction.
A similar notion is expressed when a person is blessed after getting an Aliyah, as we say the person “should receive a blessing of success בכל מעשה ידיו, in all the works of his hands.” What does that have to do with an Aliyah to the Torah?
Seemingly nothing.
And yet, people sometimes clamor for an Aliyah, and in some cases particularly want that “Mi Sheberach,” to receive that blessing of Hatzlacha and Bracha.
Why?
Because we value blessings, and we often enough associate our being “deserving” of blessing with our connection to the Torah.
Some people support Torah institutions, and measure their own financial success against the degree of their support. The same can be said of people’s support for shuls, kollels, and any place that places Torah at its core, as its supreme value.
In recent years, our shul launched a new Torah campaign, and had such an overwhelming response that we were able to purchase two new Torahs. This is who we are, people who value Torah and who know that all blessing in this world comes from our association with the Torah, whether learning it ourselves, supporting it, supporting others who dedicate their lives to it, doing all we can to transmit the Torah to ourselves, to our children, grandchildren, (etc) – if we are blessed to have - and to future generations of klal Yisrael.
What is the greatest blessing for all Jews? To see the Jewish people survive, thrive, and build upon that which previous generations gifted to us.
When we finish a book of the Torah, the custom is to declare חזק חזק ונתחזק. A few years ago, I shared some thoughts on that custom, including the following two sources:
Sefer HaManhig – In France and Provence the custom was for the Chazan to say to anyone who read from the Torah, the single word “חזק.” Based on a passage in Bereshit Rabba it became the practice to say חזק to the one who finished the Torah. (There it notes that when Yehoshua is told חזק ואמץ, and that “This Torah should not be removed from your mouth” it refers to a finished Torah.)The implication here is that the חזן is giving a blessing of strength to each reader (or Oleh) as in the same way we might say “Yasher Ko’ach” to someone.Rabbi Yissachar Tamar (Alei Tamar - Shviis Ch 4) adds that the message of חזק is as if the חזן is saying “You’ve finished your Mitzvah. You should merit to have the strength to complete other mitzvot.” He adds that the practice in Sefardic congregations is to say to everyone חזק וברוך. He wonders if this is a source that was somehow picked up and modified by Ashkenazic communities, in light of the verse in Daniel mentioned above. Elsewhere (Shabbos Ch 16) Rabbi Tamar raises the possibility that the source for the phrase is חזק ואמץ and that, based on a Tosefta, it is recited when the writing of a Torah is completed with the blessing of חזק being aimed at the writer, and the blessing of אמץ being aimed at the reader.
The blessing of strength and success is always welcome! Sometimes it comes at the completion of a project or undertaking, as in “You should be blessed to have the strength to undertake a new project or undertaking.” And sometimes it comes at the beginning – as in “This undertaking should be seen through to the end, and you should have the strength to bring it to its conclusion.”
In the case of Moshe’s blessing to the people, it was both, but with the added component of “ENJOYING” the fruits of the labors.
In the case of the Bnei Yisrael, seeing the Mishkan function with God’s presence felt was the greatest blessing of all, an affirmation that all of their efforts were noticed, appreciated, and given the honor they had hoped to create for the Almighty, in honoring Him by making a home for His presence to be noted and noticed in their lives most directly.
May we enjoy the same blessing – that our own efforts in getting close to God, in supporting Torah, in building Torah institutions (or helping them do their holy work) be returned to us a thousand fold, that we should see the holiness of the Shekhinah manifest itself in the Torah that is learned and the special Middos that are modeled by all those who benefit from the glow of Torah in guiding and enhancing our lives.
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For further comments on this verse referencing Moshe's blessing, see:
And the blessings of Moshe and Aharon at the dedication of the Mishkan in Parshat Shemini
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