In this week’s parsah, Vayakhel, we read that the work required to facilitate the construction of the Mishkan necessitated an enormous communal effort, with a fundraising campaign in which everyone participated.
“Moses commanded, and a proclamation was made throughout the camp saying, ‘Let no man or woman make further effort toward gifts for the sanctuary!’ The people stopped bringing. Their efforts had been more than enough for all the tasks to be done” (Shemot 36:6-7).
The Mishkan was dedicated on the 1st of Nissan, and just over four months after its dedication, on the 9th of Av, Am Yisrael sinned with the spies and were consequently punished with another 39 years of wandering through the wilderness. Ultimately it would take another 440 years before King Solomon would build the Beit HaMikdash.
However, when Am Yisrael contributed towards the building of the Mishkan they didn’t know that it would be in use for so long. From their perspective, it would only be functional for a matter of months before entering Israel and building the Beit HaMikdash. Moses solicited the services of multitudes of volunteers for many months of continuous labour, for an edifice with a useful life of mere months. How could such a mammoth expenditure of time and resources be utilised for such an apparent short-term benefit?
Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky explains that Am Yisrael were simply fulfilling the mitzvah of “they shall make a sanctuary for me so that I may dwell among them” (Shemot 25:8). Although the anticipated shelf-life of the Mishkan was temporary, its impact – just like every mitzvah – would be eternal and outlast the physical edifice.
Whenever we are provided with the opportunity to fulfil a mitzvah, instead of approaching it through a cost-benefit analysis, we need to give it our all with the knowledge that we have the ability to bring Hashem’s presence into the world.
Rabbi Brendan Stern is at Hendon United Synagogue
