REBBETZIN SHIRA SMILES Faculty, OU Israel Center
True Longing
T
he moment everyone was waiting for finally arrived. It was time to erect the Mishkan; yet, the people were unable to build it. The Torah relates (Shemos 39;33), that Klal Yisrael brought all the components of the Mishkan to Moshe Rabbeinu who, with help from Hashem, erected it by himself. Why was it necessary for Moshe Rabbeinu to be the one to actually build the Mishkan and how was he able to do it single handedly? Rav Igbi in Chachmat Hamatzpun, underscores the importance of beginnings. One purpose of the Mishkan was to atone for the Sin of the Golden Calf. It therefore had to be established the first time with complete purity of thought. Thus, Moshe Rabbeinu, who was able to direct his thought completely toward this holy task,
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was chosen. Rabbi Eliezer Meizlish in Sichot Bavodat Hashem uses Shabbat as a prime example of the importance of reishit. The Torah states “Zachor et yom hashabbat lekadesho” (Shemos 20;8). We would therefore think that the obligation to make kiddush only applies on Shabbat morning. However, since we want to begin Shabbat in a state of holiness, we have kiddush to usher in the night meal as well. He also notes interestingly that Esav/ Western culture chose Sunday as their day of rest as to begin their week with the power of that day. However, Judasim begins every day from sunset the previous evening; we have tosefet Shabbat which enables us to infuse the new week with the holiness of Shabbat. He explains Chazal’s maxim, ‘kol hatchalot kashot, umekan v’elech yearav lachem’, as a general mindset. All beginnings must start strong, totally committed, and then one will see positive results. As such, one will not be
