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Parshat Tetzaveh

By: Lauren Blachorsky

This weeks Parasha, Parashat Tetzaveh, continues with the vivid descriptions of the various aspects of the Mishkan. It focuses on different holy vessels, and the clothing of the priests. The Parasha opens with the commandment of the people of Israel to continually light the Menorah with Crushed olive oil. The Torah says, "And you should command the Children of Israel and they should take to you purely crushed olive oil to light and to go up for a continuous candle." (Shemot 27:20) This seems strange. Why does the Torah need to explicitly "command" the people to light the Menorah. Shouldn't they have voluntarily given of their money to continuously light the Menorah? By contrast, in last week's Parasha, the text says "Speak to the children of Israel, and have them take for Me an offering; from every person whose heart inspires him to generosity, you shall take My offering (Shemot 25:2)." Why is a command necessary?

The answer is twofold. One approach is to understand the nature of man. By nature, man enjoys willingly giving of himself to a cause he is dedicated to, but when forced to give of himself to something he is not as dedicated in, he is not as willing. Hashem is saying that the Jewish people should be willing to give to the Mishkan, and later the Beit HaMikdash, which is why the Pasuk about voluntary donations comes in the previous Parasha. But Hashem, who knows the essence of man, is also saying that He wants man to give as a commandment, because there will be times that man does not want to give. The Mishkan is not like an organization that we donate charity to today. If the charity does not steer itself in the direction that we approve of, we switch our allegiances. This is not the case here. In the times that a person cannot see the value of Hashem's actions, he is still required to contribute to the Jewish nation. That is why the meaning of our pasuk. Support by way of command may not be the ideal way to support the Mishkan, but it is sometimes needed.

The second reason the pasuk is here is because of the essence of the particular commandment. Hashem is commanding the people to give money for light for the Menorah. People like giving things when they can see the finished product. It is much easier to get donations for a building or something tangible, because the donors can see their donations in use. There is a satisfaction to seeing your name on a plaque, or seeing a toy which you donated being used. It is much harder to donate money to pay for a salary, or to pay for something that you cannot point to, and say "that was what I gave." This is why Hashem made it a commandment to keep the Menorah lit. No one would be able to say, "I paid for that hour of oil burning." For this reason, the commandment of keeping the Menorah lit, is a commandment, and not a voluntary option.

The message to be learned from this pasuk is that we should try and be people that voluntarily give ourselves, and give of ourselves in order to serve Hashem. We should try to not let it come to the point of being commanded. Shabbat Shalom.

Lauren's favorite part of this week's trip to Eilat was snorkeling with her friends (and Mrs. Gottlieb's daughter!).

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