וַיְהִי בְּיוֹם כַּלּוֹת מֹשֶׁה לְהָקִים אֶת־הַמִּשְׁכָּן וַיִּמְשַׁח אֹתוֹ וַיְקַדֵּשׁ אֹתוֹ וְאֶת־כּל־כֵּלָיו וְאֶת־הַמִּזְבֵּחַ וְאֶת־כּל־כֵּלָיו וַיִּמְשָׁחֵם וַיְקַדֵּשׁ אֹתָם׃
On the day that Moses finished setting up the Tabernacle, he anointed and consecrated it and all its furnishings, as well as the altar and its utensils. He anointed and consecrated them. (7:1)
Rashi in his commentary cites the Midrash that points out that the Mishkan (the Tabernacle) was constructed by Bezalel, Ohaliav, and their team of wise-hearted men (see Exodus 36:1), but at the conclusion of this momumental project the Torah attributes everything to Moshe alone!
The Midrash explains that this is because of the מסירות נפש, the self- sacrifice and wholehearted dedication Moshe displayed to see that the pattern of each and every item should be exactly as he was shown on Mount Sinai as he instructed the craftsman what they were to do. He did not err in any one of them!
The Midrash continues that we find a similar thing in the case of King David. Because he devoted himself with מסירות נפש to the building of the Holy Temple (which at the end Hashem did not allow him to do) as it is said, (Psalms 132:1—5) “Lord, remember David, and all his affliction: How he swore unto the Lord … “I will not enter my house, nor will I mount my bed, I will not give sleep to my eyes….until I find a place for the LORD, an abode for the Mighty One of Jacob,” The Temple was called by his name, as it is said, (1 Kings 12:16) “Now see your own house, David”.
Why does the מסירות נפש, the self- sacrifice of Moshe and Dovid overshadow the great work of those who actually brought to reality what Moshe and Dovid dedicated themselves to?
The answer is that giving Moshe all the credit is not meant to ignore the great feat of those who constructed the Mishkan but to reveal how Moshe could take credit for something he didn’t actually do.
We all want to succeed in our endeavors and for our accomplishments to last. But all the hard work we’ve invested does not guarantee any of that. For that we need a zechut, a special merit. The merit that makes our accomplishments last is mesirus nefesh- self sacrifice and wholehearted dedication. That creates the strong foundation upon which we successfully build lasting accomplishments. Without that our efforts can go to waste.
In that sense the construction of the Mishkan is solely to the credit of Moshe because it was he who brought to fruition a lasting Mishkan. Therefore the Torah only mentioned him at the point of the Mishkan’s completion.
Rabbi Yechiel Spero in his book Touched by a Story 3 tells the story of a widowed Jewish mother who saw her two sons she raised to be observant Jews go off to war during WWII. She turned to Hashem and prayed, “I’m sending away two Yiddishe kinderlach (two Jewish children). Please send me back two Yiddishe kinderlach.”
Three years later the war ended and her boys were coming home. On the Thursday before their arrival one of her other children noticed that their mother was not eating. When asked why she revealed that for the past three years she had been fasting every Monday and Thursday for her sons’ safe return.
“But Mommy,” the children said. “The war is over and the boys are coming home. You don’t need to fast anymore!” Their mother responded, “Children, I did not fast so that the war should end. I fasted because I sent away two Yiddishe kinderlach. When I see that my two Yiddishe kinderlach have remained true to how they were raised, I will stop fasting.”
That Sunday her two sons arrived home and she saw that her two Yiddishe kinderlach had indeed returned! The next day she ate on a Monday morning for the first time in three years.
Through mesirus nefesh we can have lasting accomplishments.
Through mesirus nefesh we can have lasting nachas from our children.
Shabbat Shalom!
Yitzchak