As a kid, I would sit in shul week after week being told by my father that I had to listen to the rabbi’s speech. I didn’t get much of what was being shared, yet my parents felt this was something I needed to do. While I attempted to get out of it with anything from needing to use the bathroom or “get a tissue” nothing worked. With nothing else to do, I acquiesced and decided to make the best of it. What did that mean? Lots and lots of daydreaming.
Even in my journeys elsewhere in my head, there was one phrase that kept coming up and that has stuck with me for years. My rabbi would say over and over again, “There is no such thing as an extra word in the Torah. If we think there is one, it is there for a purpose.” That line has followed me every time I open up a Chumash. In this week’s double parsha to end off Sefer Shemot, Vayakhel and Pekudei are the epitome of superfluous.
After weeks of being told about the architecture of the Mishkan and the tapestry of the clothing of the Kohen, we are told that Moshe directed his artisans, being led by Betzalel, to complete the work. Really? We spend not one but two parshiot on the simple message that we followed Hashem’s directions? I know that Tanach is filled with moments when we did not follow His direction and, yet, this seems like pure overkill. Thus, the deep seeded phrase from my youth comes to surface to remind us that there is nothing extra in the Torah. These parshiot are necessary. It is our job to understand why.
There are many hidden lessons in these passages. Rashi highlights one that jumps off the page. The Torah specifically explains to us that the leaders of the tribes come out to donate and support the Mishkan first:
וְהַנְּשִׂאִ֣ם הֵבִ֔יאוּ אֵ֚ת אַבְנֵ֣י הַשֹּׁ֔הַם וְאֵ֖ת אַבְנֵ֣י הַמִּלֻּאִ֑ים לָאֵפ֖וֹד וְלַחֹֽשֶׁן׃ וְאֶת־הַבֹּ֖שֶׂם וְאֶת־הַשָּׁ֑מֶן לְמָא֕וֹר וּלְשֶׁ֙מֶן֙ הַמִּשְׁחָ֔ה וְלִקְטֹ֖רֶת הַסַּמִּֽים׃
The leaders of the tribes came and brought the Shoham stones, and the stones for the ephod and choshen. They also brought spices and oil for lighting along with the anointing oil and the aromatic incense.
The leaders brought their contributions of spices, oil and incense at the dedication of the altar. Why does it highlight them in particular? If we recall, they had chosen not to dedicate immediately when Moshe was gathering materials for the Mishkan and clothing of the Kohen. Once they came around to getting their act together everything was already collected and then some. The only items that were missing were the precious stones and gems. They indeed donated those items and were distraught at their not seizing the opportunity at first chance. They were not going to miss that moment when it came around again with the altar.
What are we to learn from this scene? As a kid in New York, we were often told that if we were traveling in the subway and we noticed a suspicious item we should say something. The slogans on billboards and tv commercials were “See something, Say something.” The leaders of the Jewish people were not sensitive to that directive and, as a result, missed out in being a larger part of the groundbreaking initiative. Thankfully they had a second chance which was never guaranteed. Such is life.
We have moments in our lives when we are given a chance, an opportunity. We are not always aware that it is indeed the opportunity that will save us from heartbreak, that will provide us the growth and financial stability that we would need and/or crave, and certainly did not know what it would do for our future. If we miss it, we may never realize a time when we can make that moment up again.
I have lived many of these “second chance” moments in my life. None came easy and many through painful journeys. Our past Jewish leaders are speaking to us thousands of years later calling for us to learn from their mistakes and grab tightly around all of the moments that Hashem places in front of us. They are life’s calling card. Viktor Frankl, a survivor of Auschwitz and the creator of logotherapy, writes in the closing remarks of his lecture entitled On the Meaning and Value of Life I, “ Life is not something, it is the opportunity for something.” Are we ready to make our lives something bigger, more, and meaningful to us and others? If not, perhaps it is time for us to being listening more intently to the messages of those who came before us.