Parshat Teruma - Still Much Work To Do!

BS"D

YESHIVAT HARA'AYON HAYEHUDI
Jerusalem, Israel
HaRav Yehuda Kroizer SHLIT"A, Rosh Yeshiva

PARSHAT TERUMA
4 Adar, 5766/3-4 March, 2006



STILL MUCH WORK TO DO!

Dovid from Monsey was pacing back and forth, continuously glancing at the phone. He had heard that Mashiach Ben David had arrived, and he was waiting to hear more news. It was then when the phone rang, and quickly
Dovid picked it up. "Shalom Aleichem", said the voice on the other side. Dovid's heart skipped a beat. "This is Mashiach Ben David, and I have booked you and your family on Thursday's El-Al flight at 7:00 PM. from JFK to Tel
Aviv. For as you know, I am bringing all the exiles back to Israel." Dovid looked at his calendar and saw that he had a business meeting that Thursday. "Maybe you can make it for next week, huh? I’m a little busy right now, and
anyway, I’m making arrangements right now for our Passover vacation in downtown Miami."

Unfortunately, so many of the Jewish people want to believe that Mashiach will be a first-rate travel agent who will book us all flights home to the Holy Land. So many of us are waiting for that phone call telling us which flight we are booked on. How easy and grand life would be without us having to lift a finger in this process! And in fact, before the discovery of aviation travel, Jews throughout the world, with no way of reaching the Holy Land by any means, would sit around and wait for the knock on the door and the ride on the flying carpet to the Land of Israel. Unfortunately, that knock did not come. For Dovid of Monsey, though, that doesn’t mean that the phone call won't come, as he continues to sit around and wait.

This week’s parsha should put to rest any arguments for the philosophy of sitting around and waiting for the Redemption of the Jewish people. The Torah commands us to build a sanctuary for Hashem, that He may dwell within. This commandment is brought down by the Rambam (Maimonides) as a commandment incumbent upon the Jewish people in every generation. No one argues on the Rambam that this commandment is not for every generation, or that it is dependent upon the arrival of a particular person (Mashiach). We find in the Talmud that Hashem tells the Jewish people that He will not enter into the heavenly Jerusalem until the Jewish people first enter into the earthly Jerusalem. Hence, the need to act before Hashem does His part!

To bring this important lesson home, the Torah commands us not only to build the sanctuary, but also everything involved with its work. For example: You shall make the Menorah, you shall make the Aron, you shall make the table for the showbreads, you shall make a cover for the Tent, you shall make the beams, you shall make the bars, you shall cover the beams with gold, you shall put a lid upon the Aron, you shall make the altar, you shall make the courtyards, and on and on and on.

And it seems that Hashem knew whom He was talking to: The Jew who likes to wait around for things to happen, but not make it happen. For we find in our parsha that the command "to make" alone is given to us OVER 70 times.
That’s right, hello, is anyone out there?! Over 70 times Hashem troubles Himself to tell us that we have the commandment to make various items for the Beit Hamikdash, right down to the smallest detail, because it's up to us to make it happen, to put it all together. No sitting around stuff, but a "go up and do attitude", dude, for only after we jump into the waters will they split.

So, Dovid of Monsey and all the other Dovids out there - I got news for you: The Torah cannot say it any clearer: Do Get Up and Do, because Mashiach is not a travel agent - and you might just miss the plane.

With love of Israel,
Levi Chazen