“And they brought the Mishkan to Moshe...” (Shmos 39:33)
When the Jews finished all their individual labors in building the parts of the Mishkan, they brought them to Moshe. Rashi says they were unable to put the pieces together and erect the Mishkan, as the pillars were too large for them to put up. Therefore, they came to Moshe. Since he had not physically partaken in the building, Hashem arranged that this job be saved for him.
For his part, Moshe was unsure how he would lift them and stand everything up, but Hashem told him to go through the motions of doing so, and then the pillars would stand by themselves, but it would seem that Moshe had erected the structure.
If the Jews had tried to put up the Mishkan and failed, why did they bring the parts to Moshe? Why didn’t they summon Moshe, and ask him to come to the job site to direct them? And, if he wasn’t actually erecting the Mishkan, why make it look as if he had?
The Targum Yonason ben Uziel goes into great detail here about where “to Moshe” was. He explained that Moshe was in the Bais Midrash, the study hall, with Aharon and his sons, as well as the elders. There, he was reviewing the laws of the Kohanim and their Avoda. Why is it significant to the situation that we know where Moshe was and what he was doing?
Perhaps, it was precisely because Moshe was sitting and learning and had not physically taken part in the construction of the Mishkan. While he had brought the instructions from Hashem, Moshe then delegated authority to Betzalel and Ohaliav, and was not present during the construction process.
There may have been some detractors who felt Moshe should have been personally involved, and that by sitting in the study hall, he was not participating in the project of the nation. Indeed, there are many who don’t realize the benefit to the world of those who devote themselves to learning Torah full time. They don’t recognize that these people are also contributing to society’s progress because through their merit Hashem blesses the world and enables it to continue.
Therefore, when the pieces were complete, the Torah stresses that they brought them to Moshe, because this was very much still HIS project. Hashem wanted Moshe to “appear” to put up the pillars because this was a close approximation of the rest of Creation, where the merit of the righteous is what makes the rain fall and the crops grow. It’s what makes businesses run and breathes life into others.
Despite all their wisdom and hard work, without Moshe and his Torah, the Jews could not complete the Mishkan. This situation and its resolution, teaches us how integral Torah study is at all levels of society - and makes us all, that much wiser.
When R’ Yosef Shalom Elyashiv z”l, the great sage and posek, recovered from one of his last surgeries, well into his 90’s, he commented to a rabbi that he felt a tremendous debt of gratitude to the entire Jewish People.
“I know it is because of their prayers that I merited a successful operation, and I need to repay them somehow. But how can I repay everyone?” The Rav nodded sympathetically. “What I CAN do, though,” continued the gadol, with determination in his voice, “is get up earlier to learn Torah, for when one learns Torah, that helps everyone!”
©2024 – J. Gewirtz
