“And they brought the Mishkan to Moshe; the tent and all its implements, its hooks, its beams, its bars, and its pillars and its sockets.” (Shmos 39:33)
Having invested their hearts and souls in preparing all the items necessary for the Mishkan, the Jews were anxious for it to be erected. They were unable to do so, however, says the Midrash Tanchuma, quoted by Rashi. The beams were too heavy for a human to lift and put into place, so the people turned to Moshe.
They brought him all the parts of the Mishkan and its furnishings, and laid them out before him (imagine a Mishkan from IKEA.) It was then up to Moshe to put it all together. The reason for this, as stated in the Midrash, was that Moshe had no part in preparing the items for the Mishkan. He had conveyed the commandments, but not actually built anything. Therefore, Hashem saved this job for him, to actually put it up.
Moshe argued to Hashem that the people were correct, that it was a task beyond human ability, but Hashem told Moshe to place his hands on the items and they would lift up on their own, but it would appear to everyone that he was lifting and placing the heavy beams. This all makes sense, except for one thing.
If the beams were too heavy for them to lift and stand up, why bring everything to Moshe, instead of asking him to come to the jobsite and see the issue? And if they were bringing the krashim beams to Moshe, why did they bring all the other items? They could have let Moshe erect the beams, and then brought in all the rest.
It seems that with all their enthusiasm, when the Jews hit a snag, they were shut down completely. They had seen such Divine assistance, that when something went wrong, they couldn’t handle it. Essentially, when they brought everything to Moshe, they were throwing up their hands and giving up.
Moshe realized that he couldn’t do it either, and reached out to Hashem. He was told, “I’m going to handle everything. You just make it look like you’re doing it.”
What a powerful concept! Even Moshe Rabbeinu, the greatest man who ever lived, had his limitations. However, what empowered him to overcome them was his awareness that Hashem has no limits. He can do whatever He wishes, and enables us to have a role in fulfilling them. Not only did Moshe then put up the kerashim, but he placed all the other items inside, all by himself, more than he had been asked to do.
When we think we’ve hit a brick wall, and can go no further, we need to remember this message from Hashem. “I will do it all; you just put your hands into the work.” Our task is not to get results, but to make our best efforts. And yes, to not be deterred when something doesn’t work out as we think it should.
A young boy came home from Hebrew school and his mother asked him what he’d learned.
“We learned about the Jews leaving Egypt,” he said. “When they got to the Red Sea, they built a suspension bridge, loaded it down with dynamite, and crossed to the other side.
When the Egyptians came, the Jews waited until they were all on the bridge, then they blew it up and killed all the Egyptians.” The mother looked down at the boy with a look of disapproval on her face. “Young man,” she said, “I don’t think that’s the story your teacher told you.”
He looked up at her with a smile and replied, “That’s true, but you’d NEVER believe the story she DID tell us!”
©2025 – J. Gewirtz
