Moshe erected the Mishkan. He placed the sockets and put in the planks and inserted the bolts and stood up the pillars. (Shemos 40:18)
R. Avin said: This may be compared to a king who had a beautiful image. He said to a member of his household, “Make me one like it.” He responded, “My master the king, how can I possibly make one like it?” The king answered, “You use your dyes, and I will do my part.”
Hakadosh Baruch Hu said similarly to Moshe, “See [the form of the Mishkan] and make it.” Moshe responded, “Master of the World, am I G-d?! How can I make like these?” He answered, “‘According to their shape, with sky-blue dye and scarlet dye and crimson dye.’ Just as you see above, so shall you make below.... And if you make below like the one above, I will leave the Heavenly entourage behind and bring My Presence among you, below. (Shemos Rabbah 35:6)
When Moshe Rabbeinu saw what was entailed in constructing the Mishkan, he realized it was impossible. Only G-d could make a Mishkan. Then Hashem told him that he has only to do his part. He only needs to build the Mishkan according to the prescribed plan, and Hashem will do His part and bring the Shechinah to rest in it. This is in fact what happened. Moshe built the Mishkan from physical materials and Hashem brought down the Shechinah to dwell in it.
We can apply the same principle to every area of life. When we are about to do a mitzvah we recite the blessing of אשר קדשנו במצותיו וצונו. We thank Hashem for sanctifying us through His mitzvos. But why do we call them “His” mitzvos? It is our job and obligation to do the mitzvos, so we should call them “our” mitzvos!
When we do mitzvos, Hashem completes our actions and grants them their kedushah, their special spiritual qualities, their heavenly power. It is written:
אקרא לאלקים עליון לא-ל גומר עלי – I will call out to the exalted G-d, to the G-d Who finishes for me (Tehillim 57:3).
When we do mitzvos to the extent we can, when we learn Torah on our level, Hashem finishes the act and brings it to completion and absolute perfection. He places great kedushah on the mitzvos we do. He finishes what we were unable to.
This is the meaning of אשר קדשנו במצותיו וצונו. The mitzvos we perform do not receive their value from our actions alone because then they would be lacking and malformed. Hakadosh Baruch Hu comes and completes what we can’t do ourselves. The level of sanctity that our mitzvos have is thus according to Hashem’s mitzvos.
When we recite a blessing before doing a mitzvah, we are saying, so to speak, “Ribono shel Olam, we did as You commanded, we finished our part. We can’t do more than that. Now we ask of you to sanctify us with Your mitzvos. You finish whatever is needed so the mitzvos we did will receive the value and the qualities appropriate to Your mitzvos. Give our mitzvos what only You can give them.”
And Hashem hears our request. He examines our deeds, and if we did all we can, He finishes our mitzvah acts and grants them His sublime kedushah.
