The Chasam Sofer zt’l (Toras Moshe, Terumah) writes, "When one desires to donate, but he doesn't have enough money [Hashem will help him achieve his wish]. This happened to the nesi'im. They wanted to donate the stones for the kohanim's clothing but didn't own gems. Hakadosh Baruch Hu brought the gems to them in the clouds. When they collected the mon, they collected the gems. This teaches us that when a person desires to do something," Hashem will help him succeed.
The Gemara (Yoma 38) relates that Niknor transported two beautiful doors from Alexandria, Egypt, to Eretz Yisrael to donate to the Beis HaMikdash. However, a powerful storm at sea forced the sailors to toss all heavy objects overboard. They also threw one of the doors overboard. Niknor jumped onto the second door, and hugging the door, he proclaimed, "If you throw this door into the water, throw me in too." As soon as he uttered those words, the storm subsided. When the boat docked in Eretz Yisrael, they found the first, missing door floating beside the ship.
Those doors were installed in the Beis HaMikdash, and the doorway was named Shaar Niknor (Niknor's entrance). The doors were made from copper, and they shone like gold. Eventually, all the Beis HaMikdash doors were switched to gold, but the chachamim said that Niknor's doors should remain because of the miracles that happened with them.
Let's analyze this story: Niknor was moser nefesh to bring even one door to the Beis HaMikdash. What good would one door serve if two doors are needed for the gate? The answer is that Niknor was moser nefesh to do what he could, even when it seemed that one door was insufficient, and Hakadosh Baruch Hu helped him. Because when a person tries, Hashem helps. Both doors were installed in the Beis HaMikdash. We add that also, when it comes to praying for the coming of Moshiach, we must do the best we can.
As the Mesilas Yesharim (19) writes, "If one asks, who am I, and how important am I really, that I should daven for [the gathering of] the galus and for Yerushalayim? Could it be that because of my tefillah, the galus will end, and the redemption will sprout? The answer is, as Chazal (Sanhedrin 37.) say, man was created alone, to demonstrate 'The world was created for me.' Hashem has pleasure when His children pray for this matter. Even if the prayers cannot be answered – because the time hasn't come yet or for some other reason – they did their share, and Hakadosh Baruch Hu is happy with them... We are obligated to pray and shouldn't refrain because of a lack of strength. As Chazal (Avos 2) say, המלאכה עליך לא הימנה לפטר חורין בן אתה ואי לגמור, 'You are not obligated to finish, but you don't have the right to refrain...'"
Toiling in Avodas Hashem
It states (37:1-2), ...שטים עצי הארן את בצלאל ויעש ומחוץ מבית טהור זהב ויצפהו, "Betzalel made the aron from shittim wood... and covered it with pure gold, inside and outside.
The pasuk says there were three aronos, one inside the other. The innermost box was gold, the outermost was gold, and the middle was wood.
This represents the three stages of teshuvah:
- (1) The golden era is the beginning of one's teshuvah. That is when Hashem is helping him, and he is succeeding in his teshuvah process.
- (2) Then comes the struggle because it isn't always easy. Hashem takes away the initial euphoria and "light" that prevails at the beginning of the teshuvah, and now the person must walk on his own. He is confronted with hardships and tests. He isn't confident he can succeed.
- (3) If he keeps trying, he will reach the golden, third era. He will succeed in his teshuvah.
These three stages also exist when one desires to grow in Torah. At the beginning of his resolve to learn Torah, he is interested, inspired, and excited. The Torah is sweet to him.
Then comes the challenging times. He doesn't understand and cannot keep up with the pace he initially set for himself. He wonders whether success in Torah is possible for him.
But if he keeps trying, he will reach the third stage, when he truly loves Torah and understands it. The Torah will now be sweeter to him than ever before.
The aron's three boxes represent these three stages. But notice that the aron is called, שיטים עצי ארון, an aron of wood. It isn't called זהב של ארון, "a golden aron." To teach that the essential stage and the real purpose is the struggle (represented by the wood).
When the Torah lists the items that Yidden donated to the Mishkan, they are listed in the order of value, from the most precious to the least expensive. As it states (35:5), ונחשת וכסף זהב, gold, silver, and copper..." and so on. But then it states (35:9), מלואים ואבני שהם אבני, the precious gems that were to be used for the כהונה בגדי. These gems were the most precious items, more precious than gold and silver, but they are listed last. Why?
The same question appears in parashas Terumah when Hashem told the Jewish nation to donate these items to the Mishkan. The pasuk begins with (Shemos 25:7) ,וכסף ,זהב ,ונחשת listing the items in the order of most precious to the least expensive. And then, at the end of the list, the precious gems are listed. As it states (25:9), מלאים ואבני שהם ואבני ולחשן לאפוד.
The Or HaChaim (Terumah 25:7) asks: "We have to understand why שוהם אבני מלואים ואבני are written only after the eleven items. Since the stones were more precious, it would be proper to write them first, before ונחשת וכסף זהב!"
One of the Or HaChaim's answers is that these precious stones were brought without toil since they came down with the mon. The nesi'im only had to pick them up after they rained down together with the mon. Although they were the most expensive, the donation ranked lower because they were brought without toil. They didn't compare to the donations that people gave from their own pockets, even when those donations were of a lesser value.
This is an important lesson to remember. If you find avodas Hashem difficult, be happy. It is a good sign because that is how avodas Hashem is meant to be. The hardships greatly increase and enhance the value and the joy of our avodas Hashem.
There was a soldier in Czar Nicholai's army who enjoyed drinking, and when he ran out of money, he gave all of his weapons to the owner of a tavern as collateral in exchange for drinks. He carried around a large bag so people would think his weapons were inside the bag.
One day, Czar Nicholai visited the army base. He was pleased with the order and discipline he saw. But then he called over this soldier and asked him to open the bag. The Czar saw it was filled with straw, and the soldier was punished severely.
Rebbe Asher of Stolin zy'a repeated this story and asked: How did Czar Nicholai know to ask this soldier specifically to open his bag? Other soldiers were going about carrying their bags, and the Czar didn't suspect them. What about this soldier roused his suspicion?
The answer is, the Czar saw that the soldier was carrying his bag without difficulty. That aroused the Czar's suspicion because weapons are heavy.
Rebbe Asher of Stolin said that similarly, avodas Hashem is meant to be a challenge. If it is easy, that's a sign that something is wrong. One should encounter difficulty and challenge. One should feel like he's working hard, putting in an effort. And because of the hardships, our avodas Hashem is so precious to us and to Hashem.
As it states in Avos d'Reb Noson (3:6), "Performing the mitzvos once with tzaar is equivalent to a hundred times without hardships." And Sefer Chassidim (145) states, "When one triumphs over his yetzer hara, the reward will be greater than the reward given for a hundred mitzvos, performed without hardships." And Chazal (Avos 5:23) say, לפום אגרא צערא, "the reward is in accordance with the hardships."
Pirkei Avos is a part of Mishnayos, which are generally written in lashon hakadosh. So why does it say (Avos 5:23), אגרא צערא לפום in Aramaic?
Tosfos (Brachos 3.) writes, "We say Kaddish in Aramaic because it is a beautiful praise, and we don't want the malachim to understand what we are saying and be jealous of us." Similarly, we can explain that the phrase אגרא צערא לפום is a great praise, when a Yid overcomes his challenges to serve Hashem. We don't want to rouse the malachim's jealousy. Therefore, it is written in Aramaic.
A group of chassidim complained to the Chidushei HaRim zt'l about their yetzer hara. The Chidushei HaRim told them, "What purpose would there be to life if there wasn't a yetzer hara?"
The Yidden in the desert complained (Shemos 16:3), הבשר סיר על בשבתנו מצרים בארץ ... יתן מי לשובע לחם באכלנו, "If only...we were in Mitzrayim, where we sat near the pot of meat, and we ate bread to satiation." According to the simple meaning, they complained that they didn't have meat any longer and that they didn't have bread. However, the Chasam Sofer zt'l explains that they couldn't have eaten the meat because it wasn't kosher. They were saying that they remember how it was in Mitzrayim, הבשר סיר על בשבתנו, when we sat next to the Egyptians who were cooking pots filled with non-kosher meat, לשובע לחם באכלנו, but we didn't partake in the non-kosher foods, and all we ate was bread. They were reminiscing about how it was in Mitzrayim when they were faced with great tests. They missed the tests because passing them is the purpose of life.
Chazal (Brachos 54.) say, "When one sees the stone that Moshe sat on when Yehoshua was fighting the war with Amalek, one must praise Hashem." We can explain this as follows: Moshe held his hands high in prayer to win the war. When Moshe's hands were heavy, Aharon and Chur supported his arms. But how were they able to reach his arms? Moshe was very tall. At those times, Moshe sat on a low stone. That way, Aharon and Chur could reach his arms and help him spread them out in tefillah (see Ha'amek Davar). Thus, the stone signifies a weak moment when Moshe couldn't hold his hands in prayer alone. And it is those challenging moments that are the most extraordinary. Therefore, this stone is so significant.
