Arvei Nachal writes, "It is known that when one makes himself holy with these attributes (love, fear, and desire to serve Hashem), the Shechinah comes to him. Hashem loves these emotions, and wherever these emotions are found, Hashem goes there. Therefore, Hashem commanded that every Yid should donate to the Mishkan. Each Yid donated with as much love as he could muster, and the Mishkan was built from these donations. The Mishkan contained the kedushah of the entire nation, which drew down Hashem's Shechinah in the most fitting manner."
We don't have the perfection of the Mishkan/Beis HaMikdash in our times because the Beis HaMikdash is built through the love of the entire nation. Nevertheless, when a Yid loves and fears and yearns for Hashem, he has made Hashem a place in this world.
When Shlomo Hamelech built the Beis HaMikdash, he davened (Malachim 1, 8:57) 'ה יהי יטשנו ואל יעזבנו אל אבותינו עם היה כאשר עמנו אלקינו , "May Hashem be with us, as He was with our forefathers; let Him not leave us, nor forsake us."
This seems like a very unusual request. Now that there is a Beis HaMikdash, Hashem will certainly be with them, even more than before!
The Akeidah (quoted in Chasam Sofer, Terumah, haftorah) answers that in the past, Hashem dwelled in the souls of the Jewish nation. Shlomo HaMelech feared that now that the Beis HaMikdash was built and Hashem lived in this house, perhaps Hashem would no longer reside on the good Yidden who made a place in their heart for Hashem. Therefore, he davened that this aspect of Hashem's presence should always remain with us.
Creating a Mishkan in Your Individual Way
Reb Moshe Feinstein zt'l (Darash Moshe) clarifies that there is a fundamental difference between Hashem's dwelling place in the desert, in the Mishkan, to Hashem's dwelling place in our times, which is in the neshamah of a Yid and the Yiddishe home.
He explains that the Mishkan has set laws, exactly how it should appear. However, when one turns his neshamah into a sanctuary for Hashem, and likewise, when one turns his home into a Mishkan for Hashem to dwell there, there are no set, rigid laws. Each person serves Hashem somewhat differently, and each person, in his individual way, creates a place for Hashem.
This brings us to the important discussion of serving Hashem according to your abilities. One shouldn't copy others. Instead, he should recognize the strengths, talents, and skills that Hashem gave him and use them for avodas Hashem.
The Midrash (Yalkut Shimoni, Mishlei, ב"תתקל) expresses the importance of serving Hashem according to the talent Hashem gave you: “Reb Elazar Hakapar’s nephew, Chiya, had a beautiful voice. Reb Elazar Hakapar would tell him, ‘Chiya, honor Hashem with the talent Hashem gave you. Navos had a beautiful voice, and when he went to Yerushalayim for the yomim tovim, everyone would gather around him to listen to him sing. One year, he didn’t go to Yerushalayim, and dishonest people testified falsely against him, and he was killed (see Melachim 1, ch.21). Why did this happen to him? It’s because he didn’t honor Hashem with the talent Hashem granted him.’”
Reb Meir Shapiro was a chassid of Rebbe Yisrael of Chortkov zt’l. One Shabbos, when Reb Meir Shapiro was in Chortkov, the Rebbe asked him to daven before the amud (Rosh Chodesh benching and Musaf). After the tefillah, the Rebbe invited Reb Meir Shapiro to eat the Shabbos seudah with him.
When the meal was over and Reb Meir Shapiro left the Rebbe's home, people saw Reb Meir beaming joyfully. They asked him what had happened at the meal that made him so happy.
He told them the Rebbe praised him for the tefillos he had davened before the amud. The Rebbe was saying, "Ah! Reb Meir! Your tefillah! Your Rosh Chodesh benching! The musaf! It was so beautiful."
Reb Meir Shapiro said to the Rebbe, "If the Rebbe enjoys my tefillah so much, perhaps I should leave Sanik, where I'm the Rav, and I should become the chazan here?" The Chortkover Rebbe explained to Reb Meir Shapiro that everyone has his primary life mission. "You are a talmid chacham, a talented teacher, and you have all the talents to be a Rosh Yeshiva. Therefore, that is your life's mission."
Soon afterward, Reb Meir Shapiro opened the Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin, where he channeled all his abilities to teach Torah to Yidden. He understood that this was his life's calling and invested all his energies into succeeding in his personal mission.
Once, Reb Meir Shapiro was asked to represent the Jewish community in the Polish parliament. Reb Meir Shapiro asked Rebbe Yisrael of Tchortkov zt’l whether he should accept this position.
The Rebbe replied in a letter, “I received your letter, and I will tell you my opinion:
“A person can determine his life’s assignment and the service that Hashem wants from him based on the talents Hashem endowed him with. Hashem granted you a sharp mind, the acuity to delve into Torah and draw out beautiful diamonds and teach students. You have already established many outstanding students. If you accept this government position, it will take away from your avodas hakodesh. On the other hand, in this political role, you will be able to do a lot of good for the community. Therefore, my advice is: Don’t do any hishtadlus towards attaining this governmental position. But if the Agudah committee asks you to take on the position, accept it.”
Everyone must serve Hashem in his own way, according to the talent and nature Hashem gave him. If you try to do what others do, you will fail and never accomplish your mission.
Reb Mendel Futerfas zt'l spoke about a time when he was imprisoned in Siberia. The warden forbade the prisoners to play cards. (There was no reason for this rule other than to break the spirit of the prisoners.) Nevertheless, some prisoners smuggled in a deck of cards and played in their barracks.
Once, the guards heard that there were cards in prison, so they came barging into the barracks and searched all over for the cards but couldn’t find anything.
This is what happened: One of the prisoners was an expert at pickpocketing (which was probably why he was imprisoned). He knew how to take a wallet out of a person’s pocket without the person feeling anything. This time, instead of picking a pocket, he used his talents to place the deck of cards into the pocket of one of the guards searching the barracks.
The guard looked for the deck of cards under the beds, inside the drawers, and in everyone's pockets without realizing it was in his own pocket. On his way out, the pickpocketer slid the cards back out of the guard’s pocket.
The nimshal is that people think the treasure is elsewhere. They want to copy others because they believe others know how to serve Hashem better. But this isn't necessarily true. Each person has his treasure in his pocket. All he must do is to discover it and master it.
Reb Chaim Brim zt'l once asked the renowned baal teshuvah, Reb Uri Zohar z'l, "Who influenced you to do teshuvah?"
Reb Uri Zohar replied, "What difference does it make?"
Reb Chaim Brim replied, "I'm asking because I also want to do teshuvah. Tell me who helped you do teshuvah, and I will go to him. Perhaps he can influence me to do teshuvah, as he influenced you."
Reb Uri Zohar replied that he was influenced by Reb Yitzchak Shlomo Zilberman zt'l.
Reb Chaim Brim went to Reb Zilberman and requested that he inspire him to do teshuvah.
Reb Zilberman replied, "I'm sorry. I cannot help you. When I meet someone far from Torah and mitzvos, I can easily show him that he is on the wrong path and must change his ways. But you daven and learn Torah. You think you are doing everything correctly, so how can I show you where to improve?"
One of the reasons people think they are doing everything correctly is because they copy what they see others do. They say, "I am doing everything others are doing; what could be wrong?" But the problem is that Hashem gave each person an individual mission. We must identify it and use all our talents and abilities for Hashem's service. And as we wrote above, when we do so, we have created a Mishkan for Hashem in this world, in the neshamah of a Yid.
