קול רם – 36:8 “ויעשו כל חכם לב בעשי המלאכה את המשכן עשר יריעת שש משזר ותכלת וארגמן ותולעת שני, כרובים מעשה חשב אתם” – “The wise-hearted among those doing the work made the Mishkan ten panels of twisted linen, and turquoise wool. And purple wool, and scarlet wool; they made them, the work of an artist – Keruvim.” Why does the Posuk here say, “ויעשו” – a Loshon Rabbim, plural, while after this the Torah continually says, “ויעש” in Loshon Yachid? Was it numerous people who made the Mishkan, or one person?
The Gemara in Bava Basra 24b says “קידרא דבי שותפי לא חמימא ולא קדירא” – Rav Kahana said that a pot belonging to partners is neither hot nor cold – meaning that no one takes responsibility for an item that belongs to several people as opposed to a single individual. The Gemara is telling us that you cannot compare the work of two people to the work of an individual. When there are two partners, each partner relies on the other; he doesn’t do things for he figures that the partner will do it, and therefore the work is not really done the way it should be. As opposed to when there is only one worker, he knows that it is all on his shoulders, it is all his responsibility, and he therefore is careful to make sure that everything is done properly. The same is true in regards to all matters of Kedusha, and to Kiyum Mitzvos and Ma’asim Tovim. Although there are many performing the same Mitzvah, each person must feel as if he is doing it alone – he has no partners, and he must ensure that it is done perfectly. This way, the work will come out in the most optimal way. The Halacha is that there are times (if one is learning Torah) that one is exempt from a Mitzvah if it is possible for the Mitzvah to be done by someone else. However, it does not mean that the person is completely exempt, and can continue what he is doing as if he has no additional responsibilities. Rather he has an obligation to see to it that there are in fact others who can actually perform the Mitzvah and do it correctly. It is only after the person has ascertained this information, that he is exempt from this Mitzvah. We see from this that one must always consider it as if he is performing every Mitzvah he does, on his own. He must ensure that it is done correctly, in the most optimal manner. The Torah begins by telling us, “ויעשו” – that there were actually many involved in the construction of the Mishkan. However, after the Torah uses the word, “ויעש” over and over again, to stress that during the actual construction of the Mishkan, each person did his part as if he was the only one doing it.
We can add one step further than this to the P’shat of Reb Moshe. When one knows that he is not fully in control of something, he does not work the same. Meaning, that even if he is to do an amazing job, if the other person does not do a similar job – then the final product is still very lacking. Thus, although he put his all into it, it can be very frustrating for he is not in control of the final product, and it could be despite his extreme exertion, nonetheless the final product could be greatly lacking. In Ruchniyos, one cannot think like that. Each person must give every Mitzvah everything he has. He must put all of his effort into it, as if he is the only one. For in truth, he really is the only one, for Hakodosh Boruch Hu sees exactly what each person did and what each person contributed, thus, whatever a person puts into a Mitzvah, that is what it will produce, no matter if others are part of the Mitzvah as well.
