Parshas Pekudei
אֵלֶּה פְקוּדֵי הַמִּ שְׁ כָּן מִ שְׁ כַּן הָעֵדֻת אֲשֶׁר פֻּקַּד עַל פִּי משֶׁה וגו' (לח, כא)
These are the numbers of the Mishkan, the Mishkan of the Testimony, which were counted at Moshe’s command... (38:21)
Blessings in the Merit of Emunah:
The Medrash (Shemos Rabbah 51:1) states: “’These are the numbers of the Mishkan.’ Rebbe Tanchuma bar Abba would start: ‘A trustworthy man will have many blessings, but he who hastens to become rich will not go unpunished.’ ‘A trustworthy man will have many blessings’ – we find that Hashem brings blessings through the hands of anyone who is trustworthy. But if someone is not trustworthy –‘he who hastens to become rich will not go unpunished’,”
’A trustworthy man’ – this refers to Moshe Rabenu who was trusted by Hashem, as is stated (Bamidbor 12:7): ‘My servant Moshe is trusted in all of My house.’ This trustworthy man ’had many blessings’ because all of the things that he was appointed to oversee were blessed.
’He who hastens to become rich will not go unpunished’ – this refers to Korach, who was a Levi and wanted to be Kohen Gadol. What was his end? The ground opened its mouth and swallowed him.”
Korach lost everything – his money and his life – because he was not a trustworthy person.
Moshe Rabenu Only Was Concerned With the Benefit of Klal Yisroel:
The Shem M’Shmuel zt”l explains this Medrash by quoting the words of his grandfather, the Kotzker Rebbe zy”a (cited in Sefer Emes V’Emunah, Os 39). The Rebbe explained that a trustworthy person is one who can be relied upon to faithfully fulfill a mission he has been sent upon. When such a person is sent on a mission, he does not think about how he can gain personally; rather, he simply does what he was tasked to do by the one who sent him. This is actually stated about Hashem himself (Tehillim 33:4): “All His ways are with trust.” Hashem only acts for the good of Klal Yisroel, and not for his own good, so to speak.
Moshe Rabenu was trustworthy because he always did whatever Hashem told him to do for the good of the nation, without worrying at all about his own benefit. This is clearly seen in the story of the eigel, where he told Hashem that his name should be completely erased from the Torah if Klal Yisroel is not forgiven. We see that he wanted nothing for himself. He was ready to have his name erased and for no remembrance of him to remain in the world. All he cared about was the good of his people.
The source of all blessings is in shomayim. The brachos pour down from there nonstop; however, they only flow to this world if there is a vessel here that is able to receive them. If there is no vessel on earth to catch the blessings, they cannot flow down here.
That is the meaning of the Medrash. A trustworthy man like Moshe brings many blessings to the world. Because Moshe had no personal interests and was only concerned with the honor of Hashem and the good of Klal Yisroel, he was a perfect vessel to receive the blessings and bring them to this world. Korach, however, was the opposite of Moshe Rabenu. Although he wanted to be Kohen Gadol, his intentions were for his own benefit, not for Hashem’s glory. Klal Yisroel already had a Kohen Gadol and did not need another one. Therefore, it is obvious that Korach was only interested in his own honor.
Emunah Creates Goodness:
Sefer Beer Moshe (Parshas Behar) explains this Medrash by stating that it is common knowledge that when a person engages in business honestly and with trustworthiness in all ways, he merits receiving much abundance in this world. This concept is seen in the Gemara (Taanis 8A): “Rains only fall because of trustworthy people”, as is stated (Tehillim 85:12): ’Truth will sprout from the earth, and righteousness will look down from Heaven.’” Rashi explains that when truth is sprouting from the earth – meaning when people are honest in their business dealings – then righteousness will look down from Heaven – meaning rains will fall and people will be provided for.
The Arizal (Likutei Torah, Tehillim 84) says that rain symbolizes all good influences, both in ruchnius and gashmius. Thus, it is clear that all good influences are a product of honesty and being trustworthy. In the merit of trustworthy people, the entire world is provided with rain, which is the source of all good influences.
In this vein, it is related that Rav Meir of Premishlan zy”a was once approached by two business partners, who asked him for a bracha. He told them, “Always remember the letters ’aleph, bais gimmel, daled’. ’Aleph’ stands for emunah. If all of your dealings and actions are done with trustworthiness, you will merit the ’bais,’ which stands for bracha. If you are not honest, however, you will get the ’gimmel,’ which stands for gezel, theft. If you are not trustworthy, you will accuse each other of stealing and the partnership will fall apart, which will lead to the ’daled’, which stands for dalos, poverty.”
The Medrash is saying that a trustworthy man who does business honestly brings blessings to this world, both in terms of ruchnius and in terms...
