A timely message.
Dedicated by Sender Ochs & Family (Minneapolis, MN) l’illui nishmas Noach Boruch ben Itzchok Ochs
Parshas Behaaloscha 5786
The Torah this week is dedicated to the memory of a pure and sweet young girl whose neshamah was returned to her Creator this week. שיינדל ע״ה בת יבלח״ט חיים יהודה לייב
We know that every part of the Torah, every person, every word, is not merely a story of the past. As Chazal teach us, מעשה אבות סימן לבנים. The Torah is eternal, and its lessons speak directly to our lives.
In this week’s parshah, we learn about the Mishkan and its vessels. The Menorah, the Kiyor, the Mizbeach. We can draw a direct line from each of them to our own lives and avodas Hashem.
Our lives, please G-d, should be filled with happiness, blessing, abundance, and success. Yet at times they also contain uncertainty, pain, darkness, and hester panim. For those moments as well, the Torah is where we turn. The Torah, כי הם חיינו, is the bedrock of our faith and serves as a beacon of guiding light.
In times of uncertainty and pain, we do not understand Hashem’s cheshbonos. In times of loss, when the news is heart-wrenching and events seem impossible to comprehend, we stand in Shemoneh Esrei and say, מכלכל חיים בחסד. We proclaim that Hashem sustains life with kindness, even when we have no idea how it makes sense. Even when we cannot understand what we are seeing, we continue to hold on to the certainty that Hashem’s wisdom, kindness, and plan extend far beyond our own understanding.
There is a famous quote attributed to Werner Heisenberg:
“The first gulp from the glass of natural sciences will turn you into an atheist, but at the bottom of the glass God is waiting for you.”
The idea is profound. At first, a person believes that understanding removes mystery. The more he learns, the more he feels that everything can be explained. Yet the deeper one goes, the more one realizes how much remains beyond comprehension.
Science can explain how planets move, how cells function, and how stars are formed. But eventually it runs into deeper questions. Why do the laws of nature exist at all? Why is the universe ordered in a way that can be understood? Why does mathematics describe reality with such astonishing precision? Why is there something rather than nothing?
The beginner thinks he has answers. The master recognizes how many questions remain. What first appeared simple becomes increasingly profound. Understanding does not eliminate mystery. In many ways, it reveals just how much mystery there is.
Perhaps the same is true in life. We often assume that if we understood more, everything would make sense. Yet sometimes the deepest wisdom is recognizing the limits of our understanding and accepting that there are realities far greater than ourselves.
BUILDING THE MENORAH
With that in mind, a fascinating Medrash in Bamidbar Rabbah (15:10) relates that even after Hashem showed Moshe a Menorah of fire, Moshe could not grasp how to make it. Yet Betzalel, who had not seen the vision, made it at once.
The Imrei Emes (Likutei Yehudah, Terumah 25:31) asks: How is it possible that Betzalel was able to do easily what Moshe could not do even with the greatest effort? לא קם בישראל כמשה עוד. There will never be another Moshe.
For decades, the Imrei Emes was troubled by this Medrash. How could it be that Moshe Rabbeinu, who was shown the Menorah directly by Hashem, could not fashion it, while Betzalel, who had not seen the vision, was able to create it immediately?
The Imrei Emes related that he once traveled to Warsaw to visit his son-in-law, who had undergone surgery and was suffering from complications. The surgeon, feeling responsible for the outcome, sought to explain what had happened and shared two stories with the Rebbe:
THE SURGEON'S STORIES
In one, a king possessed a priceless diamond with a small blemish. Although the kingdom’s finest craftsmen knew how to remove the flaw, none were willing to take the risk of damaging such a valuable stone. Eventually, an unknown craftsman, unaware of the diamond’s significance, was brought in and removed the blemish without difficulty.
He then told of a story involving Napoleon’s wife, who faced a difficult childbirth. The most experienced midwives were hesitant to take responsibility for such a high-profile case. Ultimately, a simple midwife from the countryside, unaware of the stature of the woman she was treating, successfully delivered the child without incident.
The doctor concluded, “The same thing happened with your son-in-law. This operation is ordinarily routine for me. But when I realized who my patient was and the significance of the family involved, I became nervous and overly conscious of the responsibility. The pressure affected my performance.”
UNDERSTANDING THE MEDRASH
Upon hearing this, the Imrei Emes said that the Medrash suddenly became clear. Moshe Rabbeinu understood the Menorah on the deepest level, grasping the meaning and significance contained in every detail. Precisely because he understood so much, the enormity of the task overwhelmed him.
Betzalel, however, approached it with a simpler perspective. Since he was not weighed down by the same depth of understanding, he was able to proceed with clarity and confidence.
A LESSON FOR US
I believe the lesson we can take from Betzalel is the ability to live with simplicity, to be okay with not understanding everything.
There is so much happening in the world, so much pain and confusion, and so much that feels beyond our grasp. At times like these, we turn to the Torah, to the Menorah, the eternal source of light, and to Betzalel, the one who built it.
Moshe Rabbeinu saw and understood more than anyone else, yet the Menorah remained difficult for him. Betzalel, however, was able to build it with clarity and confidence.
We do not understand Hashem’s cheshbonos. We are not meant to understand why everything happens. But we can continue building. We can continue learning. We can continue transforming this turbulent world into a more godly place.
Perhaps now more than ever, we need to be like Betzalel: comfortable not understanding everything, while holding on to the one truth that matters most. Hashem is in control.
That itself is a form of understanding. Not understanding why, not understanding how, but understanding Who.
Betzalel did not have all the answers, but he knew Whose mission he was carrying out. In a world filled with confusion and uncertainty, perhaps that is the clarity we need most.
A MESSAGE
To conclude, no words can adequately describe the feeling of sitting in the בית אבל of the young girl in whose memory this Torah is being shared. There is one message I heard there that I do not want to forget, and I would like to share it with you. Her father is someone who embodies the very quality of Betzalel.
He said, “I do not know why this happened. I do not know why it happened the way it did. I have no answers. I simply do not know. But I do know that we have all been shaken by it. And anyone who has been shaken by it is not meant to simply move on. We are meant to act. We are meant to become better. We are meant to become more connected to Hashem. We all have to do something.”
How this ish kadosh and his eishes chayil are able to feel these feelings and be mechazek others less than thirty-six hours after burying their daughter, I do not know. Unfathomable. But his message was crystal clear: We do not know. We do not have the answers.
But we know there is a King. We know that He runs the world. We know that although we do not understand, He does.
In many ways, they embodied the very quality of Betzalel. Not understanding everything, but knowing just enough. Knowing Who is in control. Just like Betzalel, who with less, was able to accomplish that which Moshe Rabeinu could not. Ironically, at times, with less understanding, less depth, and less of a big-picture view, we can accomplish more.
He reminded us that the Torah is real. That it remains the truest source of light, strength, clarity, and hope.
The only source.
May we know only בשורות טובות ישועות ונחמות, and may we all merit to dance together with the arrival of משיח צדקנו במהרה בימינו. Amen. •
