Parshat Tetzaveh/Parshat Zachor
11 Adar 5762
February 23, 2002
Daf Yomi: Baba Metzia 93


Guest Rabbi:
Rabbi Marc Penner
Young Israel of Holliswood, NY

In memory of Miriam Penner, Miriam bat Moshe Tzvi a�h

The Abarbanel points out that the beginning of this week�s Parsha seems to be out of place. �Ve�atah tetzave � veyikchu eilecha shemen zayit zach �� Take olives and make oil for the Menorah�. and set up the Menorah each evening for lighting. This command would seem to make more sense in Sefer Vayikra, where the Torah presents us with the commandments for the use of the Mishkan and its Keilim. Sefer Shemot generally lays out the instructions for the building of the Mishkan and its Keilim.

In reality, this command is more than just out of place. It truly doesn�t make sense here in Parshat Tetzave, for the Menorah will not even be built until Parshat VaYakeil. The Kohanim are instructed to light something that doesn�t even exist! Why give the instructions for its lighting at this point? Why not wait until the Menorah is constructed and standing before the Kohanim? Wouldn�t it be easier for the Kohanim to appreciate this mitzvah once they could see the Menorah with their own eyes?

Perhaps the Torah wants to make a very important statement. Before the Menorah is built � before the Mishkan is built - the Torah deals with a crucial issue: What kind of person will be fit to light this Menorah? Are there such people? Who is fit to serve in this Mishkan? The answer might just be: not just someone who can light a fire, but someone who can �light� a Menorah that does not yet exist. More importantly, someone who will believe in that Menorah � who will envision it in all of its glory � even thought it hasn�t yet been built.

It�s this very spirit that must underlie not just the functioning of the Mishkan, but its construction as well. In Parshat VaYakeil, HaShem instructs Moshe to appoint Betzalel as the architect of the Mishkan. The Gemara (Berachot 55a), however, tells us that HaShem didn�t present Betzalel�s candidacy to Moshe as a fait accompli. Instead, HaShem asks Moshe if he thinks that Betzalel is a good choice. Moshe, astonished, asks G-d why He would needs a human�s approval! But HaShem persists - insisting that the Jewish people as a whole approve Betzalel�s candidacy.

Why did HaShem seem concerned about Betzalel�s acceptance? Perhaps it was because Betzalel was just 13 years old (Sanhedrin 69b). A young teenager was chosen to be the architect of the Beit HaShem! Was it just that Betzalel was a child prodigy? Or perhaps, was something about that age, something about his outlook on life that was so important � and necessary � for the building of the Mishkan? Rabbi Berel Wein, in one of his essays, suggests that this spark of youth was an essential component of Betzalel�s work.

It is fascinating to note that the Beit HaMikdash was also built by a child. Shlomo HaMelech becomes King at the young age of 12 years old, and just a few short years later he starts the construction of the Beit HaMikdash. Youthful idealism, the ability to dream, fresh, new ideas - all of these are necessary traits and skills of our current and future builders. A Bais HaShem is again and again built and served by those with this very special spark.

It was this spark that HaShem may have been looking for in the Kohanim. They were asked to light a Menorah that couldn�t yet be seen! Believe in something, they are told! I know it�s not realistic yet. I know its not here yet. But envision that future. That�s what we ask of those who serve and guide our community into the future. And it is leaders like these who have gotten us to this point.

Who would have believed that Orthodoxy could survive and flourish in America? Who could have envisioned the explosion of Yeshivos and Shuls? Baruch HaShem, there were those who had that spark of Betzalel. May HaShem continue to provide is with such leaders to carry us into the future.