The beginning of this week’s parsha is an accounting of all
the materials that were brought to build the Mishkan. Ideally, Chazal teach us, it is better not to
count material possessions because blessing rests only upon those things which
are hidden from the eye – not counted.[1] Why, then, were the materials of the Mishkan
counted? The Zohar answers that since
the counting was done by Moshe Rabbeinu, blessing nevertheless rested on the
materials and the work.[2] What is the meaning of this enigmatic Zohar?
To understand the Zohar we need to understand why blessing
does not rest on things that are counted.
The Sfas Emes explains.
Everything in this world is connected to the spiritual and, in fact,
derives its physical existence from the spiritual. The spiritual power that underlies the
physical can be viewed as the root of the physical just as a tree’s branches
derive their existence from the tree’s roots.
Just as there is one root to a tree with many branches, so too, the more
spiritual the less plurality there is.
At the top of the hierarchy – whose bottom is all the disparate
components of the physical world – is God Himself, the ultimate Unity and Root
of everything. Things that are uncounted
are viewed from the perspective of the whole rather than the individual
parts. The whole, because it represents
less plurality, is closer to “oneness,” – to the spiritual – than its separate
components. Accordingly, blessing rests
on them.
This same concept applies whenever we recognize and
acknowledge that the physical has spiritual roots. Moshe Rabbeinu understood this as he was the
ultimate believer. Chazal teach us that
the pasuk in Mishlei (28:20), “אִישׁ אֱמוּנֽוֹת רַב־בְּרָכוֹת .../A man of faith will
increase blessings …” refers to Moshe Rabbeinu.[3] Even though Moshe Rabbeinu was very involved
with the physical world, since he internalized that God is in everything, that
everything physical stems from spiritual roots, all his deeds were blessed.
The second part of this pasuk from Mishlei, “...וְאָץ לְהַֽעֲשִׁיר לֹא יִנָּקֶֽה/…
but one impatient to become wealthy will not be exonerated,” is the exact
opposite. Chazal teach us that this part
of the pasuk refers to Korach who wanted the priesthood for himself even though
it was not his. He did not recognize God
in everything for if he did, he would have recognized the blessing in what was
his and not have been tempted by what belonged to others.
This concept explains the Mishnah in Pirkei Avos (4:1),
“אֵיזֶהוּ עָשִׁיר הַשָׂמֵחַ
בְּחֶלְקוֹ/Who is wealthy? He who is happy with his lot.” According to the Sfas Emes, the Mishnah is
teaching us that a person’s desire for his wealth needs to be because that is
the portion that God granted him. He
needs to know and recognize that no one can take away that which is his and he
cannot take from another that which is not his.
He is not “impatient to become wealthy” like Korach jealously regarding
what others have because he desires only that which God designated for
him. He recognizes God in his
assets. As a result, there is blessing
in them.
Chazal teach us this concept elsewhere as well. Chazal say that a person who wishes to
protect his assets should plant a maple – אֶדֶר – tree as it says, “אַדִּיר בַּמָרוֹם ה'/God
is strong on high.” (Tehillim 93:4)[4] Is this just a play on words or are Chazal
teaching us something deeper? Chazal
relate planting a maple – אֶדֶר
– tree to God being strong on high. The
Chiddushei HaRim explains that by recognizing that God is the source of our
assets, it is as if we are planting His strength in our assets.
We learn this same idea from the word for assets – נְכָסִים
which, according to Chazal, imply being covered from others and revealed only
to their owner (נְכָסִים/Assets
has the same root as cover – כִּסוּי.)[5] The Chiddushei HaRim explains the
significance of this. A person’s assets
are his – no one can take them from him – specifically because they are hidden
from others. As we noted earlier,
blessing rests on assets that are hidden from the eye – uncounted. And as the Sfas Emes explained, uncounted
assets represent metaphorically closeness to “oneness” – to the spiritual – and
ultimately, closeness to God.
With these concepts we can understand the difficult
Zohar. Even though Moshe Rabbeinu
counted the materials of the Mishkan, blessing rested on them because he
recognized in the deepest way their spiritual roots.
For this same reason blessing rests in Shabbos. Shabbos is the day when the Creation became a
single complete system, every disparate component performing its unique task
but with the singular goal that the entire system “works.” Because of this, the entire Creation as a
whole became “connected” to its spiritual root.
Shabbos thus became a vehicle for receiving blessing.
We can ensure that blessing rests on our assets as well, by
recognizing that they are our God-given portion and that they have spiritual
roots. The very recognition affects the
things we do with our assets. May we
merit using them to fulfill the will of God. Amen.