Parshas VaYakhel
The
Alter Rebbe
“Take from you an offering for Hashem ... whoever is of a
willing heart, let him bring it, an offering of Hashem.”
“From
you” — each and every Jew must take from himself an offering for
Hashem…
“whoever
is of a willing heart” — “heart” refers to Hashem, for just
as the heart gives life to all the limbs, so too, Hashem gives life to
all the worlds. Thus “whoever is of a willing heart” refers to
someone who wants Hashem to be his heart and source of life, someone who
does not want to receive his life-force from any source other than
Hashem Himself.
(Maamarei
Admur HaZakken)
The
Mitteler Rebbe
“And Moshe gathered the
entire congregation of the Jewish people.” The reason they are called
the “congregation of the Jewish people,” and not just “the Jewish
people,” is explained as follows: Adas (congregation) has the same
letters as daas (knowledge), which refers to Moshe Rabbeinu, who
bestows daas upon the souls of the Jewish people. In fact, Moshe
Rabbeinu’s daas includes within it the daas of all 600,000
Jewish souls together, as Moshe Rabbeinu said, “I am in the midst of a
nation of 600,000 people.” That is, the daas of the 600,000 resembles
branches stemming from Moshe’s daas.
Accordingly,
it says “And Moshe gathered the entire congregation of the Jewish people,”
because Moshe Rabbeinu, who is the comprehensive daas, “gathered”
and unified the daas of all 600,000 of the Jewish people. This is the
role of the Moshe in each generation, to draw down [to the Jewish people] the
aspect of daas, in virtue of which the Jewish people are called “adas,”
a congregation.
(Maamarei
Admur HaEmtza’i)
The
Tzemach Tzedek
“Mishkan ha’eidus”
(the Mishkan of Testimony). “Eidus” alludes to the “adayim,”
the crowns the Jewish people received at the Giving of the Torah and lost
after the sin of the golden calf, as it says (Shmos 33), “And the Jewish
people were stripped of their ornaments (edyam; i.e., their crowns) by
Mount Choreiv.” But when they made the Mishkan, Hashem forgave them and
returned their crowns. This is why it was called “Mishkan ha’eidus.”
(Ohr
HaTorah)
The
Rebbe Maharash
“And Moshe gathered the
entire congregation of the Jewish people.” We find that Shlomo HaMelech
also “gathered,” as it says (Melachim I 8:1), “Then Shlomo gathered.”
The concept of gathering means for the Jewish people to achieve bittul (self-abnegation
before G-d).
Although
Moshe and Shlomo are both associated with “gathering,” nevertheless, the
“gathering” of Moshe is at the level of yichuda ila’a (supernal
unity), whereas the “gathering” of Shlomo is only at the level of yichuda
tata’a (lower unity). Indeed, they are immeasurably distant, yet they
still share a likeness, as it says, “just as they [i.e., the supernal sfiros]
are unified above (yichuda ila’a) in Oneness, she [i.e. the Shechina]
creates unity below (yichuda tata’a), according to the esoteric
principle of Oneness.”
(Seifer
HaMaamarim 5634)
The
Rebbe Rashab
“And he placed the
washbasin between the Ohel Mo’ed and the alter.” The reason why
the washbasin was placed outside the parochess is because it was made
from the copper mirrors, alluding to the refining of the animal soul, which is
“outside work” [i.e., the revelation of G-d that is accomplished by
refining things outside the realm of holiness], as it says, “I found You
outside.” The washbasin was made out of copper (nechoshes), which is
the idea of “your forehead is brazen (nechusha),” for in order to
fight the animal soul a “brazen forehead” is needed so as not to be
ashamed before those who mock.
(Seifer
HaMaamarim 5679)
The
Rebbe Rayatz
“Chach and nezem
and taba’as and kumaz.” The Even Ezra explains
that these all refer to different types of rings: Chach — an earring;
nezem — a nose-ring; taba’as — a ring for the finger; kumaz
— a ring for the arm.
Parents
can learn how to educate their children from this:
An
earring: Parents should listen to the Torah’s directives
and to what the rabbis say regarding everything connected with raising their
children. Parents should also listen to the children’s conversations with
their friends in order to properly guide them.
A
nose-ring: Parents need a developed “sense of smell” in order
to be able to tell whether the friends their children associate with are good
and properly educated.
A
finger ring: Parents have to point out to their children the proper
path to follow.
A
bracelet: Along with gentle explanations, parents must stand strong when
it comes to their children’s education. Not only when a child misbehaves,
but even when he listens he has to feel that parents are carefully overseeing
him and his chinuch.
(Likkutei
Dibburim vol. 3)
The
Rebbe MH”M
At the end of each parasha there
appears the total number of verses found in the parasha together with a
mnemonic (a siman), a word (or words) whose numerical equivalent equals
that of the total number of verses. However, the total does not appear for
Parshas Pekudei. Why?
The
number of verses in Parshas Pekudei is 92. It is logical to presume that the
number 92 used to be printed along with the mnemonic phrase “bli kol”
(meaning “without any,” and equaling 92). Thus it would have been written
“bli kol — siman” [indicating that the siman, the
mnemonic, is “bli kol”]. But later on, some printer must have come
along who didn’t understand its meaning and instead took it literally —
“bli kol siman,” which means “without any siman.” So he
left out both the sum and the siman.
(Likkutei
Sichos vol. 6 p. 408)
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