In this week’s Parsha (40:18), Hashem’s home – the Mishkan is finally inaugurated. After a seven-day process in which Moshe had to assemble and disassemble, build and demolish, raise and lower the Mishkan – on the eighth day it was finally permanent. The question is why? Why all the upheaval? Why the turmoil? Why did Hashem make Moshe assemble and dissemble the Mishkan for seven days? Why couldn’t the Mishkan just be permanent on day one?
I would like to share with you a beautiful answer that I heard from my father, Rav Yitzchok Fingerer shlita: The Nesivas Shalom says that in each and every person, in every one of us, we build a house, a repository for Hashem’s existence. Sometimes it gets shattered. Sometimes it rises and falls. We build and demolish. We have dreams, hopes, and aspirations that don’t work out. We slip and fall religiously and spiritually. At times we behave in ways that are not really our true essence. Just as Hashem’s home is assembled and disassembled, so too do we experience the building and demolishing, the raising and the lowering, the rising and the falling until one day when we persevere and maintain the faith, we will endure. We will see the happiness of our faith being fulfilled.
In 1941, Rav Mendele Vishover, the eldest son of the Ahavas Yisroel, the Vizhnetzer Rebbe, was lying on his deathbed. His nephew, Rav Yidele Horowitz of Dzhikov, was visiting him in the hospital when the doctor entered the room and asked him how he was feeling. The Rebbe looked up and responded, “I am feeling fine. The pain has subsided.” Rav Yidele heard this and breathed a sigh of relief. The doctor however gasped. Rav Yidele looked at the doctor in concern. “What’s wrong? Isn’t this good news? Quietly, the doctor explained that the disease is there; it hasn’t gone away. However, as long as the body is fighting the disease, it’s going to hurt. However, if there is no more pain that means that the body has given up. A few hours later the Vishover sadly passed away.
The lesson of the story is as follows: We must realize that we all have a yetzer hara (evil inclination). At times we may fall but that is normal. As long as we meet our challenges, as long as it is painful, we know that we are alive and fighting. Falling does not signify weakness – it signifies strength. When we fall, the pain we endure is a sign of life. It means that we care, and we are fighting. It means that we are striving to do what is good and that we haven’t given up. It means that we possess holiness and greatness. Even if we fail to do what’s right, even if we fall, we have to get back up.
We must remember that sometimes our house – our repository for Hashem’s existence gets shattered. Sometimes it rises and falls. However, we must get back up. We must remember that just as Hashem’s home – the Mishkan had to be assembled and disassembled, so too do we experience the building and demolishing, the rising and the falling. We must hold on tight. Don’t give up! Hashem’s home in your soul! In you – it will be forever!
Coming Soon beezras Hashem!!! – Rabbi Eli Scheller and Aryeh Fingerer Purim episode:
