Lasting Impressions

Parshas Trumah begins a series of Parshios in which we learn about the construction of the Mishkan, its Kelim and the Bigdei Kehuna. Our association with, and therefore appreciation for, these important items is limited by the fact that we still await their return to our midst. Nonetheless, it is important for us to try and take what we can from the Parshios and their attendant Haftoros, so that we may apply their lessons to our lives even as our yearning persists.

The Haftorah for Parshas Terumah comes from Sefer Melachim, and speaks about the Binyan Bayis Rishon undertaken by Shlomo Hamelech. After speaking briefly about the Chachma of Shlomo, which was needed in order to build the Bais HaMikdash, the Haftorah speaks about the actual construction in detail. The dimensions of the building itself are discussed at length, as well as the features of the actual structure. We are told, for example, that there were “Chalonei Shekafim Atumim”, recessed and latticed windows. Also discussed are the various materials used in the construction, including gold, stone, and various species of wood.

So detailed is the description of the Bayis Asher Banah Shlomo, that the Navi tells us about the origins of these various materials, and how they were obtained. It is within this narrative that we find some very interesting Pessukim, which seem to carry an important message.

In speaking about the preparations for the Binyan HaBayis, the Passuk tells us: “VaYaal Hamelech Shlomo Maas MiKol Yisroel”. Shlomo levied a tax on Binei Yisroel. The proceeds from this tax went to hiring some 30,000 men on behalf of the Binyan HaBayis. In addition, Shlomo had a force of over 150,000 skilled laborers working in quarries to cut the necessary stones.

The Navi tells us not only about the size of this force, however, but also how they were deployed. The 30,000 men were sent to the Levanon to procure the necessary wood, and the Passuk says: “VaYeshalchem Levonan Aseres Alafim BaChodesh Chalifos Chodesh Yihiyu BaLevanon Shnayim Chadashim B’Baiso”. The men were sent in shifts of ten thousand per month, rotating so that they spent a month in the Levanon and two months at home.

Rashi explains the concept at length: ten thousand men spent Tishrei in the Levanon while the rest were at home, and come Mar Cheshvan they would rotate out and be replaced by another group. In the end, Rashi notes, every group of ten thousand would spend one month in the Levanon followed by two months at home.

This Rashi is somewhat difficult to understand. The Passuk makes it very clear how the rotation system worked: “Chodesh Yihiyu BaLevanon Shnayim Chadashim B’Baiso”. Why, then, did Rashi see fit to explain it further? Indeed his comment begins with the words “K’Mo Shemisayem V’Omar”, noting that the Passuk explains exactly how the shift worked. What then is the purpose of his relatively lengthy explanation of this system?

There is of course a more general question to be asked on this Passuk: why do we need to know this? The Navi tells us very little about these laborers other than the pattern of their deployment. Why is this detail particularly important for us to know?

The answer to this question seems to be found in Chazal, where this Passuk is actually used as the source for a Halacha.

The Mishna in Kesubos speaks about whether a man may travel away from his home in order to find Parnasah or learn Torah, and the rights of his wife to stop him. The Din in the Mishna is that a Talmid may leave home for up to thirty days to learn Torah without his wife’s permission. The Gemara there discusses how long the man should be away even with the consent of his wife, and R’ Yochanan says that he should spend one month away and two at home before leaving again, based on this Passuk. Just as the men going to cut the wood in Levanon were only away for one month before staying home for two, a Talmid should do the same.

While this Drasha allows us to explain why the Navi perhaps included this detail, so that we may learn the Halacha, we must of course why this was the case. Why is this Halacha, the schedule a Talmid should maintain when travelling away from home, learned from the men sent to chop the wood for the Mikdash?

We may be able to answer this question based on a Yerushalmi in the same part of Kesubos. The Gemara there makes the same statement—that Talmidim should stay home for two months and leave for one—also based on this Passuk. Then, the Gemara adds a Memrah from R’ Avin: “Chibeb HKBH Piryah V’Rivya Yoser M’Bais HaMikdash”. The fact that the men were kept home for twice the amount of time that they were in the Levanon shows that HKBH preferred Piryah V’Rivya, which could only be accomplished when they were at home, over a more expedient building of the Mikdash, which could have been possible if they had stayed in the Levanon longer.

The inclusion of the Pessukim describing the schedule, is a little more understandable now: besides the Halacha regarding the travels of the Talmidim, we learn a lesson that is specific to Binyam HaMikdash. Only from these Pessukim could we learn that Piryah V’Rivya is more Chaviv to HKBH than the Mikdash. Now, we must understand this statement on its own: why, in fact, is Piryah V’Rivya more important than Binyan HaMikdash? If this is not a Chiddush, than we don’t need the Passuk to teach us that it is the case. it must therefore be that one would assume that Binyan HaMidkash is more important that Pirya V’Rivya, and this Passuk comes to dispel that notion. Why? What is more Chaviv to HKBH about Piryah V’Rivyah than Binyan HaMikdash?

In addition, there is another question to be asked, based on a comment of Radak on this Passuk.

The Navi later on in Malachim tells us that Shlomo Hamelech did not make any members of Klal Yisroel into slaves—they served him in other capacities, but not as Avadim. Based on this, Radak explains that the 150,000 men sent to quarry the stone for the Mikdash were not taken from Bnei Yisroel, for this work was akin to Avdus. The thirty thousand men sent to the Levanon, however, were members of Klal Yisroel, because this work required skill rather than difficult labor. The men on the three-month rotation—one in Levanon and two at home—were therefore Yidden.

If, as the Yerushalmi says, Piryah V’Rivya was more important than the Binyan HaBayis, why send Yidden to Levanon at all? The same way there were non-Jews who could do the more difficult labor, there could have been those more suited to the work done in Levanon as well. Why send members of Klal Yisroel, preventing them from fulfilling the Mitzvah of Piryah V’Rivya, if that was more Chaviv to HKBH?

In order to answer these questions, and better explain the message of the Navi, we must gain new insight into the Mitzvah of Piryah V’Rivyah.

The Gemara in Gittin discusses a slave who has been partially freed and therefore can marry neither a Yisroel or an Akum. The Gemara is concerned about this quandary, based on a very strong statement: “Lo Nivrah HaOlam Ela L’Piryah V’Rivya”, as the Passuk says “Lo Tohu Ba’arah Lasheves Yitzrah”, and therefore concludes that the slave must be freed by the recalcitrant owner.

Clearly a better understanding of Pirya V’Rivya is necessary.

Chazal teach us that the world is Nidon on Peiros HaIlan on the Yom Tov of Shavuos. Sfas Emes, on Shavuos, explains why this is true.

Ibn Ezra, on the words “Asher Barah Elokim La’assos”, explains that everything in the world was imbued with an ability to create something else similar to it. The world was made “L’Asos”, to make, to create more. Sfas Emes explains, based on this, that the Ikkur Tafkid of a person, on this world, is to create “Toldos”. These Toldos refer not to physical progeny, but to an impact on the world that creates a lasting impression when one leaves the world.

The Gemara in Avodah Zarah refers to the two millennia prior to Mattan Torah as “Tohu”, the same word used in the Passuk that describes a world without Piryah V’Rivah. Based on this, Sfas Emes explains that is was only possible to create Toldos—the main purpose of Piryah V’Rivya—after Matan Torah, when we received Da’as, for it is impossible to create Toldos without Da’as. Of course one could have children, and populate the world, prior to Mattan Torah, but he would not be creating true Toldos, for without Torah one cannot accomplish this feat.

This is why Shavuos is the time on which we are Nidon on Peiros: this Yom Tov celebrates our ability to create Toldos, true Peiros, and therefore is most fitting for this Yom Hadin.

It emerges that there are two purposes in procreation, one mundane and one elevated. On a basic level, one has children to populate the world, and ensure that it does not lie fallow. This is something that even a non-jew can accomplish. The ultimate Piryah V’Rivya, however, is to create Toldos, to leave a Ruchniasdik impression on the world via ones offspring, and this can be done only with Da’as that is obtained through the Torah.

This idea can help us understand the Pessukim and their attendant Mamarei Chazal.

Shlomo Hamelech set out to build the Bais Hamikdash, the Makom for Hashra’as HaShecina, a place of Kirvas Elokim. The Mikdash can of course be the center of our lives, but at the same time it presents a pitfall: one may come to rely on the Mikdash to be his source of Ruchnias and neglect his own abilities. If we make the mistake of using the Mikdash as a crutch of sorts, assuming that it will allow us to connect with HKBH and we need not make efforts on our own, we miss opportunities for real accomplishment.

Aware of this concern, Shlomo wished to send a message to the people. He sent members of the Tzibbur to Levanon, where they could take part in obtaining the materials needed for the Mikdash. But, he did so in a way that ensured they would be home more than they were away. This taught them an important lesson: “Chibeb HKBH Piryah V’Rivya Yoser M’Bais HaMikdash”. The impact that a person can have when he is at home, accomplishing true Piryah V’Rivya by creating Toldos, is much more Chaviv to HKBH than the Mikdash. Yes, one can gain from the experience of being in the Bais HaMikdash, but our ultimate purpose is to act on our own, to create lasting Toldos.

Perhaps this is why Rashi, and other Meforshim, take the efforts to highlight this schedule though it could be understood from the Passuk itself—its message is so vitally important. We must always remember that our Tafkid, our true calling, is to use our Kochos, the abilities given to us and gained through the Torah, to create Toldos.

As we learn the Parshios of the Mishkan, and think about the Makom of Hashra’as Hashchina that we lack, we also have to think about what we have. We live in the world of Asher Barah Elokim La’assos and each of us has the ability to create Toldos, affecting those around us in a way that leaves a lasting impression on the world.