Ra'anana Community Kollel - Parshat Terumah 5765

                               Dimensions of Growth

                                                  Rabbi Binyomin Lipson

At the beginning of this week’s parshah, Hashem commanded Moshe to begin the construction of the Mishkan, a portable version of the Temple which was eventually built by King Solomon several generations later in Jerusalem. It is certainly worthy to note that of all the diverse parts of the Mishkan which needed to be assembled in order complete its construction, the very first component which Hashem commanded Moshe to make was the Aron which would eventually house the remains of the original stone tablets which Moshe broke, the second tablets which Moshe brought down from Mt. Sinai, and the first complete Sefer Torah which was ever written.

Interestingly, the Torah tells us that the Ark was unique in that all of its dimensions were comprised of half-measures (one and a half, two and a half, etc.), while the measurements of the Shulchan, the golden table upon which the show breads were displayed, were comprised of both whole and half measures, and the dimensions of the two altars (one for animal offerings and the other for burning incense) were made up of only complete units of measure. The Kli Yakar explains that in each case, the measurements of each of these three primary vessels were incorporated into the Mishkan in order to teach us valuable lessons.

When it comes to reflecting upon one’s spiritual and ethical accomplishments in the world, the Sages advised that a person should always attempt to look “above oneself.” This means that when contemplating one’s level of spiritual standing, rather than focusing on all those people who he has far surpassed, he should rather direct his attention to the people who have gone on to achieve far more. When one constantly compares himself to those below him, he begins to feel self-righteous and truly believe that one is indeed a person a great stature. Obviously, such ideas can easily put an end to a person’s ascent up the latter of greatness; leading him to mistakenly believe that he need not work to strive for higher levels of personal growth. However, when a person looks up towards those who have accomplished more than oneself, he or she is reminded of the fact of still being an incomplete person who has a long way to go before he or she will have reached the summit of his potential.

Only the person who is constantly “looking above” will be motivated to continue intensifying his commitment to Torah and mitzvot. This is alluded to by the dimensions of the Ark which were comprised of broken measures thereby urging us to remember that when it comes to wisdom and spiritual accomplishments we are constantly in a process of growth. These half-measurements included the Ark’s height, alluding to the fact that true wisdom is exceedingly deep, its width, alluding to the limits of our capability to understand, and its length, implying that the sheer amount of wisdom that there is to learn is infinitely great.

From here we can understand just how important is that we go out of our way to associate with a peer group that is not solely limited to people of the same stature as ourselves, but also personalities that we can look up to and relate to as role-models of what we would like to accomplish. This is especially important when it comes to contemplating to which gan or school we will be sending our children. In addition to checking to see if the teachers (of both Torah and secular studies) represent a desirable model of character and mitzvah observance, we must also investigate whether or not the parents of the other children who attend share the same hopes for their children’s spiritual destiny that we do. Perhaps even more important than the standard of the teachers and curriculum is the influence that the attitude of the other children will undoubtedly have on our own. It is important to remember that the messages about life as a Torah observant Jew that our children take away from gan and beit sefer will be formed by a synthesis of those imparted by the teacher or ganenet through personal example and the attitude and direction of the other children and their families who they will be going to for “extra lessons”.

Just as in the construction of the Mishkan, the very first priority in Jewish education is setting each child on the path to become a miniature Aron Hakodesh, a holy vessel into which we can pour the pure waters of Torah and undiluted Jewish values.

Unfortunately, but yet understandably, we tend to naturally put a lot more emphasis on the aspects of Torah observance which are readily discernable by others. In light of this, the Torah tells us that the Ark was coated both inside and out with a layer of pure gold. In our growth in Torah and mitzvot we must also realize that what is readily discernable from the outside is not the only thing which is important. When faced with the challenges of selecting both our path in life as well as the path of our children, the Ark teaches us not to be hypnotized by superficial ideologies which sparkle and shine from the outside but whose beauty is barely skin deep. The Torah challenges us to look beneath the surface and examine whether or not the inner chambers are also lined with authenticity.