5785 - Parshas Pekudei, Shabbos 'Chazak': When Bnei Yisroel completed the work of the Mishkan, 'Moshe blessed them.' Seemingly it would have been more fitting to bless them at the beginning of the work?…

00:00 Please. This week we read Parshas Pekudei, and we finish the book of Shemos and proclaim, “Chazak, chazak, venischazek”—be strong, be strong, and let us be strengthened. The parsha tells us that when the Jewish people completed all the work of the Mishkan, “Moshe saw all the work, and behold, they had done it as Hashem had commanded; so they had done, and Moshe blessed them.” At first glance, it would have made more sense for Moshe Rabbeinu to bless the Jewish people at the beginning of the work, when they were setting out. When he instructed them to make the Mishkan and contribute to it, that would have been the time to bless them. We see this in ordinary life, too: when someone starts a job or takes on a task, we wish them success. But when did Moshe Rabbeinu bless them? Only when they had finished the work. When he saw that the Jewish people had done all the work and had done it as he had instructed them, “Moshe blessed them.” One explanation is something we see in ordinary life as well. At the beginning, a person is enthusiastic. You start something new, a new path, a new tractate, and you’re enthusiastic. But as time goes on, you get used to it. Or you encounter all sorts of obstacles, delays, and difficulties, and the enthusiasm fades. Little by little, you don’t always make it to the end, because of those difficulties. That’s the natural way of things. We see it especially in educating children. At first we’re enthusiastic, but sticking with the task to the very end is much, much harder. As someone once put it, “Quitting smoking? I’ve quit a hundred times already.” Starting is easy, but sticking with the whole task afterward, all the way to the end—that’s the hard part. And that’s why King David also says in Tehillim, “Who shall ascend the mountain of Hashem, and who shall stand

02:17 in His holy place?” In other words, at first, people are enthusiastic about going up. But who will stand there—who will remain at that level? Take our study of Rambam. The Rebbe announced the study of Rambam. When we begin the cycle again, everyone is enthusiastic and starts learning. But keeping it up until the end is harder. The same was true of the Mishkan. When Moshe Rabbeinu announced the contributions for the Mishkan, everyone was tremendously enthusiastic. They gave gold, silver, and copper, so much that there was more than enough for the work. But the question was whether, as time went on, they would see it through to completion. Would they have the same enthusiasm? So when Moshe Rabbeinu saw that the work was finished and that they had done everything properly, he blessed them. And what blessing did he give them? “Moshe blessed them”—what was the blessing? Our Sages say that he blessed them, “May Hashem increase you a thousandfold.” Rabbi Meir says that he blessed them, “May it be Hashem’s will that the Shechinah rest upon the work of your hands.” And all the Jewish people responded, “May the pleasantness of Hashem our G-d be upon us, and establish the work of our hands.” One of the miracles in making the Mishkan was this: ordinarily, when you set out on a building project or something similar, you bring more materials than you need, because a certain percentage is always lost as waste. If you need 100 percent, you have to bring 120 percent. But when Moshe Rabbeinu calculated all the contributions to the Mishkan and then what had been built, the figures matched exactly. Nothing was missing. Everything matched exactly; every contribution had been used for the Mishkan. That was one of the miracles. In connection with this, there’s an interesting story about the rabbi of Jerusalem. The people of Jerusalem were poor and lived on distributions of money to families,

04:29 especially before Yom Tov. One year, the donation from abroad didn’t arrive, so there was no distribution, and people had nothing to make Pesach with. They waited until the last moment, and just before Pesach a donation arrived. They had to hurry and distribute the money. The administrators of the kollelim came to the rabbi of Jerusalem, who had to sign the vouchers, and asked him to sign so they could hand them out before Yom Tov. Since they were busy cleaning for Pesach at home, this was getting in the way of the work in the house. So he said, “Bring me the whole stack of vouchers. I’ll do it in no time.” He quickly signed them all. The administrators were a little surprised: how could he sign them blank without looking? After all, each family received an amount based on the number of people in the family and their circumstances. He was signing without checking anything. When he finished, he sensed what they were thinking. He said to them, “You think I wasn’t paying attention? I’ll tell you now, in reverse order, how much each person whose voucher I signed received.” And he went through the entire list, naming each person and how much they received. He had paid attention to every detail; everything was exact. Chazak, chazak, venischazek. Shabbos Mevarchim for the month of Nissan, a month of Geulah, with Hashem’s help. Amen.