With this week’s parsha, Parshas Pekudei, we conclude the book of Shemos - Sefer ha’Geula - once again. The people have been freed from slavery in Egypt, they received the Torah at Har Sinai, and they constructed the Mishkan, wherein the presence of G-d would dwell amongst them, and within them. 

In parshios Terumah, Tetzaveh, and the beginning of Ki Sisa, Hashem laid out the blueprint for Mishkan to Moshe Rabbeinu. Hashem instructed Moshe as to what materials were necessary for building, the keilim (vessels) that would be built, what fabrics would be used to cover the Mishkan, and who the master craftsmen (Betzalel and Ohaliav) would be.

In Vayakhel and Pekudei, the Mishkan comes to fruition. Moshe commands, instructs, guides and oversees, and the people donate, construct, weave, and build. 

Once all parts of the Mishkan had been completed, one task remained: to assemble and erect the Mishkan. However, the sum total of all its parts - wood, precious metals, pillars, beams, bars, curtains, sockets, coverings and curtains - was so heavy, that no one could put up the Mishkan!

The pasuk tells us that: וַיָּבִ֤יאוּ אֶת־הַמִּשְׁכָּן֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה אֶת־הָאֹ֖הֶל וְאֶת־כׇּל־כֵּלָ֑יו קְרָסָ֣יו קְרָשָׁ֔יו בְּרִיחָ֖ו וְעַמֻּדָ֥יו וַאֲדָנָֽיו - And they brought the Mishkan to Moshe, the tent and all its furnishings, its hooks, its planks, its bars, its pillars and its sockets (Shemos 39:33). Why did they bring all the completed - but unassembled - parts to Moshe? Because all of the wise men and women, all of the artisans, all of the engravers, stone cutters, weavers, carpenters, silver-and-goldsmiths, could not assemble the structure. It was simply too heavy - שֶׁלֹּא הָיוּ יְכוֹלִין לַהֲקִימוֹ, there was no one would could erect its structure! (Rashi, ibid.) 

How, then, would they put up the Mishkan that they so lovingly, selflessly and devotedly worked so hard to complete?  The zechus (merit and privilege) of this task was granted to Moshe Rabbeinu.

Rashi continues: וּלְפִי שֶׁלֹּא עָשָׂה מֹשֶׁה שׁוּם מְלָאכָה בַמִּשְׁכָּן, הִנִּיחַ לוֹ הַקָּבָּ"ה הֲקָמָתוֹ, שֶׁלֹּא הָיָה יָכוֹל לַהֲקִימוֹ שׁוּם אָדָם מֵחֲמַת כֹּבֶד הַקְּרָשִׁים, שֶׁאֵין כֹּחַ בָּאָדָם לְזָקְפָן, וּמֹשֶׁה הֶעֱמִידוֹ - Since Moshe had not done any work on the construction of the Mishkan, HKB”H left the erection of Mishkan for Moshe. For no man was able to put it up because of the weight of the beams, for a man does not have the strength to stand them upright! Nevertheless, Moshe was able to do so. (Rashi, ibid).

This is a very beautiful Rashi - but he is not yet done teaching us. If the beams were too heavy for any man to erect, how did Moshe himself do so? In fact, the Torah teaches us repeatedly that as great as Moshe was, he was a man, not an angel or demigod, chalilah! 

And Yisro said to his daughters, after Moshe saved them at the well: לָמָּה זֶּה עֲזַבְתֶּן אֶת-הָאִישׁ, קִרְאֶן לוֹ וְיֹאכַל לָחֶם - why did you leave the man (at the well)!? Call him and he will eat bread with us (Shemos 2:20); In Moshe’s absence, the nation panicked and gathered in great strength and rose up against Aharon and they demanded he make a new leader/god for them. Why? כִּי-זֶה מֹשֶׁה הָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר הֶעֱלָנוּ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם, לֹא יָדַעְנוּ מֶה-הָיָה לוֹ - because Moshe, the man, who took us out of Egypt, we do not know what happened to him! (ibid, 32:1); in response to the lashon harah that Miriam spoke to Aharon, about their brother, Moshe, the pasuk tells us that: וְהָאִישׁ מֹשֶׁה, עָנָו מְאֹד--מִכֹּל, הָאָדָם, אֲשֶׁר, עַל-פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה - and the man Moshe was more humble than any other man on the face of the earth (Bamidbar 12:3).

If no mortal could erect the Mishkan, how could Moshe do so? 

Rashi continues: אָמַר מֹשֶׁה לִפְנֵי הַקָּבָּ"ה אֵיךְ אֶפְשָׁר הֲקָמָתוֹ עַ"יְ אָדָם? אָמַר לוֹ עֲסֹק אַתָּה בְּיָדְךָ, וְנִרְאֶה כִּמְקִימוֹ וְהוּא נִזְקָף וְקָם מֵאֵלָיו, וְזֶהוּ שֶׁנֶּ' הוּקַם הַמִּשְׁכָּן (שמות מ') – הוּקַם מֵאֵלָיו; מִדְרַשׁ רַ' תַנְחוּמָא - Moshe said before HKB”H: ‘How can the Mishkan be erected by a man?’ HKB”H said to him: “Busy yourself, with your own hand, with this task, and it will appear as if you are setting it up, but in reality, it will rise upright and stand up and erect itself.” And that is why the verse states: “the Mishkan was set up” (Shemos 40:17), implying that it was set up on its own (this teaching is from Medrash R’ Tanchuma).

Every Rashi on Chumash is important, impactful, illuminating and relevant. Rashi is Rashi and without Rashi, says Rav Soloveitchik, Torah she’baal peh would not have survived. However, this Rashi is calling out to each and every one of us with its timeless words and relevance.

So often in life, we face challenges, trials, tribulations and struggles where a positive outcome, success, perseverance, or ability to overcome seems impossible. We may look at a difficult situation (may Hashem spare us), cast our eyes upward to Heaven, and literally cry out: “Hashem, how is it possible for a mere mortal - with all of his weaknesses, finitude and human limits - to overcome this challenge?” This task is too daunting, the “beams” of life are too heavy, the project is too overwhelming, and the “odds” seem impossible.

And yet, specifically in those very times, we must hear the eternal voice of Hashem, Who loves His children and helps us through each time in life. My children, Hashem says, do what you can. “Involve your own hand,” do your hishtadlus to help yourself, and do not worry. While it may seem that the situation is impossible, it is I, Hashem, Who will ensure the mission will be accomplished. You put forth your effort… and I, your loving Father, will do the rest. In every time in life, this teaching should inspire and encourage us, give us hope and strengthen our faith - in knowing that as long as we do what we must, Hashem will do it all. 

כִּי עֲנַן ה’ עַל-הַמִּשְׁכָּן, יוֹמָם, וְאֵשׁ, תִּהְיֶה לַיְלָה בּוֹ--לְעֵינֵי כָל-בֵּית-יִשְׂרָאֵל, בְּכָל-מַסְעֵיהֶם - For the cloud of Hashem was upon the Mishkan by day, and there was fire within it at night, before the eyes of the entire house of Israel in all their journeys (Shemos 40:38).

חזק חזק ונתחזק, בברכת בשורות טובות ושבת שלום