The Parsha begins with the מצוה of lighting the מנורה in the משכן
בהעלותך את הנרות אל מול פני המנורה יאירו שבעת הנרות
When אהרן lights the מנורה, the flames should be facing the center lamp. Why does the תורה use the term בהעלותך, literally meaning when you “raise up” the lights? Seemingly, the תורה should say בהדליקך את הנרות, when you light the נרות?
The next topic discussed in the פרשה , is the consecration of the לוויים, who were chosen to serve in the משכן and later the בית המקדש, serving in carrying the משכן and singing the שירה . The תורה states,
קח את הלווים מתוך בני ישראל…והבדלת את הלויים מתוך בני ישראל והיו לי הלויים.
The לויים were chosen from amongst בני ישראל, separated from amongst them, and selected to belong to Hashem. Why did the לויים merit to be selected and to belong to Hashem? We know that prior to חטא העגל, it was the בכורים, the firstborn, of each family who were supposed to serve in the משכן. However, that זכות was forfeited by the בכורים when they took part in the חטא העגל. Instead, it was the לויים who answered the call of מי לה’ אלי and went to battle against those who sinned in the עגל, even at the cost of killing their own relatives and risking their own lives. As the פסוק says,
האומר לאביו ולאמו לא ראיתיו ואת אחיו לא הכיר ואת בניו לא ידע.
The מדרש highlights this special merit,
אין הקב”ה מעלה את האדם לשררה עד שבוחן אותו תחילה, וכיון שהוא עומד בנסיונו הוא מעלה אותו לשררה.
It is because they withstood the ניסיון of the עגל, and couragesly went to battle for Hashem, that the לויים merited being told by Hashem, והיו לי הלויים.
Perhaps we can extrapolate from here, that this is not only true for שבט לוי, but for כלל ישראל as a whole. Just like the לויים were elevated by Hashem, because the withstood נסיונות, we too can merit Hashem’s special ברכות, by withstanding the נסיונות that come our way. This it true on an individual level, in each person’s life, and on a global level, for כלל ישראל as a whole. When we are faced with a difficult period, as long as we remain committed, Hashem carries us forward and gives us the special ברכה of extra כוחות.
This phenomenon can be observed throughout history. 70 years after the חורבן בית שני, the revolt of בר כוכבא took place. That revolt was quashed viciously by the Roman’s, resulting in terrible loss of Jewish life and devastation. And yet, the leaders at the time refused to break, and, just a short period later, רבינו הקדוש compiled the ששה סדרי משנה, resulting in the writing of the תלמוד, and the great development of תורה שבעל פה. Closer to our times, the Holocaust destroyed the great ישיבות of Eastern Europe. However, thanks to the tenacity of the great תורה leaders that survived, the תורה world was reestablished in ארץ ישראל and in America. And indeed, in this instance too, Hashem’s special ברכה resulted in a literal explosion of תורה growth that continues till this day.
We can now understand why the תורה highlights the idea of בהעלותך את הנרות, when you “bring up the lights.” The תורה is telling us that all we need to do is light up one small flame, do our part to bring up ourselves, and to spread Hashem’s light in the world. And when we do that, we will be blessed with an abundance of סייעתא דשמיא,
אל מול פני המנורה יאירו שבעת הנרות
That small flame that we elevate, will result in a fire that will light up the entire world.
We’ll conclude with a story that highlights this point. Rav Akiva Shrieber, the Rav of Pressburg, escaped Europe at the onset of WW2 and settled in Yerushalayim. His grandson, Shia Duvid Shreiber, related the following episode, that he himself was witness to, while visiting with his grandfather in 1947. One day, a man, who introduced himself as Mr. Shoenberger, appeared at the door, asking to speak to the Rav. Mr. Shoenberger, explained to the Rav that he was an architect, and that the Ponovizer Rav, Rav Kahaneman, had commissioned him to build a new בית מדרש for the Ponovitz Yeshiva. At this point Mr. Shoenberger turned to the Pressburg Rav and asked, ” Is this man, Rabbi Kahaneman, in his right mind, and can you vouch for him?” Seeing the puzzlement on Rav Shreiber’s face, the architect continued. ” The Yeshiva has only a few dozen students, and yet the Ponivezer Rav asked me to build a Beis Medrash for one thousand students!” To which Rav Schreiber responded, ” Yes, he is in his right mind. He is a visionary, who sees far into the future. And if he tells you to design a 1000 person בית המדרש, you should go ahead and do it, because one day, in the future, that בית מדרש will be filled with תלמידים.” The rest, of course, is history, as the Ponivits Yeshiva today has much more than one thousand תלמידים, proving the vision of Rav Kahaneman, true.
As long as we’re willing to do our part for Him, Hashem will bless our efforts endlessly.
Weekly Parsha Shiur 