Credit For A Mitzvah
By R’ Mordechai Young
In yeshiva, a friend of mine named Yehuda was wearing his friend’s yarmulke. It had his friend’s name, Ari, on it. Yehuda was in a bit of trouble and was waiting by the principal’s office. The principal asked him, “Ari, what happened now?” A bit later, he caught himself and told Yehuda that he shouldn’t wear that yarmulke as people would confuse him for Ari. Being fresh and sharp, Yehuda snapped back: “No one would be so silly as to confuse me with Ari.”
In this week’s parashah, Vayakhel (37:1), it states, “And Betzalel made the Aron.” By the other keilim it doesn’t state Betzalel’s name. Rashi addresses this question by saying that since Betzalel gave himself over to making the Aron more than the other chachamim (who were building the Mishkan, etc.), Betzalel has the honor of it being built in his name.
The Meshech Chochmah discusses this question as well. He answers that the other keilim were made later by the Beis HaMikdash; however, once the Aron was hidden (during the first Beis HaMikdash), it was not made again. Only the Aron of Betzalel lasted for generations. The Meshech Chochmah goes on to say a fascinating explanation. The keruvim had the images of a boy and a girl. An image of a person is not allowed to be made as it can be an avodah zarah. Here it was different because Hashem commanded it, so it was connected to a mitzvah. The issue Hashem had was after the eigel was made. So maybe someone making the keruvim (attached to the cover of the Aron) will have a thought of avodah zarah and ruin it. So, Hashem wanted Betzalel himself to work on it. Betzalel was unique in that his grandfather, Chur, was killed in trying to stop them from making the eigel. So, he had it in his chinuch to be repulsed by avodah zarah. So, he alone made the Aron; that’s why the pasuk states Betzalel made it. This differs from Rashi who stated he made it with it the chachamim.
A few weeks ago, we discussed in Parashas Terumah the unique language used by the Aron (plural, as opposed to the rest of the keilim, which is stated in singular). So, who made the Aron? Is it everyone, as it is implied in Parashas Terumah, or just Betzalel like the Meshech Chochmah taught?
At first glance, one could surmise that it was like the Aron (coffin) of Yosef. The Torah stated that Moshe took Yosef’s bones with him, so he was doing the mitzvah singularly. Later in the Torah, it states that Bnei Yisrael performed the mitzvah. The answer is since Moshe Rabbeinu only started it, but didn’t complete the mitzvah we can’t put the credit solely in his name. Here by the Aron, it is different. All Bnei Yisrael had a part in donating to the Aron; hence, they are all connected to Torah. When it came to the actual building, it was Betzalel, while according to Rashi, he had some help.
According to Rashi, why did Betzalel put in extra effort specifically by the Aron? Perhaps because of its importance. The Aron had the keruvim and hence kedushah attached to it. When Hashem spoke to Moshe Rabbeinu, his voice emanated from the keruvim to show how much kedushah it had. So maybe that’s why he put in extra effort by the Aron. The Baalei Tosafos explain that Betzalel himself built the Aron because he was tahor and fit for this level of kedushah. They go on to quote Rashi in Parashas Eikev (10:1) that there were two Arons, one that Moshe Rabbeinu made and one that Betzalel made. According to this, we can darshan (expound) that in the parashah it states that Betzalel made the Aron to point out that this was his, as opposed to the one Moshe Rabbeinu made.
We should all do the right thing and not worry about the credit. Hashem has his ways to figure that out and we saw that Chur was rewarded by having his grandson build the Mishkan.
Have a great Shabbos!
R’ Mordechai Young can be reached for comments at [email protected].
