Parashat Vayakhel- God as Our Shadow
Parashat Vayakhel tells of the construction of the Mishkan (Tabernacle), a project which was led by a man named Besalel. The Midrash tells that when God informed Moshe of Besalel’s appointment to this job, Moshe felt somewhat dismayed. After all, who could possibly be more qualified for the task of building a Mishkan, bringing God’s presence down from the heavens, than Moshe? It was he who spoke to God directly, who had spent many weeks atop Mount Sinai receiving the Torah and then brought it down to the people. Seemingly, Moshe, more than anyone else, was qualified to construct the Mishkan, God’s earthly abode.
Why, then, did God assign this job to Besalel?
One of the roles served by the Mishkan was to demonstrate God’s forgiveness of Beneh Yisrael for the grievous sin of the golden calf. God’s consent to have His Shechina (Divine Presence) reside among the people understandably hinged upon His willingness to forgive them for their betrayal.
On what grounds did God forgive Beneh Yisrael? Or, to ask the question in more general terms, how does God forgive any transgressor for the offense he committed? Even after he regrets his misconduct and repents, what would lead the Almighty to grant him atonement?
The Ba’al Shem Tob (founder of Hasidism; Poland, 1700-1760) answered on the basis of a famous verse in Tehillim (121:5), "Hashem is Your shadow" ("Hashem Silecha"). On the simple level of interpretation, this means that God constantly accompanies us to offer us protection. On a deeper level, however, the Ba’al Shem Tob explained that God acts as a shadow in that a shadow mimics a person’s actions. When a person moves his arm, his shadow moves its arm the same way. Likewise, when a person treats others with kindness and compassion, God, His "shadow," acts kindly and compassionately toward him. If a person accustoms himself to forgiving those who wrong him, rather than bearing grudges and harboring resentment, God will similarly forgive the wrongs he committed. In order to be worthy of God’s forgiveness, we must act forgivingly toward those who have hurt or offended us.
Besalel had good reason to feel resentful toward the rest of Beneh Yisrael. When the people decided they wanted a golden calf, they approached Besalel’s grandfather, Hur, who was one of the religious leaders assigned over the nation in Moshe’s absence. Hur sternly opposed the plan, and the people, in response, killed him. We would have naturally expected Besalel to react bitterly and spitefully to this tragedy, and dissociate himself from the people who slew his righteous grandfather. But instead, he forgave the people for their bloodshed, and was prepared to help them earn atonement through the building of the Mishkan. And this is precisely why God wanted him to assume this job. The person who acts so forgivingly to people who had wronged him so gravely was the one chosen to arouse God’s forgiveness for the grievous sin of the golden calf.
It is told that the Hafetz Haim (Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan, 1839-1933) once sent a group of salesmen to sell his books, and when they returned, some of the money was missing. He soon discovered that one of the salesmen had pocketed some revenue from his sales.
The salesman came to the Rabbi to apologize. "I’m terribly sorry," he said. "My wife has been upset because we don’t have enough money, so I took some of the funds and gave it to her."
The Hafetz Haim forgave the man wholeheartedly, and the man left.
A moment later, the Hafetz Haim called the man back into his room. He pulled something from his desk and handed it to him.
"I am concerned about your Shalom Bayit [peace in the home], with your wife feeling unhappy. Here is a special silk scarf that I happened to have in my desk. I want you to take and give it to your wife as a present."
The Hafetz Haim forgave the thief with such sincerity, that he was prepared to give him a gift to help him.
It is to our benefit to be flexible, compassionate and forgiving in our dealings with other people – for if this is how we treat others, then this is precisely how the Almighty will treat us.
