Chicago Chesed Fund

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Sunday, May 16, 2021

Was the Mishkan Weighted or Staked? Installment Three

Reb Moshe in the Darash derives important יסודות from the יתדות, a lesson from these alternative methods of keeping the יריעות, the fabric and leather panels that covered the Mishkan, in place.

וכל יסדות החצר נחשת (כז יט) 

רש"י מסתפק ביתדות אם כובדן עושה שלא יגביהם הרוח או תקועין בארץ, ונראה דילפינן מזה שצריך כל אדם להשתדל שבכח עצמו מצד ידיעתו והבנתו לא יגביהנו הרוח בכל מקום שיהיה. אבל מתחלה יהיה זה ע"י אחרים היינו ע"י התמדתו בישיבה בין מורים וחברים שישפיעו עליו להתחזק בדרך ה', עד שמזה יבא שיהיה חזק בעצמו שלא יגביהו אותו ויטלטלוהו הרוחות הרעות והכפירה אף כשיהיה לבדו.

In other words, when you create your own Mishkan, your wellspring of Kedusha and shelter from pernicious forces, you have to make sure that the wind will not blow it away, and that that its lines will remain straight, that it will neither sway nor slump. This requires that you do two things. One is that you you need to be anchored, thoroughly grounded in a community, amidst a cohort of good and wise עובדי השם, who by instruction and example help you to grow intellectually and spiritually.  The other is that you, through your personal work on ידיעת התורה and מדות תרומיות and זיכוי הרבים, achieve a personal gravitas that will give you the wisdom and strength to stand steadfast.   

To build a בית נאמן בישראל, you have to be both weighted and staked.

Yasher koach to Rabbi Avrohom Bukspan.

7 comments:

  1. https://www.yutorah.org/sidebar/lecture.cfm/730378/rabbi-yisroel-meir-druck/chodesh-elul-talmud-torah-and-tefilah/

    See minute 34 where he asks the same question and minute 41 with same response. The entire shiur is extremely worthwhile to listen to as well.

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    1. I listened- wonderful! Thank you. But this comment belongs on the Tes vav b'av post, not here.
      Yasher kochacha!

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  2. Oops, sorry. I was scrolling down to look for a way to contact you directly and couldn't find one, so decided to comment instead. Must have accidentally been on wrong page. I'm glad you enjoyed, it really was a great shiur.

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  3. Reb Moshe was speaking about an individual, not a couple building a בית, but I come not לקנטר; I have a nice אסמכתא for your extrapolation.

    I'm speaking at my sister-in-law's Shabbos Sheva brachos this week, and I plan on sharing this Reb Moshe (not sure if I can cite a blog on Shabbos to be מביא גאולה לעולם). Having spent 2 nights in a tent on Lake George, NY this week, the topic of stakes and guy wires resonates strongly with me right now. I figured it would be nice to end with a ברכה from the פסוק in ישעיה נד:ב where the Navi exhorts Yerushalayim to expand in the time of the גאולה העתידה:
    הַרְחִ֣יבִי | מְק֣וֹם אָהֳלֵ֗ךְ וִֽירִיע֧וֹת מִשְׁכְּנוֹתַ֛יִךְ יַטּ֖וּ אַל־תַּחְשׂ֑כִי **הַֽאֲרִ֙יכִי֙ מֵֽיתָרַ֔יִךְ וִיתֵֽדֹתַ֖יִךְ חַזֵּֽקִי**
    When looking over the פסוקים there I noticed that, lo and behold, this is said in the context of comparing Yerushalayim to a bride/mother!

    As an aside, the Malbim there says that "וִיתֵֽדֹתַ֖יִךְ חַזֵּֽקִי" is to enable more tents to be added as needed, using the same stakes as the first. If we are in the realm of "Shave brachos Torah" I think we can say that the ultimate goal of building one's one יסוד is to eventually to give over to others, a la עם מדושני עונג - we fill ourselves with עונג until our cup runneth over to those around us..

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    1. That is a moving passuk to use for a SB drasha, and connecting the מיתריך ויתדתיך חזקי to Reb Moshe's vort is really good.
      Of course Reb Moshe was talking about an individual. But it applies all the more to two people who are building a mishkan.
      Feel free to not say it besheim omro. I'm not dead yet, and my שפתים can do their own דובבותing.
      I'm interested in hearing about your Lake George experience, though. I haven't gone camping since 1961 or 2, and I remember enjoying it, even though it was in a recently used cow pasture. We learned how to make tents out of blankets by tying stones in the corners, the whole Moshava experience.

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    2. It was terrific. We do island camping, which means you rent a campsite on these tiny islands that are scattered throughout the lake. This gives you a wooden platform for your tent, a firepit, and a dock, and we rent a boat for the duration of our stay. Tents these days are a *bit* different than the rocks and blankets :) You can get a decent one for about $100, and they are up in fifteen minutes working with 2 adults. They are weather-proof and bug-proof, assuming you keep the door closed. Days are spent boating, water-skiing, swimming, etc. Wholesome, fun, and a vacation that is non-children-spoiling.! My kids had a blast, B"H.

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    3. Thank you. I'm forwarding the info to my kids. One family just rented an airbnb in what they thought was a lonesome wilderness. It turned out to be a nine minute drive from my shver's yeshiva camp, Camp YSI. My shver said to my son in law, "Great, so you can come over for Shachris, Mincha, and Maariv, you can even have a seder here." I'm not sure that's what they had in mind.

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