Pesach is just a mere two weeks away and we can all feel it coming. Every Yom Tov requires preparation, but the added cleaning, kashering, and special kosher-for-Passover shopping makes Pesach stand out as the Yom Tov of preparation. Some find it daunting, some find it overwhelming, and a select few follow their schedule and don’t loose sleep over it; but everyone is hard at work. What are we working for? How much mileage will we get for our hard work? Eight days (outside of Israel, in Israel only seven!); that’s it, eight days and it’s all over, all that hard work for eight days that are sure to fly by!
Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky makes a fascinating observation about this week’s parsha in his sefer Emes L’Yaakov. He notes the extreme amount of material and labor that the Jewish people invested in the creation of the Mishkan, precious stones, huge quantities of gold and silver, elaborate tapestries, and more. What was the Jewish people’s investment horizon for this large sum of precious materials?
One would think, that it was forty years in the desert plus the additional years in Israel until Shlomo HaMelech built the Beis HaMikdash. Rabbi Kamenetsky points out that this may be true in hindsight, but this cannot possibly be what the Jewish people were thinking when the Mishkan was under construction. The forty years in the desert were not part of the original plan; they were a result of a modification to their travel plans because of the sin of the spies.
The Mishkan was built before the sin of the spies, at which point the plan was to go straight into Eretz Yisroel in a matter of months and immediately build the Beis HaMikdash, leaving the Mishkan obsolete. Nonetheless, the Jewish people poured a tremendous amount of money and energy into the Mishkan, voluntarily, with generous hearts. So much so that they contributed more than what was needed for the Mishkan and Moshe had to tell them to stop giving! All of this for but a few months! Rabbi Kamenetsky explains that the focus and the drive of the Jewish people was clearly not for the structure but for the mitzvah, to fulfill the commandment, “thou shalt make me a Mikdash so that I shall dwell among you.”
We do not know the reward of a mitzvah. We need to show the same care for even the seemingly minor mitzvahs as we do with the seemingly more significant ones. This is what motivated the Jewish people. The length of time that the Mishkan would be needed was irrelevant; all that mattered to them was that they were fulfilling Hashem’s mitzvah. Every mitzvah was well worth the investment that went into producing the Mishkan and more.
Over the course of the pandemic, we had to adjust how we made minyanim and how we learned Torah. At times we stayed outdoors, at times we “went virtual,” and at all times we have had to rearrange things to somehow facilitate social distancing. Many of these phases were short lived. Yet, all of these phases required significant planning, logistics, and effort. Why would we work so hard for something temporary?
Because this is what a Jew does to keep Hashem’s mitzvos. No matter how big, no matter how small, no matter how short-lived, every mitzvah is worth all the time, effort, and money it requires. We are determined to daven with a minyan, we are determined to continue learning and teaching Torah, whatever it takes.
As Pesach nears, we continue to invest more and more time and energy to clean and prepare our homes. We invest more and more money to purchase all the expensive matzah and other Pesach items we will need. When we ask ourselves, “it’s only eight days, is it worth it?”, we should look to this week’s parsha, and answer as Jews have answered throughout the ages with a resounding “yes!” Every mitzvah is our greatest investment!