Parsha Corner: Parshas Teruma – Bein Adam Lachaveiro
In this week’s Parsha, the Torah tells us about the building of the Aron, the most chashuv of the keilim in the Mishkan.
What was the Aron made of?
The Passuk says:
“V’asu aron atzei shitim…v’tzipisa oso zahav, mibayis umichutz titzapenu.”
Rashi explains that the Aron was comprised of three boxes: gold, wood, and gold—one inside the next.
What needs explanation, though, is why it wasn’t made of one solid piece of gold. After all, it was holding the luchos—isn’t that more befitting?!
Chazal explain that Hashem specifically wanted it made this way to lighten the “burden” of the Leviim, whose job it was to carry the Aron in the midbar. If the Aron were made of solid gold, it would have been much heavier and much harder to carry.
This Chazal highlights the importance of being sensitive not to burden others. This is true even if there is legitimacy to do so, which was certainly the case here, as it would have brought about more kavod Hashem, and is certainly true when there is no justification.
A Story of Sensitivity: Rav Yisroel Salanter
Rav Yisroel Salanter was invited to eat at the home of a wealthy man. The host had prepared everything needed for a comfortable meal, including a full bucket of drawn water to wash netilas yadayim. He assumed that a Rabbi of such great stature would surely beautify the mitzvah by using a lot of water so as to fulfill all the opinions. Surprisingly, though, Rav Yisroel only used enough water to fulfill the most minimum shiur.
Why didn’t Rav Yisroel use more water? Surely, he wanted to fulfill mitzvos in the best way?
The reason is because he didn’t want to burden the servant of the wealthy man whose job it was to draw water from the well. The more water he used, the more shlepping the servant would have to do.
Rav Yisroel wasn’t being meikil (lenient) on netilas yadayim—he was being machmir (stringent) on bein adam lachaveiro!
Rabbi Anton
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