Building My Inner Mishkan (Terumah)

In this episode on Parshat Terumah we are going to discuss the personal avodas Hashem of the Mishkan. Why does God dedicate so many parshiyot of the Torah to something that we only use for a brief time in the desert? Why is it so significant? How is it relevant to me? And why do the parshiyot of the Mishkan almost always overlap with Adar and Purim? We will get into all of that and more in this episode!  

If you want to follow along in the text, it is Nesiovs Shalom on Shemot page kuf tzadi heh (195). You can find a pdf of the piece here.

This week's episode is sponsored by the Merkin family. Thank you so much to this week's generous sponsor!

If you would like to sponsor an episode of the podcast, please email Rabbi Charnoff at rabbicharnoff@gmail.com.

Transcript

Rabbi Charnoff: 0:04

Hello, everyone. This is Rabbi Robby Charnoff and you are listening to the Hasidus for Life podcast. The podcast where we learn a deep Hasidic insight on the Parsha every single week, and not only gain a new understanding of an aspect of the Parsha, but explore how it can lead us to a more meaningful, vibrant, and spiritually uplifted life. In this episode, we're going to dive into parasha truma. The first of five parshiyot about the Mishkan. Why does HaShem dedicate so much of the Torah to something that we only used so briefly in the desert? What's so significant about it? How is it relevant to me and my Avodah HaShem today? And why do the parshiyot of the Mishkan almost always overlap with Adar and Purim? We'll get into all of that and more today. If you want to follow along inside, you can open up a Nesiv O'Shalom Sefer Shmot to page Kuf Tzadi Hey and the piece entitled B'tocham, B'toch Kol Echad V'Echad, or simply go to the show notes for a link to a PDF. But feel free to just sit back, listen, and enjoy the ride. Most people do. This episode is generously sponsored by the Merkin family. Thank you so much to the Merkins for sponsoring this week's episode. Your sponsorships are what make this podcast happen. If you would like to sponsor an episode of the podcast, please email rabbicharnoff at gmail dot com, or see the show notes for more details. Alright, with that, let's jump into Parsha to Truma and the Mishkan. We are in Yeshiva Shalom on Parshat Shrumah, We are entering into an extremely exciting section of chumash. Not one, not two, not three, not four, but five parshiyot on the Mishkan. Some of you may react to my saying that and say, really, this is the fun part of Chumash? And I will say yes, this is absolutely some of the most exciting parshiyot of Chumash. The Mishkan is something which some of us have difficulty connecting to, since we don't have the Mishkan anymore, so it makes it challenging to relate to. It's a lot of architecture, It's a lot of measurements. Um, there's a lot of challenge in that on the one hand. On the other hand, What the Torah does often is it hides some of the most deep things. In ways where in a pshat level, they seem the least interesting on the surface. Because a kodesh baruch hu in the Torah wants you to skim over those things if you're not ready for them, and that's okay. So a lot of us skim over the mishkan because it doesn't seem interesting. Again, we don't have it anymore, it's just a building, who cares, And so a kodesh baruch hu packs into the mishkan and into these parshiot deep, deep secrets of the universe. Whether we're talking about random kings, seemingly, in Braishit, whether we're talking about how Yaakov is breeding his animals in order to produce the right ones to get some sheep when he's in Lavan's house, all of these are sections of the Torah that, again, seem like there's not much going on on the surface, which means that the depths of Judaism are hiding underneath. And we're talking about the Mishkan, there is so much going on. I don't know where he's going to take it in this piece. Let's find out together. Let's jump inside and we'll start to open up, hopefully, some of the issues of the Mishkan as we go along. Page Kuftz Adihei, B'Tocham, B'Toch Chol Achad V'Achad. He starts off and says, B'Sefer HaKadosh In the Holy Sefer of the Toldot Ya'akov Yosef, the Toldot Ya'akov Yosef was one of the main Talmidim of the Baal Shem Tov. Mevi divrei ha'alshich haKadosh. The Toldot Ya'akov the Toldot Ya'akov Yosef brings the words of the ha'alshich haKadosh. Shetaryag haMitzvot ne'etzlu me'atzmutzo yiparach. That the 613 mitzvot. Emanate from, there's some words there that are very capitalistic. We'll see if we need to unpack them as he goes along. just like is eternal. So too are the mitzvah that emanate from him. They are also eternal. And based on that, which we already sort of set up in the intro there's a question on this mitzvah of make for me and I will dwell within them. What is the internal side of the mitzvah that doesn't seem to be on its surface for every generation? There was a Mishkan, we had it for a certain amount of time, and now we don't have it anymore, on two levels. Number one is, we eventually, seemingly, trade in the Mishkan for the Beis Hamikdash. And even in that case, Unfortunately, Mizrata Zeh, we don't have the Beit HaMikdash anymore, and it should come back, Mizrata Hashem, but we don't have the Beit HaMikdash either. So, what's the reality of the Mishkan for us? It seems to be only limited to a certain place and time, especially on the level of the Mishkan, which seemingly only took them from the desert until they got to the Beit HaMikdash. Ma'ani tz'hiyut b'mitzvah zo, she'ino noheget le'dorot? De lo rak le'achar ha'chorban, ela afilu b'zman she'Beit HaMikdash kayam, ye'efshar le'kayma. I must have gotten the question from him, He says, and not even after the Chorban, of course after the Chorban we don't have a Beis HaMikdash or a Mishkan, but like we just said a second ago, Even in the time of the Beit HaMikdash, top of the next page, there was no way to fulfill the mitzvah of the Mishkan. Beshayekhet rak lidor It seems to only have been relevant to the generation until they built the Beit HaMikdash. U'mahu imkei ninyan mitzriyut sheve mitzvah achad bilvad. So then what is the eternal side of this mitzvah which seemingly is only relevant to one generation, the generation in the desert? And explained based on the who tells Mo when he is on the mountain to build the Mishka exactly as I show you. And that's how you should do it. So Chazal already state, based on that Passok, V'chein ta'asu, and that's what you should do, Moshe? Not just for Moshe Rabbeinu. V'chein ta'asu l'dorot. So too will you do for all generations. How do we understand that? Uv'rashi meva'er dahaynu she'im ya'aved kli mikley ha'mishkan, o beyt ha'mikda she'yasu k'ein. So the way that Rashi understands it in that Gemara on a pshat level, is that if something were to happen in one of the If one of the vessels of the Beit HaMikdash, or the Mishkan, were to be lost or destroyed, then it would need to be replaced in the exact same way that it was shown to Moshe on the mountain. The Ikshel is our Ramban, but the Ramban asks, Sharei Nizbeach shehasa Shlomo haya b'midot achiro. when we get to the Beit HaMikdash, the Beit HaMikdash wasn't built in the exact same way as the Mishkan. Shlomo HaMelech, when he built the Beit HaMikdash, replaced some of the kalim, replaced some of the vessels of the Mishkan, and enhanced them, made them bigger, added more, glorified them. So it doesn't seem to be true. al derech ha'avodah. So we can understand what this means, v'chin ta'asu l'dorot, that this should be for all generations. We can understand it al derech ha'avodah, which is always our goal with the Yad Vashem. We have to understand what's the Avodas Hashem for all generations that the Mishkan is relevant for. Uv'yoter Kasheh, even more challenging, Sh'anu ro'im sh'ha tora ma'aricha be'inyan ha mishkan k'hamisha parshiyot. We gave this whole introduction, it's so odd, the Mishkan, it must be so powerful, it must be so important, that even though we don't understand it on a pshat level, and we don't understand how to relate to it, there must be depth there, especially because it's five parshas. The Torah is committing five parshahs to the establishment of the Mishkan. We often don't notice it because it's hard to give drushas for five weeks straight on the Mishkan. So rabbis get clever and they get into Purim and they get into Pesach and they get into all the special Shabbatot that we have before and after, so to sort of almost skim over the Mishkan, because again, it's very hard to get into on an upshot level, but realize that for the next five weeks, over a month, what we're engaging in in Shnai Mikron on a level of Torah and on a level of tazman, we're living in the reality of the Mishkan for five weeks. The Torah is engaging with the Mishkan for the next five weeks. That's five parshas of the Torah. V'ha Torah ha kidoshah hi torat chayim, le'lamed liyudi et ha derech asher yolchun ba. The point of the Torah is it's a Torah of life, to teach a Jew How we're supposed to live. V'yesh la'avin, u'le'karev el ha seichel, ha limud mi parshiyot eilu. So we need to understand What are these parsha really about? What are they really here for? What are they really telling us? And especially in our generation where we don't even have a mishka or a meaning. It was probably even challenging in the times when they did have it. How do we relate to this building, to this structure? Why is it so important? Why so many parsha Ber for us. We don't even have the Mishka itself. We don't have M how do we relate to these pars? How do we relate to these concepts? How do I, me maka, the Mishka in my life if we don't have ish, how do I relate to this? Next paragraph. Va'atol dot Yaakov Yosef meva'er, shal va'asu li mikdash. Va'atol Yosef explains that this mitzvah of make for me a mikdash, kai al kol adam shu olam katan bifnei atzmo. It's relevant, he says, to every single person. Because every single person is an olam katan. Every single one of us is a miniature world. The hum. If I am a small world, if I'm an Ola qan, then what that means is that the Torah is commanding me that within myself, within my inner world, I have to build a mik. I have to build a mishka. That within me should be a place for the shina to rest. That's a really profound idea, just to even begin to internalize. What these parshiots are asking of us is to contemplate what it means that I am an Ulam Katan, and to contemplate what it means to build a Mishkan within that inner world of myself. To create a space within myself, a reality within myself, upon which God can rest. I have the capacity for God to rest within me, to bring the Shekinah not just into this world, but into myself. And perhaps based on this, the obligation not just to bring a Kadesh Baruch Hu into this world, but to bring a Kadesh Baruch Hu into myself. And the Mishkan is clarifying the necessity to do that, the importance of doing that. The way in which to accomplish that. Let's see how he opens it up. The says, I will dwell not within it. I will dwell within them the famous. Ve'asu li mikdash, make for me a mikdash, It should say, ve'shachanti bitocho, and I will dwell within it. The Pusik says no, make for me a mikdash, every single one of us, is chayiv to make a mikdash, a mishkan inside of ourselves, and I will dwell within them, plural, inside every single one of you. It's very real. It's very relevant and it's very personal. He says that in a person, there's an aspect of a mish. There's the ish, the which is in the mind and the mish of the ne and the rock, which is in the life, different aspects of the soul. But there's a ish in the mind, and the ish in the heart is the, in the fifth of the five par, the last parsha and schmo. It opens and says, these are the accountings of the Mishka, the mishka of testimony. Beautiful. what is he learning from that? Back to the pasuk, eyleh pikudei hamishkan, mishkan, it doubles the word mishkan. Why are you saying the word mishkan twice? It seems extraneous, it seems superfluous. So he learns out, no, because there's two levels of mishkan. There's the mishkan in the mind and the mishkan in the heart. Um mitzvahat va'asuli mikdash v'shachanti b'tocham, hi shi yehudi yisha'abed la'ashem yiparach, et And this mitzvah of make for me a mikdash and I will dwell within them. It's that a Jew should subjugate themselves to a Kaddish Baruch Hu on both of these levels of mishkan. The mishkan of the mind and the mishkan of the heart. U'ma shekatuv HaBeit Yosef be'shein Rabbeinu Yonah be'inyan haTzfilin D'eh Han chatan al harosh k'negar hamoach, she nashamash mochi im kol she'ar hachushai vel chocholtai, kolam yu mishubadim lavarato yiparach shemo. Va hayad k'negar haleib, l'shabet b'zeh tza'avot umachshebot libeinu lavarato yiparach shemo. He's drawing here from the Hiratzon that men have the option of saying before they put on tefillin, there's two tefillin. There's one that goes on the head, and one that goes on the arm. Why? Because The goal of the Tefillin is to start the day with a recognition that I need to completely subjugate myself to a Kadesh Baruch Hu and there's two primary elements of myself that I need to subjugate to a Kadesh Baruch Hu. I take the Tefillah Shel Rosh and I put it on my head to subjugate my mind. to a Kadesh Baruch Hu. That all of my mental capacities, all of my focus, all of my Kavana should be focused on a Kadesh Baruch Hu. And then I put the second one on my arm. Why? Because Kadosh Baruch Hu had Barach HaMemanas and didn't make a bunch of men walk into shul every day and try to strap this huge thing around their entire chest. So instead, He allows us to wrap it around our arm, but the tefillah, the actual box on the bicep, it faces towards the chest on the side of the heart. there's an element also, of course, related to the arm, but He's emphasizing here that it's facing towards the heart. Because the goal of the tefillah shaliyat is to subjugate the heart. To subjugate my emotional realm to a Kadosh Baruch Hu as well. A lot of you here who are learning with us together are women, and a lot of people listening, I'm sure, are women as well. And you're wondering, what about me? The answer is very simple. Men are very physical, beings. So a Qadosh Baruch Hu literally makes us take a box made of cowhide with parses literally written on it, and actually strap it onto our heads, and strap it onto our heart, in the hopes that we may actually internalize, and gain some Kedush on a level where we can subjugate our mind and our hearts to a Qadosh Baruch Hu. So what does Akkadosh Baruch Hu ask of women? He asks that even without the physical manifestation of actually strapping the boxes on, to be able to subjugate one's mind and what's hard to Akkadosh Baruch Hu, and has faith in you that you're going to do that even without the tefillin. And it comes down to the essential nature of men and women, according to Ashkafah, that men tend to be drawn of opposites and need a little bit more of that. intensity to bring out the Avodas HaShem, even from the creation of Adam HaRishon. Adam is a neshama that comes down from shamayim and dirt that comes from the ground. These extremes, Many men can much more easily either get into very lofty places and be steiging in the base medrash and then walk out and fall flat on their physical faces very, very quickly the second they walk out. And the opposite, women are not created from a neshama and the dirt in the same way. They're come from But what that means is they come from an already established union between the spiritual and the physical. They emerge from that. And so women have, generally speaking, not always, but generally speaking, the greater capacity to find the spiritual within the physical. They can live with the two in harmony and synchronized and unified in a much easier way often than men can. that's one of the reasons, again, why men would have to put on the tefillin. But women are expected to live tefillin. They're expected to live every day, subjugating their mind and heart to a Kadesh Baruch Hu, just like a man. They just don't necessarily need, the tefillin in order to accomplish that. And that's only emphasized by the fact, V'as The fact that we're meant to both have the Mishkan of the mind and the Mishkan of the heart, both are supposed to be subjugated to a Kaddish Baruch Hu, the expectation is on all of us. And each one has a way of accomplishing that, but he's bringing it out here just as an example through the, and this is the mitzvah of make for me and m and I will dwell within them. It's eternal and relevant to all of us. as we explain it in a different place, he says, That the aspect of a mitzvah that connects to the neshama, that's eternal, that goes on all the time, that's continuous. And the aspect of that is that a Jew is required to purify their mind and their heart, that it should be kodesh to HaKadosh Baruch Hu. And there's so much work that goes into that, purifying my mind, that what goes through my mind is kadosh, that my mind is a mishkan for HaKadosh Baruch Hu, that goes to, in the first place, what comes into my mind. He talks about, in different places, the seven sharei degul galata, the seven openings of the head. What do I bring into myself? What am I bringing into my mind that's setting the stage for what I'm going to think about? What am I listening to when I have my AirPods on? Am I listening to beautiful Jewish music like we talked about in Shabbat Shira? Am I listening to beautiful Shirin? Am I listening to this podcast? Am I listening to Divrei Torah? Am I talking Divrei Torah with my friends? What am I bringing into my ears? In my eyes, am I looking at a sefer? Am I looking at a shul? Am I looking at a base medrash? Am I looking at the beauty of another Jew? Being with beautiful chevra? Am I being mitayel and walking around the glory of Eretz Yisrael? Am I walking if I'm not in Eretz Yisrael? And seeing the beauty of Eretz Baruch Hu's world? Am I being makadesh, what's coming into my mind, what's filling my mind, because what creates the fertile ground for what's going to sprout up in my mind are the things that I take in. That's what's going to set the stage. What am I filling myself with? When I have that downtime, how am I filling that downtime? On the one hand, am I filling it with meaningful content like we just talked about and letting things come in? On the other hand, sometimes it's good to not have content be coming in. The word content is a very loose word, bismarazeh, and to turn off the quote unquote content sometimes. And to just be with my thoughts and to activate my mind and to think about the continuous mitzvot of HaKadosh Baruch Hu. To think about what's going on in my life. To think about what's going on in my Evora Hashem. To think about my personal growth. To do Hazara on something that I learned and internalize it in a deeper way. That it's not just that it comes in one ear and goes out the other. That it becomes a part of who I am. Am I making my mind a Mishkan? How am I utilizing that mind? And my heart? I focusing my emotional world? on connecting to Al Qarash Baruch Hu. Am I getting excited to do a mitzvah? Am I getting excited to connect to Al Qarash Baruch Hu? Am I giving myself that opportunity? Am I, and we'll talk about this in the context of Tzfiloh when the time comes up, but Am I running into Mincha and showing up at Mincha in the middle of Shmona Esrei and taking, three steps back, three steps forward and trying to hop at Shmona Esrei before Hazar HaSashat, or before the Minyan ends, or Am I running into the library in college? trying to, you know, get in as quick a Shmona Esrei as possible, standing there between two rows of books, pretending like I'm looking at the different books so nobody calls me out, while I sneak in a two minute Shmona Esrei between studying sessions in the library? Or am I coming? My emotional world, an emotional world needs preparation. The difference between a Mincha, and I'm as guilty of this as anybody else, maybe more guilty, I'm often running late to things. When you come early to Mincha, and you actually take a moment to not just prepare yourself intellectually, but to prepare yourself emotionally. I'm about to talk to a Karesh Baruch Hu, having one or two minutes before davening starts, not to talk to the guy next to you, and not to the girl, talk to the girl who's behind you, and not to flip through a book, and not to look at your phone, but to stop, and just focus on the fact that you're about to enter into a conversation with the infinite, and to open up your heart. Again, we'll talk about this more when we talk about tefillah, but tefillah, it's called avodah sheba leiv. How can you expect your heart to be open if you didn't do the work to open it up first? Try it. Try coming a minute early to Shachar's. Try coming even just a minute early to Mincha, to stop, to pause. Clear your mind, but open your heart. When you have a mitzvah that you need to do, to get excited about it, to think about it, and to get emotionally connected to it. How am I going to do that mitzvah? And what way am I going to elevate that mitzvah? Not just that I'm going to go and I'm going to, Oh, it's, two days before Sukkot and I've got to get a little of a netrog, and I guess there's some store that's still open and I'll just grab whatever. Think about it and put into it first. I mean, going to get jumped out at me because the etrog represents the lave, represents the heart. When I go for looking for an etrog, you know, you walk up to these stands, if you've been to Eretz Israel. They have these okhlobzars also, but my experience is in Eretz Israel. When you walk up to these stands where they have the etrog, and like, what are you looking for? And I always look at them, and I don't mean to be rude. I'm like I don't know yet. We'll see. Like, I don't have an answer for you yet. I'm waiting to see what speaks to my heart. I'm not looking for anything specific. I know that I wanted to have this color, and I know that I want a pitto ideally, and I know that I want this and I want that, but you can show me it, and you can show me exactly what I'm describing to you, but I don't know until I see it. This, this year when I went looking, I found one and I was like, this is the one that I'm looking for on paper. It's like dating. This is the one that I'm looking for on paper. And I said, hold this for me for an hour. If I'm not back in an hour, forget it. I said, I just need to go do one more Sivuv. And I did one more Sivuv around the area that I was looking. And it jumped up in my mind that three years ago, I found a crack in the wall place, this doorway on the side of a building that went into this little area that had, I was like, I have to check there first. I don't even know why I thought of it. And I ran there and the etroch that I found there was like, this was the one that was calling out to me. That's not rational, because there's a mishkan in the mind, but there's also a mishkan in the heart. It doesn't have to be rational. There's an emotional component to our relationship with the mitzvot also, and obviously to our relationship with the Kadesh Baruch Hu. Am I making a place for a Kadesh Baruch Hu in my mind and in my heart for the mitzvot, for my Avodah Hashem? Am I thinking about a Kadesh Baruch Hu like we talked about last week in the concept of kedushah? Am I thinking about how to bring a Kadesh Baruch Hu into my life even in the times of mutter, when I'm Off from Shir, when I have downtime, when I have a break at work, in the hour before I get on the train to go to work, in the hour after I come back home, for 20 minutes during my lunch break, whatever the case may be. Am I thinking about a Kaddish Baruch Hu? Okay, I don't have the time to learn in that space, but I'm stopping for lunch and there's a Kaddish Baruch Hu in my mind while I'm eating. is a Kaddish Baruch Hu influencing my choices of what I'm watching, of what I'm reading, of what I'm doing, of who I'm spending time with? That's an emotional reality. Do I feel connected to him in that reality? That's V'asuli Mikdash V'Shachanti P'tocham, that reality of having the Mishkan in the mind and the Mishkan in the heart. Let's see where he takes it forward. Questions, thoughts, comments? We doing okay? Good. Next paragraph. ha'briyah, this is the whole purpose of creation. She kol Yehudi yeh be'atzmo beit ha'Mikdash, that every single Jew should be a beis ha'Mikdash. and that's why the Gamar says you should do this for all generations. There should be a resting of the, in every single one of us, it says in this Z, this is my God. I will glorify him. Translates this top of the next column that that's the whole goal of that they should make themselves a palace for our Kaku. A space for our Kaku to Rest says. When a Jew looks at this concept, their soul should light up with love, should be on fire with love. The person should say in their heart, really a lowly person made of dust and ash and dirt. The whole heavens can't even hold him. He wants to dwell with me. He wants to dwell in me, um, how can really live with me. What does that even mean me? But he says he wanted to. So I have to momish make it the most beautiful palace. It's insane that a Keresh Baruch Hu wants to be in this world and not just wants to be in this world, wants to dwell and rest upon me. And what he's emphasizing here is if that's true, the Chiuv that's upon me, not just the Chiuv that's upon me, the excitement that I have, a Keresh Baruch Hu wants to be with me, a Keresh Baruch Hu wants to dwell in me. How amazing is that? And if that's the case, you ever had a dignified guest come to your house? You go crazy if you're not of the age yet and you're still living in your parents house. You ever seen your parents go crazy and wonder why? You sitting there like, Mom, I'm just going nuts clearing the house? You have somebody dignified coming over, somebody amazing coming over, you check every single corner when my parents come to visit, which is my wife's in laws, so when they come to visit, so we, suddenly, you know, the whole house gets turned over. We have very, very muchlubed guests coming, keep it avein. Every corner gets checked, everything that's been sitting out for two weeks gets put away, all the stuff gets put back in the cabinet, all the toys get put away, you make the whole house look nice, you clean everything, you call in a cleaner to help out if you can't get everything done, everything, the sink has to get washed. It's a mitzvah, keep it all the same. And yeah, when Akadosh Baruch Hu is coming into the house. How could you not do the same and more? What's the house that Akadosh Baruch Hu is coming into? You're the house. You are the home. He's dwelling in you. Think about the transfer of that mentally for a second. The same way you check every corner. The same way you put every single toilet that's been sitting out ages. Every single thing that's been sitting out on the counter. You dust every surface. HaKadosh these parshas is saying, I want to dwell in you. These parshas, this is the time. it's crazy we only have five weeks. This is the time to reflect and look inside. What's been sitting out since a month after Rosh Hashanah Yom Kippur? That I promise never take out of the closet again. What dust has been sitting on a shelf that I said I'll get to eventually? What dishes have been sitting in the sink? What light fixture did I say I was gonna replace and make it nicer, but it's just sitting there hanging and I haven't gotten around to it? I haven't put in a new lightbulb. I haven't put up a new picture over there. Inside, inside, the things that just pile up over time that we're gonna get to, the time to get to it is today. It was yesterday. It was the day before. I said, okay, but now we're in the Mishkan is crying out to us. I want to dwell within you. Melech Malchiyah Malchim is coming. And where is he coming? To you. It's time to jump up and start to clean the house as quickly as humanly possible. You don't know how to do it. You're not exactly sure what to do. There's too much going on. Good. So call in the cleaning crew. Go speak to a mentor. Speak to your Rebbe. Figure out what's going on inside of you. Figure out what needs to be cleaned out. How do I elevate my bodas HaShem? How do I overcome the regularity that I have to do these aveiras or to be lax in these areas or to not elevate my Talmud Torah or to not elevate my tefillah. That I've become lax or I've become rote in how I dave and it's become boring and it's become the same thing day in and day out. Or, I'm, you know, basically every day I'm finishing the thing that I said I would do. I'm doing my parak of Tanakh. I'm doing my dafiyomi. I'm doing this. I'm doing that. But I don't feel the hislavas. I'm not excited. it's, it's old. It's rusty. It's dirty. It's time to spruce up. A Kadesh Baruch is coming. The king is coming. I'm the Mikdash. There's so much internal work to do. I've been saying, okay, I'm going to work on it. I've been, I've been getting a little bit angrier lately than I used to. I, I, I've been having a lot going on in my life, and I've got all this stress, and it's a tough time of year, and I went through this difficult breakup, and I'm also thinking about who my roommates are going to be for next year, and all that's going on. So yeah, I've been a little bit easier to get to anger over the last couple of weeks. But I'll get to it. It'll be fine. Get to it yesterday! A Kodesh Baruch was coming! How could there be anger? How could there be jealousy? Chas v'sholem, how could there be ego inside of me when a kodesh boruch is coming? It's time to clear up. It's time to clean out. It's time to get that mikdash, that mishkan inside of me together. These are the weeks to get that mishkan together. Next paragraph. Left side, second paragraph. Va'aderech livnot kol shelo. And the way for a Jew, every Jew, to build their own beis ha mikdash. Hi kidichtiv, as the Pasuk says, Va'ikuli truma me'eit kol ish asher yidvenu libo. The Pasuk at the beginning of the Parsha says that every single Jew should make a dedication. From every single person, whatever their heart motivates them to give. What is this dedication that's given from every person that they give, whatever their heart motivates them. miyuchedet elav tshuma la Hashem, v'al yidei zeh bonehu at beit hamikdash lo. So beautiful. He says, what does it mean? Le'ed kol yishasha yidvenu libo from every person they should give of their heart motivates them? He says, no, not just on a pshat level that every Jew gave to the Mishkan, that which they felt motivated to give. What does it mean? It means that Akadosh Baruch Hu is asking us to find what our heart feels most connected to. What we're most excited about. What we're most fired up about. Take that, that which your heart is closest to, and give that to Akadosh Baruch Hu. That's how you set the foundation of your Beis Hamikdash. That's how you set your foundation of your inner Mishkan. if what fires you up is music. So then on the one hand, give to a Kadesh Baruch as a gift, as a truma, let go of the music that you shouldn't be listening to. And DAFCA, listen to the music, bring into your Mikdash, your Mishkan, the music that's going to light you up like the Leviim. If you're somebody who composes music, write a song to a Kadesh Baruch, compose to a Kadesh Baruch. If you're somebody who loves to help other people, so then find that time to raise it up, to give that to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, to give your time in a way that's going to elevate and do HaVodah Sashem. whatever your inner inclinations are, you love to travel, you love to read, you love to sing, you love, whatever your desire is, wherever your heart motivates you, dafka take that and elevate it to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, whether it's letting go on the negative side. of the things within that realm that don't belong in a mikdash or a mishkan, and take this time of the year to let go of those things, because you're building a house for you in a Qadosh Baruch Hu, and you're cleaning out all of the shtuyot. And on the level of adding the asetov to build in these things in a beautiful way to create the mikdash from that which my heart desires, not just some, the things that I'm most fired up about, the things that I'm most excited about, the things that I'm most drawn to, the things that most excite me and enliven me. I'm dedicating that to HaKadosh Baruch Hu and I'm making that the foundation of my mikdash. how is my mishkan, how is my mikdash different than anybody else's? It's built in my heart. V'kiva Tetz mentions this, he discusses this, in one of his shiurim. He says that sometimes people think when they read Chassidus, that when it says that a person should remove all ego, and remove all sense of self, that they think that a Kaddish Baruch Hu is asking, you should say, a Kaddish Baruch Hu, I, there's nothing of me, I'm not here, nothing matters, I'm totally here for you, whatever you want, I don't care. he says that's not Never Hashem, he says that's a nuisance. Kadosh Baruch Hu doesn't want somebody serving him who's just there, who doesn't care about anything. He says, no, what does it mean to remove my ego? I'm still a unique human being without my ego. Kadosh Baruch Hu built me in a unique way. There are things that I care about. There are things that are important to me. There are things that fire me up. There are things that I'm deeply emotionally connected to and intellectually connected to. He says, take out all of the agendas and the self-absorption and the ego and the physical desire and all of the things that get in the way. And what's left is pure unadulterated you that drive that passion that makes you so unique and with that fiery passion, see, I'm taking all of this fire, all of this passion. I'm taking that and I'm giving that to a K. What do you want? I'm making this whole space for you. My heart's on fire. like a furnace that purifies silver or gold. I'm purifying my inner world with that fire, that's a fire for you, to make space for you, to empty that reality and make sure that you have a place to dwell, to prepare it for you. That's the goal. Ogedi ita v'sfarah makedoshim, shekol yudi yarad le'olam m'takin inanim amyuchadim lo. As the sfarah makedoshim say that every Jew comes into this world to fix the things that are unique for them. And as life goes on, what that is changes and evolves. What it is that you're here to do and how you're meant to do it. Va, when a j goes and gives to the thing that they care about most, that's most dear to them, and they dedicate that and elevate that to ak and that person mish builds the beta for themselves. Their own unique Beit that only they could have built the space in this world that only they could have created, that who could dwell my everybody's to make Mik gonna dwell in all of them. We only had a little bit of time together to begin discussing what the base and the Mishka is about, but I challenge all of us over these coming weeks to remember the big picture, the backdrop, which is. That a Kaddish Baruch was giving us all of these details because every single one of them is important and I need to understand exactly what an Aaron is and what its measurements are and what a Shulchan is and what its measurements are and what a menorah is and What its measurements are and what the courtyard is and what its measurements are I need to understand all of those things because within that are the secrets of how in a detail oriented profound an incredibly meaningful way how to actually in a detailed way build a Mishkan inside of myself. It's not just the outer Mishkan. HaKadosh details because hidden within those measurements and hidden within those objects are the details of how to build myself into that Mishkan. But while I'm hopefully going through that and trying to open that up for myself and learning Sfarm that are hopefully going to bring that out for me and listening to Shurim that are hopefully going to bring that out for me. Even if I don't understand the Hebrew, I wasn't able to find the Shira, I didn't have the time, at the very least, to hold on to the bigger picture of what these parashiot are about. The bigger picture, which is ultimately the goal. Even if I don't understand the details and I'm not yet ready to build, I don't know how to build kruvim. I don't know how to build an aron yet. I don't know how. Nah, but I'm not there yet. But at the very least, I'm working to make myself a Mishkan for HaKadosh Baruch Hu. I'm working to cleanse myself. of all of my negative mitos, of all of my negative desires, to cleanse my heart and cleanse my mind, to elevate my heart that all of my desires and all of my love should be for HaKadosh Baruch Hu and for his Torah and for his mitzvot and for learning and for chesed and for tefillah. And I'm purifying my mind that all I'm doing is thinking about HaKadosh Baruch Hu. And the beauty is, when you're sitting here and thinking about how to make yourself a mishkan, that in and of itself is purifying your mind. That act in and of itself of thinking, How this week can I make myself a mishkan? That's part of making yourself a mishkan. To keep that bigger picture in mind, at the very least. And at the very least, if you do that, you're transforming yourself. And making yourself a place in this world, for the Shlina to rest. kriya. don't think that you were going to get away with leaving today without talking about Purim, we just had Shabbos HaVarchim, Adar. Adar is coming up at the end of this week. We're entering into the beautiful realm of Adar. we'll have Shurim in the coming weeks, where we'll learn about Purim. But we're starting Adar. Adar the Spharim bring down. the word Adar is comprised of Alif, Dar. Alufo shel olam. The Alif, the Alufo shel olam, the master of the universe, Dar. What does Dar mean? He lives, he dwells. It's not Stam that Purim comes at the same time as the Parshit of the Mishkan. It must be so. It's intentionally so, of course it is! Because this is the month of emphasizing how do I bring Akadosh Baruch Hu into me? How do I bring Akadosh Baruch Hu into the physical world? And Adar is, Alufosha olam dar, Akadosh Baruch Hu is dar, He lives in this world. Purim is all about bringing Akadosh Baruch Hu into the most mundane physical reality. Bringing godliness into this world. Seeing a whole story in Megillah Sester where God's name doesn't appear, but it's all Him. Having mitzvot on Purim. Where I go and I give gifts to friends, I do that anyway, but HaKadosh Baruch Hu is inside of it. I go and I have a seudah and HaKadosh Baruch Hu is inside of it. It's a bringing HaKadosh Baruch Hu into the physical world, revealing that HaKadosh Baruch Hu is in the physical world. The Mishkan is the Torah aspect of seeing HaKadosh Baruch Hu coming and living and being in the physical world. Mishanichnas Adar marbim b'simcha When Adar comes, the simcha increases. And on a deeper level, Mishanichnas Adar When one gets into Adar Into what others about, then the simcha truly increases. The more that I get into what others about, then I'm bringing a Kadesh Baruch Hu into this world. I'm bringing a Kadesh Baruch Hu into myself. I'm building that Mishkan. I'm recognizing that my home is a Mishkan, that home where I'm going to have that seudah, with that food, at that table. All of these are aspects of the Mishkan. All of these are reflections of the Mishkan. Amini beis hamikdash. This is the month, this is the parashat, this is the time to bring Hakadosh Baruch Hu into the physical world and into myself. Beshvat Shemesh bezocheh. To bring Hakadosh Baruch Hu into ourselves, into our lives, into our minds, into our hearts, into the inner Mishkan inside. To feel HaKadosh Baruch Hu coming down and to draw him down into the beautiful month of Adar and the holiday of Purim. And we should be zocheh through bringing HaKadosh Baruch Hu and making a place of Shekhinah for him. To experience the rebuilding of the Beis Hamikdash in our days and see with our very eyes HaKadosh Baruch Hu come dwell within us. Nationally, personally, in the world. Thank you so much for tuning in to this week's episode. If you enjoyed the episode, please rate the podcast and hit the follow button. And join us every Wednesday for a new episode on the Parsha. 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