By Marco Del Monte
In this week's parashah, we read about the inauguration of the Mishkan. Hashem commands Moses to erect the Mishkan precisely on the first of Nissan.
In reality, the Midrash tells us (Pesikta Rabbati parashah vav) that long before this date, every part of the Mishkan and its furnishings was already completed. The Midrash indicates that the date on which everything was completed was the 25th of Kislev, the date on which the event of Chanukah will take place in the future. Rav Yoram Abargel ZZ"L explains in his book *Imrei Noam* that Hashem wanted to erect the Mishkan in the month of Nissan to unite the joy of its inauguration with the month of Isaac's birth and the month of the Exodus from Egypt. Furthermore, Rav Abargel also cites a part of Rashi's commentary related to the event of the construction of the Mishkan: "Since Moses had not done any work in the construction of the Tabernacle, the Holy One, Blessed Be He, left him the task of setting it up, since no one was able to erect it because of the great weight of the planks, which no human strength was able to raise, whereas Moses succeeded. Moses said to the Holy One, Blessed Be He: 'How is it possible to set it up with men?' The Lord answered him: 'Take care of it with your own hands.' It seemed as if Moses was erecting it, but the Tabernacle stood up by itself and assembled itself; therefore it is written in the text: 'The Tabernacle was erected,' meaning it raised itself." What do these elements presented above have in common—namely, the inauguration of the Mishkan, the date of Kislev, the month of Isaac's birth, the month of the Exodus from Egypt, and the fact that the Mishkan was not built until Moses actively and also miraculously participated? The key that encompasses everything is *mesirut nefesh*. It is difficult to translate into English: the concept is that of giving our all for Hashem. We might venture to translate the term as "spirit of sacrifice" or "absolute devotion". In daily life, we frequently find ourselves choosing between Hashem and ourselves: Do I go to a Torah class or go out shopping? Do I dedicate time to prayer or prefer to watch TV? Do I eat anywhere I want or only in kosher places? And so on, with innumerable examples of how we are constantly faced with choices that involve giving up a little of ourselves for Hashem, putting Him first. This was Isaac, and this was also Moses: both ready to dedicate themselves totally to Hashem. In Chassidut there are two types of spiritual movements: *itaruta de-letata* and *itaruta de-leila*, that is, the awakening that comes from below and the awakening that comes from above. These two movements are connected to each other. When a person strives "from below" to fulfill the will of Hashem, Hashem also makes the whole world turn in a different way, moving it from above. Sometimes one fails to take the first step, so Hashem helps us by starting the movement Himself from above: In Egypt, for example, we witness an act initiated with the manifestation of G-d's power. In the case of Isaac and Moses, we witness, in an absolute way, complete human dedication and self-abnegation that will repeatedly cause miraculous Divine manifestations, as Rabbi Naria explains in his book *Ner Lemaor*. When Hashem sees our willingness to place Him before everything and everyone, right there miracles begin: The miracle of building a Mishkan impossible to erect with human strength alone; the miracle of Chanukah where even the few defeat the many; the miracle where an elderly man and his wife, Abraham and Sarah, cannot bear a child according to the laws of nature—behold, right when everything around us seems to tell us that it is impossible for something to happen, right there Kadosh Baruch Hu intervenes, sending His greatest miracles!
Shabbat Shalom Umevorach
Translated from the Italian with Google Gemini. The Italian text is the original.