U'vchol Me'odecha

30 Shevat 5782

“You must make a Candelabrum.” (Shemos 25:31)

“We are taught that Moses did not understand all of G‑d’s instructions how to make the Candelabrum, so G‑d showed him an image of a fiery Candelabrum. But even so, the Candelabrum was still too complicated for Moses to envision, so G‑d told him to simply throw the gold into a fire and the Candelabrum would miraculously take form.

Besides the Candelabrum’s physical construction, what Moses found most difficult to grasp was how such a physical object could spread the light of Divine consciousness to the outside world. By showing Moses the fiery Candelabrum, G‑d affirmed his hesitations. He informed him that indeed, using physical objects to spread Divine awareness in the world is impossible for us to do on our own. He therefore told Moses to cast the gold into the fire and that the Candelabrum would take form by itself.

Similarly, G‑d requires us to transform all our material pursuits and possessions into sources of Divine light, but He also knows that we cannot do this on our own. All He asks is that we cast it all into the fire of our hearts – i.e., to let our love for Him permeate all we do – and He will miraculously do the rest.” (Daily Wisdom, Lubavitcher Rebbe)

“Because the fulfillment of the Torah and its commandments is contingent on one’s being constantly aware of his readiness to surrender his life to G-d for the sake of His unity, which is the message contained in the Shema; he must therefore recite it twice daily, morning and evening, so that this awareness will be fixed permanently in his heart and will not depart from his memory night and day.” (Lessons in Tanya, Likutei Amarim, end of Chapter 25)

Casting our all into the “fire of our hearts” and letting “our love for Him permeate all we do” is the exact idea we affirm twice daily with the first passuk of Shema, “You shall love the L‑rd your G‑d with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.” First we ignite the fire of Hashem in our heart, then it catches over to our soul, and finally it inspires everything that we do.

It is interesting that “U’vchol me’odecha (with all your might)” can also be translated to “with all your wealth,” this aligns with the broader purpose of the Mishkan and all it contained. Every component had a unique spark of holiness that it contributed to the Mishkan’s purpose of spreading the light of Divine consciousness to the outside world. So too, each of our possesions enables us to refine one corner of the world.

“Great is our Master and abounding in might; His understanding is beyond reckoning.” (Tehillim 147:5)

As the Rebbe explained above, all this is beyond our comprehension, all Hashem asks of us is that we do our part “and He will miraculously do the rest.”