Stay the Course

17 Adar II 5782

“And Moshe said, ‘This is the thing the L‑rd has commanded; do [it], and the glory of the L‑rd will appear to you.’” (Vayikra 9:6)

Rashi says, “For the seven days of inauguration, during which Moshe set up the Sanctuary, performed the service in it and dismantled it each day, the Divine Presence did not rest in it. The people of Israel were humiliated, and said to Moshe: ‘Moshe our teacher! All the toil that we toiled was only that the Divine Presence should dwell amongst us and we should know the sin of the Golden Calf was forgiven us!’ Said Moshe to them: ‘Aaron my brother is more worthy than I. Through his offerings and his service, the Divine Presence will rest upon you, and you will know that G‑d has chosen you.’”

For many days, Moshe’s toil had no apparent result. The Divine Presence did not yet dwell among the Jews. One could think that this was a sign Moshe wasn’t doing something right, or that the sins of the Jews had not yet been forgiven, however, none of this was the case. All the seemingly fruitless toil was an integral part of the process of preparing the Jews for the next step, the completion of the sanctification of the Mishkan through Aaron HaKohen.

“The revelation of His glory and Divinity and the banishment of the spirit of impurity from the earth is entirely dependent on our drawing down His G‑dliness and the blessed Ein Sof-light upon all the 248 limbs of the vital soul of all Israel by the vital soul’s performance of all the 248 positive mitzvot; and on our banishing the spirit of impurity from the vital soul of all Israel by the vital soul’s observance of all 365 prohibitive mitzvot”

So too, we may think that because all our toil of drawing down G‑dliness upon the vital soul of all Israel has not yet shown the reward of the Messianic redemption, we are doing something wrong or that there is some insurmountable obstacle standing in our way, G‑d forbid. In truth, however, all this toil without apparent result is an integral part of the process, all it takes now is for an Aaron HaKohen to come along and complete the process.

“L‑rd, teach me Your way that I may walk in Your truth; unify my heart to fear Your Name.” (Tehillim 86:11)

In the meantime, we must stay the course, to learn and go in His ways, in complete truth and with a unified heart, without expectation of reward, and with a clear perception of the greatness of His Name. We must persevere with unwavering determination, energy, and fortitude until the very end, with the knowledge that all it takes now is for a more worthy individual to emerge and complete the process.