This week we complete the entire Book of Shemos with Parshas Pekudei. In some years, Vayakhel and Pekudei are read together, but even then they do not become one parsha; rather, two parshiyos are read on the same Shabbos. This year, because it is a leap year with an extra month of Adar, we have additional weeks in the Torah-reading cycle, so Vayakhel and Pekudei are read separately. Therefore, this Shabbos is also a “Chazak, Chazak, V’nischazek” Shabbos, as we conclude Sefer Shemos.
We also began last week the first of the four special parshiyos, Parshas Shekalim. These four readings begin around the month of Adar—either with Adar Sheini in a leap year, or with Adar itself in a regular year—and continue until the Shabbos of Rosh Chodesh Nissan or the Shabbos before it. These are Parshas Shekalim, Parshas Zachor, Parshas Parah, and Parshas HaChodesh.
This year these four portions are not consecutive. We read Parshas Shekalim last week. This week is a regular Shabbos without one of the four special readings. Next week we will read Parshas Zachor, since it is the Shabbos before Purim. After that we will read Parshas Parah, and then Parshas HaChodesh. In some years, Shekalim and Zachor come one after the other, and then there is a break after Purim before Parah and HaChodesh.
Generally, the weekly Torah portions are not obviously connected to the season in which they are read. The cycle simply proceeds in order until the Torah is completed each year. But these four special readings are different. They are timely readings, specifically connected to the period of Adar and the preparation for Nissan.
This Shabbos may be considered a regular Shabbos in that sense, but it is also Parshas Pekudei. Next week we begin a new Chumash, Sefer Vayikra.
Pekudei is essentially the summary and completion of the building of the Mishkan. The story of the Mishkan, its materials, its construction, and its vessels appears across several parshiyos: Terumah, Tetzaveh, Ki Sisa, Vayakhel, and Pekudei. Ki Sisa mentions some of the keilim, but the main discussion is in Terumah, Tetzaveh, Vayakhel, and Pekudei. Pekudei is the concluding reckoning, the accounting and summation of the Mishkan.
The parsha also tells us about the actual erection of the Mishkan. There is a very interesting verse describing how Hashem instructed Moshe Rabbeinu to set up the Mishkan on the first day of Nissan. The Torah says, “Vayehi bachodesh harishon,” in the first month, meaning Nissan, “bashanah hashenis,” in the second year, meaning the second year after the Exodus from Egypt, and “be’echad lachodesh,” on the first day of the month. Then the Torah says, “Hukam hamishkan”—the Mishkan was erected.
This wording is unusual. Instead of saying that Moshe raised the Mishkan, the Torah says the Mishkan was raised, as though it rose on its own. Earlier Hashem had told Moshe that he should erect the Mishkan, yet here the wording is passive. Rashi, based on the Midrash, explains that the Mishkan was too heavy for any one person to raise. The Jewish people could not lift it, and Moshe himself could not lift it either. No one individual could do it alone.
The Rebbe explains that this does not mean the Mishkan could never be moved, because later it was dismantled and carried throughout the journeys in the desert. Rather, it means that no one person by himself could erect it. Even Moshe could not do so by his own strength.
So Hashem told Moshe: you make the effort. You put your hands to it and act as though you are raising it, and it will stand up by itself. In that sense, Hashem raised the Mishkan, yet Moshe received the credit. That is why one verse says, “Hukam hamishkan,” the Mishkan was raised, while another verse says, “Vayakem Moshe es hamishkan,” that Moshe erected the Mishkan. Moshe acted, but the actual power came from Hashem.
It turns out that Moshe Rabbeinu did not do much of the physical construction of the Mishkan. The Jewish people brought the donations. The skilled artisans fashioned the vessels and materials. The women spun and wove. Moshe’s role in the actual construction was limited. Yet even his final act of erecting it was something he could only appear to do, while Hashem accomplished it. Still, the Torah credits him with the Mishkan’s erection.
After Moshe saw that all the work had been completed, the Torah says, “Vayivarech osam Moshe”—Moshe blessed them. What was the blessing? Rashi explains that Moshe said, “May it be Hashem’s will that the Shechinah rest in the work of your hands.” The entire purpose of the Mishkan was to bring the Divine Presence to dwell among the Jewish people.
This is striking. The people had done all the work. They brought the materials, fashioned the components, and completed the project. Yet even after all that, Moshe still had to bless them that the Divine Presence should rest upon it. Then Moshe added another blessing, from the chapter in Tehillim that begins “Tefillah l’Moshe ish haElokim.” There he says, “Vihi noam Hashem Elokeinu aleinu, u’maaseh yadeinu konenah aleinu”—may the pleasantness of Hashem our God be upon us, and may He establish the work of our hands.
Rashi explains that Moshe said this at the completion of the Mishkan. So his blessing had two parts. First, he blessed the people that the Shechinah should rest upon the work they had done. Then he included himself with them: “upon us,” and “the work of our hands.” Although they had done most of the labor, Moshe became part of it as well.
The Rebbe derives from this a powerful lesson touching the very core of the relationship between a Chassid and a Rebbe, between the Jewish people and Moshe Rabbeinu. Moshe was the first Rebbe, the first faithful shepherd. He was physically with the Jewish people in the desert. But the Zohar says, “Ispashtusa d’Moshe b’chol dora v’dora”—there is an extension of Moshe Rabbeinu in every generation. Not only that, there is also a spark of Moshe within every Jew.
The Tanya explains this in connection with the verse where Moshe says, “What does Hashem ask of you? Only to fear Him.” The Gemara asks: is fear of Hashem such a small matter? The Gemara answers: for Moshe, it is a small matter. The Alter Rebbe asks: but Moshe was not speaking to himself; he was speaking to the Jewish people. How can that be an answer?
The Tanya explains that every Jew possesses a spark of Moshe. Relative to that inner point of Moshe within the soul, fear of Hashem is not beyond reach. So too, in every generation there is a Moshe Rabbeinu who serves as the faithful shepherd of the people.
The Rebbe explains that this helps us understand the role of a Rebbe. People ask: how can we go to the Ohel or ask for a bracha from the Rebbe? Is that not making an intermediary? The answer is that a Rebbe is not an interruption between a Jew and Hashem. On the contrary, he is a connecting point. Moshe Rabbeinu says, “Anochi omed bein Hashem u’veineichem”—I stand between Hashem and you. He is not a barrier, but a channel of connection.
This is already alluded to in the verse, “Vaya’aminu baHashem u’v’Moshe avdo”—they believed in Hashem and in Moshe His servant. The Mechilta explains that believing in Moshe is itself an expression of believing in Hashem, because Moshe transmits Hashem’s truth.
The Rebbe also brings the Gemara that says: if someone has a sick person in his home, he should go to a sage and ask him to pray for mercy. The Gemara does not say only to daven alone; it specifically says to go to a chacham. A person may be sick physically, emotionally, or spiritually. A soul may also be unwell. For healing, one needs not only personal prayer but also the prayer of the sage.
What kind of sage? The Rebbe explains that he must possess two qualities. First, he must truly be a chacham, one who sees deeply into the truth of things. The Mishnah says, “Who is wise? One who sees what is born.” The Alter Rebbe explains that this means seeing the Divine life-force that constantly creates the world. Such a person sees beyond the surface and understands the root of the problem.
Second, he must be a sage “in the city”—meaning not removed from the people, but connected to them. There are great scholars who live apart in their own world, but a true leader is involved with the people, cares for them, and carries them in his heart. Such a sage can pray for them with true compassion.
This parallels the two things Moshe did with the Mishkan. First, the people brought all their completed work to Moshe so that he could erect it. Second, when he blessed them, he included himself with them. He was not separate from the community; he was one with them.
But there is an equally important lesson: before coming to Moshe, the people first did everything they could. The Torah emphasizes that they completed all that Hashem had commanded. They did not come to Moshe and ask him to finish what they had neglected to do. They completed their responsibility fully. Only then did Moshe raise the Mishkan and bless them.
This teaches that when we seek the bracha of Moshe Rabbeinu in every generation, we must first do all that lies within our ability. Just as the Torah says that Hashem will bless “all that you do,” a person must make a natural effort and then receive the blessing. In matters of health, the Torah says to go to a doctor. We are not meant to sit back and wait passively. First one acts within nature as the Torah directs, and then the blessing can rest upon those efforts.
A Rebbe’s blessing is like rain. Rain makes things grow, but only if the field has first been plowed. If the field is not prepared, the rain simply runs off. So too, when we seek a blessing, we must become proper vessels for it through our own effort, commitment, and avodah.
Sometimes people come and ask for miracles, yet they are not prepared to do what the Rebbe asks of them: to help another Jew, to do a mitzvah, to engage in mivtzoim, to strengthen Yiddishkeit. That is not the proper way to receive a bracha. A person must do his part, and then come with trust and emunah. Then Moshe Rabbeinu becomes a partner in that person’s efforts and helps bring them to completion, both spiritually and physically.
That is why, for Chassidim, the Rebbe is the Moshe Rabbeinu of our generation. Even though the Rebbe is no longer physically with us, his blessings and his resting place remain a source of salvation and compassion, just as Jews have always prayed at the resting places of tzaddikim. People write a note and bring all their efforts, their “Mishkan,” to the Rebbe, recognizing that even after all they have done, they still need Moshe Rabbeinu to help elevate it and bring the Shechinah into it.
The Rebbe’s message is clear: yes, the Rebbe gives blessings, but a person must also come prepared. One must be able to say, “I am doing my part.” Then the Rebbe does his part as well and helps bring the matter to completion.
Summary
Parshas Pekudei teaches that even when the Jewish people completed all the work of the Mishkan, it still required Moshe Rabbeinu to erect it and bless it so that the Shechinah could rest upon it. The Rebbe explains that this is the pattern for every generation: a Jew must do everything possible through natural effort and avodah, and then bring that work to Moshe Rabbeinu, the Rebbe, whose blessing helps transform human effort into a true dwelling place for Hashem.