Parshat Vayakhel-Pekudei
March 19th-20th, 2004
27 Adar, 5764

Here's a confession for you: I have trouble getting up in the morning.

Once I have my proverbial (and beloved) first cup of coffee, I'm good to go...but the problem is having the energy to haul myself out of bed to get to the java in the first place. (Possible solutions, still in drawing-board stage: Coffeemaker actually placed in the bedroom, on the nightstand, within arm's reach of horizontal and comatose individual; more radically--caffeine pump, skin patch or I.V. timed to deliver massive dose immediately after buzzing of alarm clock.)

Now, part of my present difficulty is surely the natural result of the aging process (I used to be an early-morning type chap in the old days), coupled with an acute case of Parent of Four Cute But Utterly Exhausting Children Syndrome. [Caught it from my wife...and don't ask about the prognosis!]

But, unfortunately, that does not explain everything. Even those times when I am well-rested (after Shabbos, for instance), and have no further physiological need for sleep, there is one other adversarial force I must contend with: laziness. Who wants to leave the soft sheets and pillows, and the intriguing world of dreams...and go to shul and daven?! (Or to the office and face the pile of work?) Who wants the responsibility, the bother, the toil and the trouble?! Stay in bed a little longer...

Laziness is a part of the human condition, I'm afraid. It's natural and built-in. This is not my own (profound) conclusion, mind you...but it is an important point to acknowledge in our quest for self-knowledge and for spiritual growth. And it is emphasized by someone who was a most profound thinker, Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (18th century kabbalist and sage), in his masterful handbook of ethical self-improvement and sanctification, The Path of the Upright (Mesilas Yesharim).

In the chapters of his book that deal with the character trait of zerizus (enthusiasm or zeal), Rabbi Luzzatto writes at length about its opposite, personified above as that dreaded inner adversary telling me to "Stay in bed a little longer" (and opposing ALL strenuous efforts and initiatives, at all times of day and night): LAZINESS, OR ATZLUS in Hebrew. We need to understand the "enemy" if we are to overcome him and become Jews (and human beings) who truly serve G-d with zerizus. We need to acknowledge what we are--both as human beings in general, and as particular individuals endowed with a unique combination of traits--in order to be able to chart a strategic path of self-improvement leading us to become the tzadikim (righteous individuals) we all have the potential to be. (This is the conceptual model around which much of the book is constructed.)

Here is a sampling of what Rabbi Luzzatto writes about the endeavor to attain zerizus, and become enthusiastic and energetic servants of G-d:

"...just as it requires great intelligence and much foresight to save oneself from the snares of the evil inclination and to escape from evil so that it does not come to rule us and intrude itself into our deeds, so does it require great intelligence and foresight to take hold of mitzvot [commandments], to acquire them for ourselves, and not to lose them...If a person weakens and is lazy, and does not strengthen himself to pursue mitzvot and to hold onto them, he will certainly lack them. A person's nature exercises a strong downward pull upon him. This is so because the heaviness [or, thickness] which characterizes the substance of physicality keeps a man from desiring exertion and labor. One who whishes, therefore, to attain to the service of the Creator, may His Name be blessed, must strengthen himself against his nature and be zealous. If he leaves himself in the hands of his downward-pulling nature [or, heaviness], there is no question that he will not succeed." (Feldheim/Chavel translation and my own)

To appropriate (and alter) the name of a prominent novel of some years back, we are being taught here about the (Unbearable) Heaviness of Being.

We need to constantly "strengthen ourselves" to overcome that tendency to not move, to give in to our "heaviness," because acquiring mitzvot (as well as doing anything productive in other realms as well) requires that we expend effort and energy. It is precisely because we all have a natural "heaviness" that the Sages exhort us (in Pirkei Avos--quoted here by Luzzatto) to "Be fierce as a leopard, light as an eagle, swift as a dear and strong as a lion to do the will of your Father in heaven."

Rabbi Luzzatto goes on to explore the gradual process by which laziness (aversion to strenuous effort) hurts us spiritually:

"...the evil of the lazy person does not come all at once, but little by little without his recognizing and sensing it...He begins by not expending the amount of effort which could be expected of him. This causes him not to study Torah as he should; and because of this, when he later comes to study it, he lacks the requisite understanding... We see with our own eyes how often a person neglects his duty in spite of his awareness of it...This neglect is not due to an inadequate recognition of his obligations, nor to any other cause but the increasing weight of his laziness upon him; so that he says...'It is very hot outside,' 'It is very cold,' or 'It is raining too hard' and all the other excuses and pretenses that the mouth of lazy people is full of. Either way the Torah is neglected, Divine service dispensed with, and the Creator abandoned."

Finally--and here we get to our connection to the Torah portions at hand (Were y'all feeling too lazy to want to plow through all these preliminaries?!)--Rabbi Luzzatto observes that a lazy person will often have logical arguments to support his lack of initiative, failing "to see that these arguments and explanations stem not from rational evaluation, but from his laziness, which, when it grows strong within him, inclines his reason and intelligence to them." In other words, there are times when a person may have reasons (rationalizations) ready at hand, but the ROOT of his action (or inaction) is the ingrained trait, or habit, of laziness. He might think he fails to act--or get up to go daven--for a good reason, when really it is just a subconscious surrender to his "heaviness." (Or, if you prefer, to the pleadings of the "yetzer ha'ra--evil inclination" making clever use of his natural "heaviness.")

We see this precisely illustrated in Vayakhel, the first of the two parshiyos this week (that conclude the Book of Exodus). And surprisingly so.

The Torah recounts how Moshe instructed the Jewish people to bring all the various materials needed to construct the Mishkan (Tabernacle). Hashem did not specify an exact amount for each person (or tribe), but rather left it up to the individual him or herself. "Take from yourselves a portion for Hashem, everyone who is generous of heart..." Whatever you are moved to donate, Moshe told them, out of the generosity of your heart--bring for the construction of this Tabernacle (which would house the Tablets of the Law, and be a physical locale in which G-d's Presence would be palpably felt).

Bring they did! In an outpouring of love and enthusiasm, the Jewish people (the women more enthusiastically than the men, most commentators explain) rushed forward with the requisite materials, such that Moshe had to halt the donations.

The Torah tells us that the princes of the tribes, spiritually elevated individuals without a doubt, brought the precious stones needed for the garments of the High Priest. Interestingly, the Torah mentions these tribal leaders only after recounting the generosity of the Jewish laypeople...and in doing so, it leaves out a letter from their title. (Nisi'im, meansing "princes," is usually spelled with a letter "yud," but here it is spelled without one.) Citing a famous Midrash, Rashi explains:

"Rabbi Nassan said: What did the princes see that made them contribute first to the inauguration of the Altar [occurring later, in the Book of Numbers], while they did not contribute first [here] in the construction of the Mishkan? The princes had said the following: 'Let the public contribute whatever they contribute, and what is lacking from their contribution, we

will supplement.' Since the public completed everything...the princes said: 'What is there for us to do?' [So] 'They brought the precious stones..., etc. Therefore, they [later] contributed first at the inauguration of the Altar. And because they were lazy at the outset, a letter [yud] was deleted from their name..." (my translation and emphasis, based on the Artscroll Rashi)

How were the princes lazy, we ask? They nobly, or considerately, allowed the masses of the Jewish people to contribute first, pledging to complete whatever would be lacking at the end.

Ah, but as some of the commentaries point out, the princes might have thought, on a conscious level, that their motviation was pure...but on a deeper, subconscious level, the TRUE ROOT of their inaction was atzlus, laziness! This is what Rashi is telling us, and this is why they were censured by Hashem (by losing a letter in their name). They had a ready rationalization, and it was what they truly believed...but the Torah, which penetrates to the deepest levels of a person's mind and heart to uncover the true motviations, reveals to us that even the princes, as spiritually great as they were, were swayed by the character trait of atzlus! They lagged in donating to the Mishkan for no other reason than their natural "heaviness," and reluctance to take an energetic initiative.

Of course, it seems that they corrected that flaw, for they contributed first at a later opportunity! They showed admirable zerizus, enthusiasm and energy, in bringing forth a donation for the Altar. They had learned their lesson.

Time is running out, so don't think it's mere laziness on my part that we won't go through Rabbi Luzzatto's prescriptions for overcoming this trait. (Consult The Path of the Upright...or stay tuned for a future installment when we'll discuss them!) But at least we have seen a glimpse of how it can operate in our personalities, and how much we must work to overcome it if we are to seize the precious mitzvot that are our most important acquisition in this world.

Of course, I'm not speaking against the rest and relaxation we ALL need to be productive citizens (and servants of G-d), nor am I counseling self-flagellation for this trait of laziness. (You'll never want to get out of bed if you flog yourselves!!!) Just a clear-eyed acknowledgment of the forces within us that prevent us from achieving all we can, and the need to strengthen ourselves constantly against them! Which, come to think of it, ties in to this week's Torah reading in yet another way. For as you may know, the ancient custom when we finish one book of the Torah (as we do this Shabbos) is for the congregation to shout, "Chazak, Chazak, V'nischazek! ("Be strong! Be strong! And may we be strengthened!") The idea is that we should not (lazily) sit back after completing a portion of the Torah...but, rather, we need to strengthen ourselves to continue learning and growing. To begin immediately with the next book of the Torah, and so on. Ever and ever upwards in our quest to be enthusiastic servants of G-d.

May we all take some of these lessons to heart, and try (each in our own way, at our own pace) to work on perfecting the trait of zerizus. And, by the way, there's nothing that says COFFEE can't be our trusted ally in that holy struggle. GOOD SHABBOS!

My e-mail address is yosefe@comcast.net

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Rabbi Yosef Edelstein, Savannah Kollel. Phone: 912-351-0469; fax: 354-9923