18 Mar PARASHAT VAYAKHEL: SHOW THE KIDS

The Torah in
Parashat Vayakhel
relates how Beneh
Yisrael responded
Rabbi Eli Mansour
enthusiastically to
Moshe’s call for donations to the Mishkan.
The people generously donated all the
materials that were needed for the Mishkan’s
construction, which included precious metals,
animal skins, wool, dyes, and much more.
The Torah writes, “Every man and woman
whose heart stirred them to bring [materials]
for all the work that G-d commanded through
Moshe to be done – Beneh Yisrael brought a
donation to G-d” (35:29).
Many commentators have noted that this
verse appears, at first glance, redundant. It
seems unnecessary for the Torah to inform us
that all the people who were inspired to bring
donations indeed brought donations. Isn’t
this obvious? What purpose was there for the
Torah to make such a self-evident statement?
Many different interpretations have been
offered to explain the meaning and intent of
this verse. The Hid”a (Rav Haim Yosef David
Azulai, 1724-1807) suggested that the Torah
refers to the people’s faithful fulfillment of
their pledges. As we unfortunately know all
too well, people often feel inspired when they
hear an appeal and make a generous pledge,
but later have second thoughts and renege on
their commitments. Many of our institutions
are owed enormous sums of money in unpaid
pledges. This is a most unfortunate reality, and
is also very frightening, in light of our Sages’
stern warnings of the potential consequences,
Heaven forbid, of failing to fulfill vows. The
Torah here emphasizes that “every man and
woman whose heart stirred them” – who felt
inspired and made a commitment to donate –
“brought a donation to G-d.” They not only
pledged, but they also fulfilled those pledges
in full.
Another approach is to explain the verse as
referring to the children. The Torah tells us
that the people who made donations toward
the Mishkan “Hebi’u Beneh Yisrael” – they
brought the children, the youngsters, to
watch. They didn’t leave the children at home
and tell them to wait there while they went
out. Rather, they took the children along to get
them involved and to have them personally
witness what was happening.
The most important aspect of parenting is
modeling desired behavior. We send our
children to school for twelve years and speak
to them about Misvot, but these will not be
effective unless we set a personal example
for our children to follow. It is thus crucially
important to make sure that our children see
us perform Misvot. If a mother is baking in the
kitchen, for example, it is worthwhile for her
to call her daughter to the kitchen when she
separates Halla. Seeing the Misva performed

has a much stronger impact that just hearing
about it. If we want our children to embrace
our Torah values and lifestyle, then we must
show them how it’s done. Just as Beneh Yisrael
brought their children to see them donate their
precious possessions to the Mishkan, we, too,

must make a proactive effort to involve our
children in the Misvot that we do, setting
for them an inspiring example that they will
hopefully follow for the rest of their lives –
and that they will set for their own children,

and so on, for all generations.