21 Feb TERUMA: LIVING MOTIVATED

Parashat Terumah
presents the laws for the
construction of the
Mishkan, which Hashem

introduces with the fa-
mous command, לי ועשו

– מקדש- ושכנתי בתוכם
“They shall make for Me a Sanctuary, and I
will reside in their midst.”
The Rabbis explain the word בתוכם”) in
their midst”) to mean that Hashem wants to
reside within each person. We are all called
upon to build our own Mishkan inside of us,
and the laws of the Mishkan presented in the

Torah teach us how to go about this lofty un-
dertaking.

The most sacred article in the Mishkan
was the aron, the ark, which contained the
two luhot (tablets) which Moshe brought
down from Mount Sinai, and the original
Sefer Torah. There was something very
unique about the aron. It is the only one of

all the articles of the Mishkan whose dimen-
sions are all halves. The aron was 2.5 amot

long, 1.5 amot wide, and 1.5 amot tall. Hash-
em intentionally wanted the aron, the holiest

part of the Mishkan, not to have any com-
plete measurements.

The reason given is that in order to suc-
ceed and excel, we need to feel like we’re

only “half.”

If a person feels that he is very smart, he
will not put in the effort to study. If a person
feels he already has enough money, he will
not put in the work to earn. People who have
everything – whether it’s wealth, popularity,
intelligence, good looks, or some other asset
–are not motivated. They’re not driven. It is
the feeling of “half,” of being incomplete,

that gives us the passion, the drive, the de-
sire, the fire, the energy to work hard and

succeed.
There was once a boy who was kicked off
his high school basketball team, but ended up
having a pretty successful career in the NBA.
His name was Michael Jordon.
There was once a boy who was fired from
his job for his high school newspaper. His
name was Malcolm Forbes, editor of Forbes
Magazine.
There was a young man who was fired
from his job for his college newspaper due to

“lack of creativity.” His name was Walt Dis-
ney.

There was once an aspiring football player
who was drafted in one of the last rounds,
after some 250 prospects were drafted. His
name was Tom Brady.
The list goes on and on. There are so
many people who failed, who were told they
would never succeed, and ended up reaching

the very top.

We might assume that these people ex-
celled despite their failures and struggles.

But this isn’t true. They excelled because
of their failures and struggles. The feeling
of being “half” motivated them and drove
them. They were so keenly aware of their
challenges that they went all in, full force,
and worked tirelessly to pursue their
goals.
Several times each and every day, we
ask Hashem at the end of our Amidah
shall soul my – “נפשי כעפר לכל תהיה ,prayer
be like dirt to all.” Like DIRT??? We’re
asking Hashem that we want to be like
dirt?
Yes!!!!
We pray for the realization that we are
not yet good enough, that we have much
more that we can accomplish and that we
need to accomplish. Because only with this
realization we will be motivated to work
hard and excel.

The difference between living with moti-
vation and living without motivation is the

difference between a car with its engine
turned on, and a broken-down car that people
try to push down the street. People who are
motivated can’t be stopped. They are full of
passion and

fire. They are HUNGRY for success, and
nothing will get in their way. Unmotivated
people, meanwhile, can’t be budged.
In order to live motivated, we need not to

be discouraged by failure – but to be ENER-
GIZED BY FAILURE. When we feel we’re

only “half,” we can turn this feeling into mo-
tivation, into the determination to do any-
thing necessary to reach completion. And

when we have this motivation, the sky is the

limit, and we are well on our way to achiev-
ing success.