05 Mar VAYAKHEL : ”RAISE THE HEADS OF BNEI YISRAEL” (SHEMOS 30:12)

The Medresh
(Tanchuma Tisa 3)
states that Moshe
said to Hakadosh
Baruch Hu, “Ribono
Shel Olam! When I
die, no one will
mention me!”
Hakadosh Baruch Hu
replied, “I swear, just
as you are now standing
and teaching them
parashas Shekalim and
you raise their heads,
so will it be every year:
When the nation read this parashah before
Me, it is like you are standing there and
raising their heads.”
This is implied by the pasuk (Shemos
30:12), “When you raise the heads of
Bnei Yisrael…” This occurs every year
when we read parashas Shekalim.
But what does it mean to have a raised
head?
The Rebbe of Ishbitz zt’l taught:
An animal’s head is the same height as its

body, representing that an animal can’t
use its mind to rule over its body – he can’t
control his natural urges. However, a
human being holds his head above his
body because he can use his mind to
decide what he should do and what he
shouldn’t. We attain this ability on
Shabbos Shekalim when Moshe Rabbeinu
comes and raises our heads.
The old model of travel was with animals.
People rode horses and donkeys, or the
horses pulled their chariots, and so on.
Today, people ride in cars, trains, and
airplanes.
When the railroad system was first
introduced, the Shinover Rav zt’l
explained that people used to be greater
than animals, therefore they rode on
animals. Today, they aren’t greater than
animals anymore, but they are still greater
than domeim, inanimate objects. So, they
can ride on metal trains, but they don’t
have the right to ride animals.
A bachur, whose spiritual level was
declining, asked Reb Shalom Shwadron
zt’l for permission to travel to a particular

place that was
inappropriate for a
yeshiva student.
Reb Shalom
Shwadron replied,
“If you can answer
my questions, you
can go there.”
The bachur
agreed.
Reb Shalom asked
him, “It is better to
be a human, or is it
better to be an animal?”
The bachur replied, “Animals eat
outdoors, they rummage through the
garbage, they never wash up… It is
certainly a greater honor to be a human
being.”
Reb Shalom showed him that there is
another way to look at things. Animals
lead tranquil lives. They find their meals
wherever they go. They don’t get into
machlokes. They never have to take
medication. But, on the other hand,
humans have financial problems and get

into disputes, one day with one person
and the next day with another…”
“I never thought about that,” the bachur
said. “Perhaps it is better to be an animal.
I wish I were an animal.”
Reb Shalom told him, “You don’t have to
worry about that. You are a perfect
animal.” Because if you can’t control
your urges, you are no different than an
animal.”
An animal remains an animal, but a
person can say “no.” He has the ability to
control himself.