Dear Friends,
Moses was very able. But, only so far.
He was a leader of an oppressed community. He was an agent of liberation. He was a lawgiver. He was a negotiator. He was a dispute mediator. And he was a war-time leader.
But, he wasn’t adept at construction, art or creating sacred objects.
When God commanded that the Israelites craft and erect a huge, gold candelabrum, which millennia later would become the symbol of Jerusalem and the State of Israel, Moses was befuddled. God not only had to issue verbal instructions, but then had to provide blueprints, as well. Torah recounts, “Now this is how the lampstand was made: it was hammered work of gold, hammered from base to petal. According to the pattern that the Eternal had shown Moses, so was the lampstand made.” (Numbers 8:4)
It is hard to be good at everything. It is hard to be good at just a few talents. Thus, we discover that Moses had aptitude for language, leadership and law, but when it came to special relations and craftsmanship, he was unable.
Each of us has our skills and blessings. Recognizing those, and deferring on tasks which are outside our ken, should be a simple task. Yet, how many of us get in trouble with the screwdriver and the instructions for assembling the Ikea table which just doesn’t seem to cooperate? Or, how many of us have laid out all the ingredients and pots for the NY Times recipe, and then are befuddled with making the meal come together.
It seems that truly recognizing our abilities and our limitations is far more complex and demanding than we might allow. More often than not, troubles and difficulties arise not from our undertaking too little effort, but from our taking on more than our capacity.
Hence, we learn from Moses. When he looked at the bar of gold and could not visualize the lampstand, or how to transform it into the lampstand, even with the pattern which God had provided, it was time to pass the responsibility.
Torah begs of us to follow the same plan. Let’s pass the screwdriver, or the mixing bowl, and recognize with a smile the limits of our limits!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
Moses was very able. But, only so far.
He was a leader of an oppressed community. He was an agent of liberation. He was a lawgiver. He was a negotiator. He was a dispute mediator. And he was a war-time leader.
But, he wasn’t adept at construction, art or creating sacred objects.
When God commanded that the Israelites craft and erect a huge, gold candelabrum, which millennia later would become the symbol of Jerusalem and the State of Israel, Moses was befuddled. God not only had to issue verbal instructions, but then had to provide blueprints, as well. Torah recounts, “Now this is how the lampstand was made: it was hammered work of gold, hammered from base to petal. According to the pattern that the Eternal had shown Moses, so was the lampstand made.” (Numbers 8:4)
It is hard to be good at everything. It is hard to be good at just a few talents. Thus, we discover that Moses had aptitude for language, leadership and law, but when it came to special relations and craftsmanship, he was unable.
Each of us has our skills and blessings. Recognizing those, and deferring on tasks which are outside our ken, should be a simple task. Yet, how many of us get in trouble with the screwdriver and the instructions for assembling the Ikea table which just doesn’t seem to cooperate? Or, how many of us have laid out all the ingredients and pots for the NY Times recipe, and then are befuddled with making the meal come together.
It seems that truly recognizing our abilities and our limitations is far more complex and demanding than we might allow. More often than not, troubles and difficulties arise not from our undertaking too little effort, but from our taking on more than our capacity.
Hence, we learn from Moses. When he looked at the bar of gold and could not visualize the lampstand, or how to transform it into the lampstand, even with the pattern which God had provided, it was time to pass the responsibility.
Torah begs of us to follow the same plan. Let’s pass the screwdriver, or the mixing bowl, and recognize with a smile the limits of our limits!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
