Your Accomplishments Are Eternal (Audio)

From Pesach, Matzoh and Maror (#638) by Rabbi Avigdor Miller 

Let's take a few minutes to illustrate this principle that the Torah was given to us not merely to fulfill in this world, but for eternal accomplishments.

​Of course everybody knows that, but pay attention and you’ll see one or two things maybe you didn’t think about. If you look in the Chumash it’s surprising to see how much space is devoted to the Mishkan: Teruma, Tetzaveh, part of Ki Sisa, Vayakel, Pekudei. Now the Mishkan is a halacha that’s not really applicable today. We don’t have korbanos (offerings) today. But even if we did have korbanos it would be in the Beis Hamikdash and the Beis Hamikdash is very much different from the Mishkan. 

Transcript continues after audio player

In the Mishkan you have so many details that are only applicable to the Mishkan in the midbar. And parsha after parsha... at length... and such remarkable detail that seems to us [odd that] precious space in the Torah should be given to things that are not halacha l’maaseh (relevant in practice). 

You could have said things of yiras shamayim (fear of heaven), things of world outlook, eitzos (advice), chachma (wisdom). Hakadosh Baruch Hu is not lacking what to say. Think of all that place occupied in Chumash. We have to understand what are the lessons. I’m not capable of explaining everything but one of the lessons is as follows. 

The Mishkan is forever. What those people made in the midbar was not made just in the midbar, it was forever. It lives on in the Torah in order to tell us the "Gedola maaseh tzaddikim yoser m’maaseh shamayim v’aretz — What tzaddikim accomplish when they do the will of Hashem is greater than when Hashem created the heavens and the earth."

Now that you’re serving Hashem, nothing that you do will ever come to an end

That's a queer statement: When tzaddikim built the Mishkan it was bigger than the creating of heaven and earth? How can you prove it? Because regarding shamayim v’aretz you have only one parsha in the Chumash,: vayachulu shamayim v’aretz... and that’s all. That’s a part of a sedra, it’s not even a whole sedra.

But the Mishkan has sedras and sedras and sedras. So what do you see? That when the Bnei Yisrael made the Mishkan it’s of such utmost importance that the Torah raises it up on high as a model, look what they did. We’re giving it much more space, than creating heaven and earth and the millions of worlds in space.

We have to take our thoughts out of the gashmius and understand what the Torah is teaching us. You know how lucky you are that you accepted avodas Hashem? Now that you’re serving Hashem nothing that you do will ever come to an end. Every act is forever and ever, it lives on and on and on. That’s a tremendous principle we’re hearing here.