The Actualizer

Vayakhel 5784 - It's more than just an intention

The Wave Back Niggun by Rabbi Jackson Vance Mercer

“The Actualizer” - No, it’s not the title of some intense movie with Vin Diesel, the Rock, Arnold Schwarzenegger, or John Cena, it’s a powerful message from this week’s parashah, Vayakhel. In describing who brought offerings to take part in the building of the mishkan, the Tabernacle, and the ohel mo’ed, the Tent of Meeting, the Torah says, 

וַיָּבֹאוּ כָּל־אִישׁ אֲשֶׁר־נְשָׂאוֹ לִבּוֹ וְכֹל אֲשֶׁר נָדְבָה רוּחוֹ אֹת֗וֹ הֵבִיאוּ אֶת־תְּרוּמַת ה׳ לִמְלֶאכֶת אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד וּלְכָל־עֲבֹדָתוֹ וּלְבִגְדֵי הַקֹּֽדֶשׁ׃

And everyone who excelled in ability and everyone whose spirit moved them came, bringing to God his offering for the work of the Tent of Meeting and for all its service and for the sacral vestments. (Ex. 35:21)

We saw this language of giving with the heart back in parashat Terumah a few weeks ago as well. But even with the Torah’s emphasis on this heart and spirit giving, Rabbi Chayim Yosef David Azulay (The “Chidah,” 1724-1806, Jerusalem and Europe) focuses on the words oto heivi’u “this is what they brought.” What is the “this?” He says, 

כַּיָּדוּעַ יֵשׁ מֶרְחָק גָּדוֹל בֵּין הַמַּחְשָׁבָה לְמַעֲשֶׂה, בֵּין הָרָצוֹן הַטּוֹב לְהַגְשָׁמָתוֹ. הַרְבֵּה רְצוֹנוֹת טוֹבִים מִתְנַדְּפִים לִפְנֵי שֶׁיָּצְאוּ אֶל הַפֹּעַל. הַרְבֵּה אֲנָשִׁים נוֹשְׂאִים בְּחוּבָּם מַחְשָבוֹת נַעֲלוֹת חֶפְצֵי לֵב טוֹבִים, אַךְ לִכְלָל מַעֲשֶׂה אֵינָם מַגִּיעִים. 

As it is known, there is a big difference between thought and action, between good intention and actualization. Many a good intention evaporates before it becomes an action. Many people have intentions rising up within them which by all means are good, but they never arrive in action at all. 

וְלָכֵן מְסַפֶּרֶת לָנוּ הַתּוֹרָה כִּי בַּתְּרוּמוֹת הַמִּשְׁכָּן לֹא הָיָה אַךְ אֶחָד כָּזֶה - - "כָּל אִישׁ אֲשֶׁר נְשָׂאוֹ לִבּוֹ" וְ"נָדְבָה רוּחוֹ", שֶׁהָיָה לוֹ רָצוֹן לְנָדֵב, וְנִשְׁאַר בִּרְצוֹנוֹ בִּלְבַד, אֶלָּא כֻּלָּם "הֵבִיאוּ אֶת תְּרוּמַת ה'" קִיְּמוּ רְצוֹנָם, הוֹצִיאוּ אֶת מַחְשַׁבַתָּם הַטּוֹבָה מִן הַכֹּחַ אֶל הַפֹּעַל 

And, therefore, the Torah tells us that regarding the offerings for the Mishkan, there was not a single person like this: “Everyone whose heart was lifted up” and “everyone whose spirit moved them,” all those who had an intention in mind to give, it might have stayed as just an intention, but rather they “brought with them an offering for God,” they actualized their intention, they took their good thought and they realized it as an action.

I feel like the Chidah is speaking right to me here. So often I have a thought, an inspiration, or perhaps an idea of something I can do for my family, community, or others, and I get so excited about it and then somehow or another it passes by without me doing anything about it. 

So this week I’m focusing not just on intention but on actualization. What are those things that you were hoping to do or that you set an intention for and have not yet brought into this world? How can we take steps to actualize them for ourselves, our communities, and the world?

Shabbat Shalom,

Josh Warshawsky