Parashat Pekudei
From the book 'Me'ever Lamefursam':
“All the gold that was used for the work, in all the work of the sanctuary—the elevation offering of gold—came to 29 talents and 730 shekels by the sanctuary weight.”
It is written in the Midrash that there were people from Israel who spoke among themselves and said: 'Is it possible that the hands of those who mix honey will not be sweet? Certainly not! So too is Moshe, who dealt with all the money which was collected for the tabernacle – is it a wonder that he gained weight?! Is it because his wife started cooking more fattening food? No. It's because he took some of the money into his pocket!' That is why Moshe told them, 'Come, and let's count how much was the income and how much were the expenses, and check where every donated Shekel went to’.
We must pay attention to how Moshe Rabbeinu behaved when he heard that they were talking about him - he did not get angry, he did not call the people: "stiff-necked people” [people who refuse to listen], but he answered them calmly and respectfully: Let's count together where each donation went to.
We need to learn an important lesson from this - when sometimes people talk
about a person or despise him, how does the person react? Becomes angry. Why?
After all, we all know that our sages praise those who: “accept humiliation,
but do not humiliate others; they listen when they are shamed, but they do not
answer.” [Mishneh Torah, Human Dispositions 2] So, why don’t we stay silent?
The answer is that: we do not know what the value of silence is.
[Here are some questions about this week's Parasha:]
“These are the records of the Tabernacle, the Tabernacle of the Pact, which were drawn up at Moses’ bidding—the work of the Levites under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.” [Exodus 38:21]
Records [/evidence] of what?
[Think]
[Answer:]
1) Evidence that Moshe did not take anything and did nothing wrong - [we learn
this] from the fact that the Shechinah was in the Tabernacle.
2) A testimony that God loves Israel, and when he is angry, he sends his anger on trees and stones and not on them.
“For over the Tabernacle a cloud of the LORD rested by
day, and fire would appear in it by night, in the view of all the house of
Israel throughout their journeys.” [Exodus 40:38]
What was so special about this fire?
[Answer:]
This fire was not an ordinary fire – it was one that looks like fire, but it would not burn!