| Dear Friend,
We are pleased to share an insight by the Rebbe on parshat Vayakheil-Pekudei, excerpted from our Daily Wisdom, by Rabbi Moshe Wisnfesky. Monda
Putting Others First
He made sheets of goat hair as a Tent to spread over the Tabernacle. There were 11 such sheets. (Ex. 36:14)
The normal order would have been to first construct the frame of the Tabernacle, and only then to fashion the coverings. Yet here the artisans did the exact opposite: they first made the roof-coverings and only then proceeded to make the structural beams.
This was because the yarn for the goat-hair coverings was spun out of the goats' hair while it was still attached to them; this lent the yarn exceptional softness and pliability. If the artisans had shorn the goats and waited to weave the yarn into cloth until they had made the beams, the yarn would have lost its softness. But on the other hand, if the artisans had left the yarn on the goats, it would have caused the goats some discomfort in having their freedom of movement restricted. So, in order to avoid causing discomfort to the goats, the artisans made the coverings before the Tabernacle itself.
Similarly, the normal order of life is for us first to tend to our own material and spiritual needs and only then to those of others. But when someone is in discomfort – and certainly if they are in pain – we must reverse our priorities, tending to their needs before ours.
When we put others' needs before our own, G-d will then crown our efforts, both with regard to others' needs and our own, with success.
-- Daily Wisdom
Gut Shabbos, Rabbi Yosef B. Friedman Kehot Publication Society
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