This week’s Torah portion brings the building of the mishkan/sanctuary to a conclusion. It is probably the only building campaign in history that is so successful that the Israelites are told to stop giving. The spirit of generosity is remarkable but there is a danger in such a campaign. Last week, we read a verse from Shekalim, the special Torah portion, that said as follows: The rich shall not pay more and the poor shall not pay less than a half shekel, (Ex. 30:15).  A number of commentators interpret the verse to mean the rich shall not make themselves feel grand (yarbeh), nor shall the poor minimize their self-worth (yam’it). This reflects a campaign structured so that everyone can participate equally. 

       For the building of the sanctuary the text makes clear that people gave different amounts. The Hasidic master, the Sefat Emet, warns that you can be carried away by your generosity and think how great a person you are. He encourages us to take a step back and realize that we may have a distorted sense of self. We see in our world today people who have a sense of greatness of self and therefore believe there are no boundaries to their actions whether in regard to affection or power.

      The Sefat Emet mentions a basic understanding of the human psyche that is an important teaching of Hasidism. One traditional model of the spiritual life is that of a ladder—the higher you climb the closer you get to God or the better person you are. Think of the image of Jacob’s ladder. It is a vertical metaphor. Your place on the ladder of virtue is clear.

      Hasidism favors a horizontal metaphor taken from Ezekiel’s vision of God’s chariot pulled by divine beings, which is described as moving ratzo va-shov/back and forth, (Ez.1:14). It is understood to mean that the spiritual life moves by its nature back and forth. While Hasidism talks about higher and lower consciousness,  it is impossible to always have higher consciousness. There is a natural movement back and forth. It is not just about your failure, though of course you should strive for that higher consciousness or, to use contemporary spiritual language, awareness as much as you can. The Sefat Emet teaches that every ratzon/desire in human beings has the potential to add to the goodness of the world. He believes that is why we have desire. 

     There is a Talmudic statement that says the righteous cannot reach a place as high as people who have repented–ba’alei teshuvah, (Ber. 34b). This could be understood as hyperbole in order to encourage people who have done hurtful deeds to change their ways. Instead, the Sefat Emet teaches that someone who has successfully engaged in the back and forth of spiritual life has a deeper understanding of the temptations and opportunities that lie before us every day. There is a greater depth to their experience and to their spirituality.  (Sefat Emet, Parashat Va-Yakheil TaRLaH)