פרשת ויקהל-שקלים

Dvar Torah

Doing better... next time

(שמות לה:כז) וְהַנְּשִׂאִם הֵבִיאוּ אֵת אַבְנֵי הַשֹּׁהַם וְאֵת אַבְנֵי הַמִּלֻּאִים לָאֵפוֹד וְלַחֹשֶׁן:

(Shemot 35:27) “and the Nesi’im brought the Shoham stone and the Miluim stones for the Eypgod and for the Choshen.”

In this week’s Parsha we find that the Nesi’im (leaders of the tribes) brought the precious and beautiful stones that were placed into the Choshen, breastplate of the Kohen Gadol as a donation to the Mishkan.  Rashi (35:27) asks; what made the Nesi’em want to give their gift first, but when it came to the actual building of the Mishkan, they waited until the end, and were last?

Rashi explains that when it was time to give to the building of the Mishkan, the Nesi’im said: “let everyone else give first and we will give whatever remaining”.  In the end, there was nothing left for the Nesi’im to give since the rest of the nation gave everything necessary. 

While it is nice to know this background information about the Nesi’im and their gifts, it seems to be irrelevant. Why does Rashi feel that it is important to tell us about the original mistake of the Nesi’im?

The answer is that we see that the Nesi’im learned from their mistake and did not wait this time to try and be the heroes. Often we are faced with the same or similar dilemma (question) that we may have seen before.  If we use our experience from the past when we may have not made the best choice, to help guide us this time, we will become better people just like the Nesi’im did. We too, need to be able to learn from the things that we do and could use perfecting.

The Mishna in Avot tells us; who is a wise man? One who learned from every person - themselves included!

Shabbat Shalom!

Parsha Questions

1)  On which day did משה assemble the בני ישראל? (רש"י שמות לה:א)

2) What important lesson do we learn from the fact that the מצוה of keeping שבת is written in this פרשה next to the construction of the משכן? (רש"י שמות לה:ב)

3) How many major kinds of work are we forbidden to do on שבת?

4) Why do we eat חמין on שבת? (see שמות לה:ג)

5) Why does the תורה single out the prohibition of lighting a fire on שבת? (רש"י שמות לה:ג)

6) Explain כל נדיב לבו. Does the heart give??? (רש"י שמות לה:ה)

7) Who actually made the parts and constructed of the משקן? (שמות לה:ל -לה)

8) List בצלאל‘s family lineage. (רש"י שמות לה:ל)

9) How was he able to do this? (שמות לה:לא)

10) Who helped with the making of the משכן? (שמות לה:לד)

11) What did he specifically do? (שמות לה:לד-לה)

12) Why did Hashem choose אהליאב to help בצלאל? (רש"י שמות לה:לד)

13) How much was collected for the building of the משכן? (שמות לו:ה)

14) What was done to prevent any more from being donated? (רש"י שמות לו:ו)

Virtual Classroom Check-in!

Questions about what we are learning online!

1) What is an Ashera?

2) Why can’t one use a Lulav from an Ashera?

3) What is wrong with using a stolen Lulav?

Click Here http://rpmishnah.blogspot.com/

TORAH TRIVIA!

Super Stumper Question:

This a question to ask others and discuss the answers.

Answer to last week’s question:

The Brachot that are made once each year in Eretz Yisrael are:  

1) The Bracha on a tree in Nissan  

2) Lighting candles on Yom Kippor 

3) Checking/burning of Chametz 

4) Nachaim Yerushalayim on Tisha B’Av

5) Al Achilat Matza at the Pesach Seder

6) Asher Goalanu at the Pesach Seder

7) Al Achilat Maror at the Pesach Seder 

Question of the week:

What Bracha is only made on a Wednesday or Thursday?

  

 FOOD Section!

Can you guess what this recipe connects to this week’s Parsha?

Standing Cheesecake Fruit Cups

Ingredients

1 dozen fresh, large strawberries

8 oz cream cheese, softened

5 tablespoons sugar

½ cup of Riches Whip or any Whip Cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

ground nutmeg (optional)

Instructions

In an electric mixer, combine cream cheese, sugar, Whip and vanilla extract. Bean on high for about 1 minute until combined and fluffy.

Rinse the strawberries with cool water and lightly pat dry with a paper towel.

Use a sharp knife to cut off the green top and the tip of the strawberry so it will stand up on a flat plate.

Use the tip of your knife to carve out the center of the strawberry from the top (where the greens were).

Use a spoon or piping bag to fill the strawberries with the cheesecake filling and sprinkle lightly with ground nutmeg.

Chill in refrigerator until ready to serve.

*This recipe is great for Pesach and all year long!