Some 4,399 days ago (12 years!) I was sitting in the Bais Midrash of Yeshivas Mercaz HaTorah, when my friend, Ben, approached me and asked if I had a Dvar Torah that I wanted to submit in that week’s Parsha printout. It was a Thursday, Rosh Chodesh Shevat, and the Parsha that week was none other than Bo!
The truth is, I didn’t have a Dvar Torah on my mind but I wanted to submit something anyway, so in the moment I said to Ben, “Sure! I have something for you!” Right next to me (it was actually to my left, but whatever!) was an Artscroll Tanach. I picked it up and opened it to a random page, pointing to a random pasuk. It was the pasuk of “ועשית משבצות זהב” found in Parshas Tetzaveh (28:13). I read the English translation aloud to Ben: “And you shall make settings of gold,” and on the spot, I came up with an idea based on the English translation, completely taking the words out of context. Although the pasuk is talking about the settings (i.e. the frames which held the gemstones securely in place) of the Ephod, I told Ben the following Dvar Torah: “The Torah is teaching us to make our settings, meaning our environment and atmosphere, into gold. The idea being that if we want to be successful in life, we must make our settings into gold – we must position ourselves properly, with the right group of friends, with role models, with Rebbeim, etc.”
Nice idea, I know. A cute spin off from the English translation, but definitely not the real pshat in the actual pasuk. For the past 12 years, I still think about this episode with Ben in Yeshiva, humorously reflecting on the “settings of gold” idea that I completely made up.
But this week, it all changed!
I was going through the Parsha (Bo), and I pulled off my bookcase a beautiful Sefer from the Radziner Rebbe, called Irin Kadishin. I was specifically looking for ideas relating to the Plague of Darkness, and when I read what the Rebbe had to say, I sat there, frozen. I was shocked.
Let me share with you what the Rebbe said. The Torah relates that in contrast to the Egyptians who experienced darkness, the yidden experienced light. ולכל בני ישראל היה אור במושבותם — to all the yidden, there was light in their dwellings (Bo 10:23). The Rebbe explains that every yid—ולכל בני ישראל—has a special, unique light; every yid possesses an אבן טוב, a shining precious gem of holiness that is unique to them. But while it’s true that everyone has their unique illuminating gem, the difference between people—the reason some shine more openly and some not—is their מושבותם, their setting. Where are they located? Where are they positioned? If the shining gem is stuck in a wall, although it is precious and certainly still shines, it’s hard to see that light since it is covered. But the more you chip away at the wall, removing the layers of physical blockages, the more the light from the gem will be radiant. The Rebbe then takes this moshol a step further. He says that certainly, if you place that precious gem in משבצות כסף (settings of silver) or משבצות זהב (settings of gold), that gem will shine even brighter! Because, explains the Rebbe, it’s true we all have אור, we all have a unique אבן טוב of illumination, however, the determining factor of how we experience and see that light depends on מושבותם—our settings!
I read this idea from the Radziner Rebbe and was blown away for two reasons. First of all, because it’s an extraordinarily powerful idea, and second of all, because I realized that the “silly” pshat I came up with 12 years ago (the same week, Parshas Bo!) — that for all this time I thought had no basis — is actually legitimate and deeply on point.
At the end of the day, it comes down to “Location, location, location!” Yes, it is often true in the real estate world, but it is certainly true in the world of spirituality. We all have a light; we all possess a unique gem, an אבן טוב, that shines forth a great holy light. But, the question we must be brave enough to ask ourselves is this: Where is my location? Is my shining light stuck behind a thick and dark wall of physical lures? Is my shining light being hidden behind layers and layers of wasteful baggage that I’ve accumulated over the years? Is my shining light being obstructed by naysayers that too often I’ve let influence my mind? Is my shining light being covered by the wrong group of friends and “role models” that I’ve spent so much time hanging around?
The Torah teaches us: במושבותם–to focus on where we are dwelling, to find out what our settings currently look like, to figure out if the environment and atmosphere that we are in is one that is suitable for allowing that always existing and shining light to be manifest.
Let us ensure that we don’t hide the light we already have. Instead, “ועשית משבצות זהב” — let us ensure that our “settings” are made of “gold,” putting ourselves in the right location that will allow our inherent holiness to shine.
Good Shabbos
