JUNE 4 • 2020 | 29
Spirit
torah portion
W
e all have an in-be-
tween zone: the
constant waiting
period between two items
on our schedule too short to
make anything productive of
it. We humans often spend
lots of our life in such zones,
waiting.
In this week’
s portion, the
Torah reports of the generous
sacrifices offered by the 12
princes of Israel for the newly
inaugurated Tabernacle.
In addition to their
individual gifts, the
princes constructed
six large wagons for
transporting the large
beams and coverings of
the Tabernacle.
Interestingly, the
Talmud teaches that
the princes measured
the precise dimensions
of the beams and cov-
erings, accounting for
how much storage,
without an extra inch
to spare. The Talmud
reports that it was tight and
precarious fit, and there was
concern that due to the tre-
mendous weight and pressure
of the beams stacked on one
another, some of them could
become unstable.
This seems to be extreme
penny-pinching stinginess.
Why be so cheap on material
and compromise on con-
venience? Why not gift 12
wagons, one from each prince,
and lighten the load of each
wagon?
This question is even more
glaring when you contrast this
with the evident generosity
in their individual offerings.
What happened to the spirit of
generosity and dedication by
the wagon donation?
But here is where the Torah
is begging us to probe deep-
er. The princes of Israel are
sharing with us that when it
comes to our dedication to
God, we should never leave
any “gaps;” no space should be
left unfilled.
We all lead busy lives. I
often hear from people who
wish they could do more mitz-
vot and join Torah classes, but
they just don’
t have the time.
In 1967, Detroit hosted
the annual Chabad women’
s
convention. Following the
convention, the return flight
scheduled to take the New
York-based group back home
was canceled due to a snow-
storm. The organizer of the
group called the office of
the Lubavitcher Rebbe,
Rabbi Menchem M.
Schneerson, and reported
the group was stuck in
the airport. After putting
her on hold, the secre-
tary came back on the
line: “The Rebbe doesn’
t
understand the word
‘
stuck.
’
” The organizer
tried explaining what
being ‘
stuck’
means; the
secretary replied, “The
Rebbe understands
English. The Rebbe says
that a Jew is never stuck.
”
Every moment has a mis-
sion, and every situation has
its purpose. We are never
“stuck.
” The next time you
find yourself waiting in one of
those “in-between” zones, ask
yourself how you can make
this moment purposeful.
When I was a child, I heard
of the Jewish bus driver in
Brooklyn who completed the
entire Talmud, a tremendous
achievement even for the sea-
soned Torah scholar. How did
he do it? In those small breaks
while waiting: the “in-be-
tween” zones.
Let us all take inspiration
from the princes of Israel and
never let a single inch of our
life go to waste. There is a
whole world of holy potential
waiting for us in the ‘
in-be-
tween’
zone. Let’
s go and dis-
cover it.
Rabbi Levi Dubov directs the Chabad
Jewish Center of Bloomfield Hills.
Parshat
Naso:
Numbers
4:21-7:89;
Judges
13:2-25.
Rabbi Levi
Dubov
The In-Between Zone
MEL DRYMAN
Raised in Detroit, Experienced in Arizona
Your Professional
& Dedicated
ARIZONA REALTOR
Mobile: (480) 239-8686
mel.dryman@azmoves.com
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