 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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