PARSHAS VAYAKEL - PEKUDAI

Good Shabbos!   Most people have heard of the famous banking family headed by Meir Anschel Rothschild with banking branches all across Europe.  “There is but one power in Europe and that is Rothschild,” said a French journalist of the Rothschild’s in 1841.  But how did this family grow from being modest coin dealers in the ghetto of Frankfort in 1800 to gain worldwide respect and become one of the world’s wealthiest families in just a few decades?  

There are many stories told of this remarkable Jewish family but one comes to mind as I think of this week’s portion.  It is told that when Napoleon was about to conquer Frankfort, King William IX, ruler of Germany, entrusted his fortune to Meir Anschel for safekeeping.  The German king knew that Rothschild could be trusted to safeguard his money until it was safe to return to Germany. 

Meir Anschel once explained that he gained the confidence of the King by quoting the Jewish teaching from Ethics of the Fathers:  “Always consider the money of your neighbor dearer to you than your own”.  Indeed, he protected the money of the King and was rewarded with the trust of virtually all of the European nobility after the fall of Napoleon. 

It is a beautiful story, but what does this story have to do with our portion?   You see, our ancestors had been slaves in Egypt for over 200 years.  Then Moshe Rabainu led our people from that country through a miraculous liberation with direct intervention by    G-d.  Moshe brought the people to Mount Sinai, where G-d enters into a covenant with them and gives them the Torah.

It was the greatest revelation of spirituality in the world that ever took place.  But then, only a few weeks later, our ancestors make a terrible error in judgment and worship the Golden Calf. It is like a spiritual recession. 

Moshe leads the people in seeking forgiveness from G-d.  Finally G-d agrees.  G-d then instructs them to build a physical structure, called the Tabernacle, to house His Divine Presence in this world.  The people bring to Moshe all of the needed gold, silver, copper and other materials required for the construction of this exquisite House of G-d.  And then, in this week’s portion, Moshe teaches us an important lesson. 

You see, the Torah pauses in its elaborate description of the Tabernacle for Moshe to present a detailed account of all the contributions received for the construction of the Tabernacle. He reports to the people how many talents of gold, silver and copper he received, and how exactly it was used to build the Tabernacle. 

But why?   Why did Moshe need to go so far as to give an account for every last piece of jewelry and metal that came into his hands?  The reason may be, as I referred to earlier, to teach us the lesson:  “Always consider the money of your neighbor dearer to you than your own”.

Moshe had been given funds from the entire nation - so he wanted to show total transparency and accountability of how it was used and how it was distributed.  This is not because people didn’t trust Moshe.  Remember, we are talking about Moshe, whom Maimonides defined as the greatest human being to ever walk the earth.

This wasn’t a question of did they trust Moshe to have used all of the funds for the construction without skimming any off the top.  This wasn’t a question of needing to prove he didn’t give a bonus to Bezalel or Ahaliav for the excellent job which they did on behalf of the group.  

This was simply an expression of Moshe feeling compelled, in total humility, to give an accounting for every penny that went through his hands.  By doing so, Moshe taught that when you deal with money that comes from other people - you need to be extremely careful in how you use it.

Fast forward 3300 years.  A recession hits the land which has been flowing with money for numerous years.  Financial institutions loan money to those who are obviously unable to repay it.   Other companies insure those financial institutions so they can continue to make more and more of these ridiculous loans.  Finally, the bottom falls out and it seems like many of these companies will close.  There is a fear that people will lose their jobs, and worse, lose their faith in the entire system. 

So the leader props them up with 173 billion dollars of communal money.  But then something crazy happens.    The company uses 165 million dollars of this money to give bonuses to a small number of their employees.  If AIG had shown a large profit over the year and wanted to give hefty bonuses to those who helped them achieve that success - then no one should have any complaints.  But when they are receiving money from us - the portion is teaching they must treat that money with a higher degree of responsibility.   

Moshe, in his humility, sets an example for all future generations.   He looked at every single Jew as a full and equal stockholder in the business venture called the “Nation of Israel”.  Insecure leaders might remain aloof and arrogant and refuse to share transparency and accountability with the multitude of individual people whose money they are using.   Genuine leaders, on the other hand, gain the trust and respect of their constituents because they realize, and respect the fact that the money which they control ultimately belongs to the masses. 

Moshe taught this lesson about money but it is also true in virtually every area of life. If you wish to inspire genuine loyalty - in a marriage, in the work place, even in a friendship -you must have a respect for the other person and you must treat the possessions and feelings of that person with more care and consideration than your own.

May our leaders quickly take this message to heart and may we be blessed with great spiritial and financial success and let us say, Amain.