By Shlomo Riskin

Efrat, Israel - To what extent is the prosperity of an individual a function of that individual’s hard work and clever planning or is it rather a direct result of the graciousness (or lack thereof) of the Almighty? The great talmudic sage of the Land of Israel in the third century of the Common Era, Rabbi Yohanan, teaches, “There are 3 keys solely in the hands of the Holy One Blessed be He, which were never handed over to an agent: the key to the rains - the major cause, and therefore the symbol of produce and prosperity - the key to childbearing and the key to the resurrection of the dead.” (B.T. Taanit 2A) From this passage it seems clear that financial status, children and redemption are dependent on G-d’s will rather than on human diligence and intelligence. A fascinating commentary of Rashi upon a verse in this week’s torah reading of Pekudei adds an important element to the words of Rabbi Yohanan. At the conclusion of the execution of the finished Sanctuary and all of its accruements, the Bible declares, “And they brought the Sanctuary to Moses with a tent and all of its vessels … the animal skins used for coverings …. the Ark…. the Table… the Pure Menorah….. the golden Altar…. the Copper Altar….” (Exodus 39:36-42). Rashi, citing the Midrash Tanhuma, interprets, “And they brought the Sanctuary in its entirety to Moses because they were not able to properly erect it. Since Moses had not performed any action at all in the execution of the Sanctuary until this point, the Holy One Blessed Be He left for him the task of erecting since no other individual had been able to do so due to the weight of the beams which no one had the strength to cause to stand upright. Moses succeeded in erecting it. Said Moses to the Holy One Blessed Be He, ‘How is it possible for such a structure to be erected by human effort?’ He said to him, ‘You must occupy yourself by doing the work; it will appear as if you are the one causing it to be erected, but the fact is that it will stand up by itself.” (Rashi ad loc) If in effect it was G-d who was erecting the Sanctuary, then why did the Israelites bring it to Moses at all? The apparent message seems to be that it is the way of the world for G-d to operate via human agents; hence, in all areas of life it is necessary that we humans put out the effort (what many Jewish theologians like Rav Dessler refer to as hishtadlut). Although we must understand that in the final analysis whatever happens only happens because G-d willed it to happen. On the basis of an interpretation of Maimonides, I would like to suggest a very different spin on the words of this Midrashic commentary as well as a very different philosophy regarding human involvement in the world. The Rabbis of the Talmud teach us that there were three things which were done by King Hezekiah for which he was praised by the Sages and three things for which he was not praised by them, with his having put a certain “Book of Healings” out of circulation being one of the actions for which he was praised (B.T. Pesahim 56A). Maimonides, in his “Commentaries on the Mishnah” (Pesahim, end of Chapter 4) informs us in uncharacteristic detail that this “Book of Healings” was related to idolatry and completely ineffective. The great philosopher and legal codifier goes on to explain why he was so verbose in his description of the contents of the book. “It is because I heard … that King Solomon was reported to have authored this Book of Healings which, when an individual would become sick he would turn to that book, act in accordance with its advice, and become cured of his illness. And when King Hezekiah saw that individuals had stopped relying upon the Lord may He be praised (but were instead relying on the book), he removed the book and took it out of circulation.” Maimonides himself then turns to the reader with his own words, which are (once again, uncharacteristically) filled with invective. “And you must now understand the weakness of this statement, how there is within it a touch of madness and to what extent it is impossible to imagine that Hezekiah would have anything to do with such foolishness or that his devotees would praise him regarding such a fool hearted and ill advised action. Would you then suggest that were a hungry individual to acquire a piece of bread and eat it, an activity which would undoubtedly cure him of the terrible illness of hunger, that he would not thereafter rely upon G-d to whom he would give thanks for having provided him with the food which had removed his discomfort.” Strangely enough, the commentator who suggests that King Solomon was the author of the Book of Healings was none other than Rashi in his Talmudic interpretation. (ad loc) Maimonides himself insists that the only justification for taking the book out of circulation was its idolatrous nature. For Maimonides it is incumbent upon every individual to work in his field as effectively as he can, and it is especially incumbent upon doctors of healing to save as many lives as possible through the medicines or through the cures that they prescribe as a result of their knowledge and insight. The patient who is cured however must always remember to thank not only the doctor but also - and perhaps even especially the Almighty G-d who initially implanted the wisdom within the mind of the great healer to have come up with the proper medicines. From Maimonides perspective, it is the way of the world that human beings must maximize their knowledge and their will to produce the best results. Indeed, G-d operates within the world through His human creations and the intelligence with which He has endowed them. In the case of the Sanctuary, it was Moses, his superior will - and therefore concomitant strength - which erected the Sanctuary and understood precisely how G-d wanted it to be. This does not take away one iota of our reverence for the Divine. After all, it was the Almighty who created a soul like that of Moses our teacher, having endowed him with the ability to be the greatest prophet and leader in Jewish history. 

Shabbat Shalom.