tetzaveh

The posuk says ועשו את האפד, they shall make the eiphod, whereas by all the other garments it says ועשית - you shall make. Why the different lashon? The Midrash points out the same inconsistency by the כלים. By the ארון it says ועשו, & by all the other implements of the beis hamikdash it says ועשית. Over there they answer that 'ה said, let everybody come & take part in building the ארון so that everyone will have a portion in Torah. רב משה שטרנבוך answers that here too, the names of all the shevatim were written on the eiphod to show that all the jewish people are equal to 'ה, therefore everyone was to take part in the eiphod too. Once all the names were on the eiphod showing that all the people are like one to 'ה, why did they have to all participate in the making of the eiphod? Isn't just being on it enough? The posuk says, ואתה תצוה את בני ישראל ויקחו אליך שמן זית כתית למאור להעלת נר תמיד , take for you clear olive oil, crushed for illumination to light a lamp continually. It's brought in the Midrash that 'ה says, not that I need your light, only I want you to give me light like I gave you light. It's analogous to one who is walking with a blind man, leading him. However, when they get to the house the man asks the blind man to turn the lights on for him so that the blind man shouldn't feel indebted to him for the blind man is helping him too. The Man is 'ה, & the blind man is the jewish people. Throughout the desert 'ה was leading them, and now that they built the mishkan, 'ה said turn on the light for me. From here, says רב ירוחם ליבוביץ we see a powerful lesson in middos. The nature of a person is that when he does a favor for someone, he doesn't want to take any reciprocation for the favor. Not necessarily because he only wants to do good, but because he wants the other person to be indebted to him. He wants the other person to owe him forever. Here 'ה is teaching us the opposite. When someone does a favor for his friend, he should find a way to have his friend reciprocate with a favor right away so that there is no indebtedness. If one wants to do complete good, he will find a way for his friend not to feel indebted to him. Maybe that's why everyone had to help with the eiphod, for 'ה didn't want any of the shevatim to feel left out or indebted to the ones who did the work. This way they all shared the work equally, teaching us to feel for one another & not to make anyone feel like they owe us. In that way, just like we were all together on the eiphod, we will all be unified once again!