Pekudei

The Torah continues telling us the accounting of all the material that went into the building of the Mishkan and all its vessels. It details how Moshe assembled the Mishkan after it was completed mentioning,  וישם את הבדים על הארן, he inserted the poles into the Aron. 

The gemara tells us that even though the kohanim looked like they were carrying the Aron, really it carried them. Reb Aharon Levine explains that similarly those who financially support Torah, symbolized by the poles, do not raise the Torah & define its standards; rather the Torah, the Aron, will raise its supporters to its own elevated level.

There is, however, another way to understand this. Just like the Aron carried the ones who looked like they were carrying it, so, too, even though we may think we know what's the best way for us, it's all just an illusion and Hashem is really calling the shots.      

There was a story told over by the menahel of a yeshiva about himself. He had a yeshiva with many rebbeim.   He got along with all but one, for no matter what he would tell him, he would immediately forget. Anytime there were new policies or rules, everyone else would comply except for this one rebbi. He would always end up doing the opposite and when confronted would say, “sorry, I forgot”.  

The menahel wanted to get rid of him but had a dilemma. All the students that he taught, excelled. Even students who didn't do well in any other class, did well with him. The parents loved him too, so with no choice, the menahel kept him & had to look the other way. 

The yeshiva was outgrowing its building was and needed larger quarters. The menahel had heard that there was a wealthy man who was looking at a few schools to build a new building in memory of his parents. He contacted him & he agreed to come look at this school, too. 

The menahel continued, “before the day he was supposed to come, I called all the rebbeim together to tell them to make sure everything in their classrooms was in order & clean & neat, to make a good impression on the wealthy ‎man so that he would choose our school to donate the building to. 

The day came.  I was taking the wealthy man from classroom to classroom showing off the children, how well behaved they were & how nicely they  were learning until I got to that rebbi's class. We opened the door & I thought I would have a heart attack. All the desks were turned over, with the kids sitting on the turned over chairs playing bumber cars.  To top it off, the rebbi was on the floor playing with them too!

The rebbi tried to explain he had had a contest with the boys that if they learned very well & finished the mesechta they would have a fun day, so they had finished & this was their treat. I was mortified & knew that I had lost any chance at the new building.  As soon as the wealthy man left, I went straight to that rebbi & told him to pack his bags & leave. I couldn’t take it anymore. The rebbi pleaded with me saying, “I’ve been here so long; I just forgot that he was coming today.” I told him, “enough with the excuses, just go”. He protested, “but I have a wife & ten children. You can't just put me on the street”. To which I answered, “I don't care about your livelihood; you just cost me a building; it's over.” 

A few days later one of the Menahel's kids fell & broke his leg. Then, a few days later, another kid fell into a glass window.  Then, his daughter hit her head & would up in the hospital followed by his wife falling in the street & breaking her arm & leg. Realizing that something was going on, the menahel went to talk to one of the gedolim to ask why was this happening to him and his family. “The first question the godol asked me was did I cause someone pain recently? I told him what recently happened with the rebbi.  He said I was wrong & that I should go apologize ‎to the rebbi, which I did. He forgave me & I offered him his job back which he declined, for he had already found a new job. 

About a week later, I got a letter from the wealthy man saying that he wanted to donate all the money for the new building, for there was something that set my school apart from the rest. At all the other schools, there seemed to be a disconnect between the rebbeim & the students, but in your school, it didn't seem that way. I saw the rebbi on the floor playing with the kids which showed me that they have a great connection. That’s why I want to donate the building.  

Just look at what happened here. The very thing that this menahel thought killed his chances for the donation was the exact thing that got it for him. Instead of just looking away, he ended up firing the reason that he got the donation at all. This shows us that it's not us carrying anything. We have no idea who’s really pulling the strings. We have to realize that we have control over nothing. Therefore, there is no reason to react with anger or lose control, for at the end of the day, it's Hashem who's carrying  us!