Uplifted Hearts and Inspired Spirits

I am just back from this year’s AIPAC Policy Conference. It was an exciting, informative, and inspirational three days in Washington DC with 18,000 pro-Israel citizen activists (including close to 60 from our shul). I look forward to sharing with you my thoughts and some of what I learned from this year’s conference in the days and weeks ahead. One common theme that emerged from many of the people I met is a theme that underlies the story of Zionism and the modern State of Israel: idealism and initiative. It was not enough for Herzl to dream of a Jewish homeland. For it to become a reality, there needed to be ways implemented for that dream to be actualized. Idealism and initiative are just as critical in today’s Israel as they were in the times of Herzl.

In Parshat Vayakhel we read how the people step up and contribute in different ways to build the Mishkan. The pasuk states (35:21):

וַיָּבֹ֕אוּ כָּל־אִ֖ישׁ אֲשֶׁר־נְשָׂא֣וֹ לִבּ֑וֹ וְכֹ֡ל אֲשֶׁר֩ נָֽדְבָ֨ה רוּח֜וֹ

Every man whose heart uplifted him came, and everyone whose spirit inspired him to generosity brought the offering of the Lord for the work of the Tent of Meeting.

What is the difference between an “uplifted heart” and an “inspired spirit”? The people had no idea how to go about building the Mishkan. They were not trained in architecture nor engineering.  I imagine that any associations they may have had with building were negative, as it reminded them of their slave days in Egypt. Nevertheless, there were Jews who stepped up and took initiative. They were not trained professionals, but they were moved by the cause. Going in they didn’t know what they were doing, but they were determined to get the job done. The Ramban explains that this is what it means to have an “uplifted heart”: to be motivated to take initiative on behalf of a cause because of how strongly you believe in it; even when your skill set does not obviously lend itself to success in this endeavor.

Those with uplifted hearts are pioneers. They create start-up companies. They found non-profit organizations that make the world a better place. They do so because they act upon their “uplifted hearts”. Even if they don’t have the experience or the training- they see a need and motivate themselves to fill that need. Those with “inspired spirits” I believe are the people who are inspired by these innovators to get involved in the cause after it has been started.

Just as with the Mishkan and the State of Israel, our community’s continued growth and development depends on those with uplifted hearts and those with inspired spirits. We look to uplifted hearts to create, innovate, and build. We look to those with inspired hearts to support, participate and contribute. It was the efforts of these two types of people that allowed for the completion of the Mishkan, culminating in God’s Presence dwelling therein. And it is through the partnership of these two types of people that our community can soar and we can feel Hashem’s Presence within.