Blessing for the preparations as a self-value

The Parasha in our everyday life - Shmini - Parah - 5782

Rabbi Eliezer Shenvald - Rosh Yeshivat Hesder 'Meir Harel' Modi'in

Who among the readers has already started with the multiple preparations for Passover in his home? And who among you has considered the idea in the past, that maybe next year, you will go to a hotel for the entire Passover and save the effort and hassle of the cleaning and preparations, whatever the price may be?!

Many times we face an important event that requires a great deal of preparation and hassle, and we wish the preparations would be done by themselves and immediately, to save the time and hassle, like magic. Or have someone do it for us, so we can get directly to the event, ready, effortlessly?! Although it is clear to us that this will not happen, and we are forced to engage in preparations.

The 'preparations' for a certain 'purpose' or 'result' are one of the foundations of our world. Many things are not ready, and in order for them to be or to happen, we must prepare them ourselves. Many times even bother to do so. This is not a malfunction; it is a built-in part of the format of our world. This is not a simple thing. The very need for multiple and tedious preparations can cause frustration!

It is clear to us that in order to achieve quality results in almost every field, quality preparations must be done. However, there is no comparison between the feeling that fills us when achieving, and the preoccupation with the preparations, what we were willing to give up or reduce, using a 'shortcut' longing for a ready-made result. But is that true?  The fact that in our world there are no results without preparations shouldn't teach us it is no a coincidence that G-d created his world this way?!

Sometimes preparations of weeks and months are needed for events of one short hour. Sometimes it happens that despite the multiple preparations, and the hassle, just a small change is needed for the event to get canceled! Then the frustration is greater. There are operational units that prepare themselves for many months for a particular operation, and finally the conditions for its implementation are not right and it gets canceled!

The same goes for building a home, and also in the 'preparations' for acquiring a profession in life. It takes years of preparation and study, sometimes difficult, to get a certification to practice the profession.

Also in the construction of our spiritual world, 'preparations' are required to reach results. The educational process can also be seen as a kind of 'preparation', complex and long-standing, towards the years of adulthood and independence. Then the investment will materialize and bear fruit.

On a superficial look, it seems that the relationship between preparation and result is like the relationship between 'important and unimportant'. The result is the important, the purpose; while the preparation is only a means to reach the result, as something of 'secondary importance' to the 'main part'. However, if we delve deeper into this, we will find that many times the preparations are a goal in themselves! And we must try to see the self-importance that they have.

Shabbat Parashat Shmini - Parah, we will read about the completion of the seven days of consecration and the eighth day, which was the completion of the beginning of the service in the Tabernacle. Were the consecration days just preparation and practice for the inauguration of the Mishkan? In addition to the two Daily Offerings, special unique sacrifices were made every day during these consecration days. A ‘bull -sin offering’, ‘two rams’ and three kinds of offerings! We can learn from this that the preparations of the 'consecration days' were not only a means, they also had an independent 'purpose'.

The recitation of Parshat Parah, which some say is from De'oraita –(biblically ordained) is kind of a preparation; from impurity to purity before Passover:

שכן היה שריפתה במדבר סמוך לניסן כדי להזות בה את ישראל באפר החטאת מיד אחר הקמת המשכן כדי שיהיו טהורים ויוכלו לעשות הפסח בזמנו

“For it was burning in the desert close to the month of Nisan to cleanse Israel with the ashes of the offering immediately after the setting up of the Tabernacle so that they would be pure and able to observe Passover on time” (Mishna Berura 685)

The study of Parashat Parah (Bamidbar 19:1-22) shows that it has two parts: the preparation of the cow's ashes (up to verse 14) and the purpose - its use to purify from death impurity (until the end of the chapter).

However, accuracy in the ash preparation process shows that it has a purpose in itself! And not just means and preparation.

And the rule in the sacrifices is: שֶׁמַּכְשִׁירֵי קָרְבָּן כְּקָרְבָּן: Maimonides rules that every thought could invalidate the work even in the preparation stage. (Mishneh Torah- Service on the Day of Atonement 5:27).

And the same applies for all the Mitzvot, preparation has a self-value:

“Every step a person takes in preparation to make a Mitzvah is itself an important Mitzvah." (Pele Yoetz 78). According to the Torat Eretz Yisrael in the Yerushalmi, there is also a blessing on “Mitzvah tools” before using them to keep the Mitzvah:

הָעוֹשֶׂה סוּכָּה לְעַצְמוֹ. אוֹמֵר בָּרוּךְ אֲשֶׁר קִידְּשָׁנוּ בְמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִיוָּנוּ לַעֲשׂוֹת סוּכָּה… הָעוֹשֶׂה לוּלָב לְעַצְמוֹ. אוֹמֵר בָּרוּךְ אֲשֶׁר קִידְּשָׁנוּ בְמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִיוָּנוּ לַעֲשׂוֹת לוּלָב... הָעוֹשֶׂה מְזוּזָה לְעַצְמוֹ. אוֹמֵר לַעֲשׂוֹת מְזוּזָה... הְעוֹשֶׂה תְפִילִין לְעַצְמוֹ כו...

“He who makes a sukkah for himself, says: “He Who sanctified us by His commandments and commanded us to make a sukkah… He who makes a lulav for himself, says: “He Who sanctified us by His commandments and commanded us to make a lulav… He who makes a mezuzah for himself, says “to make a mezuzah… He who makes tefillin for himself, etc.” (Jerusalem Talmud Berakhot 9:3) Hence, preparation for a Mitzvah in itself has importance that requires a blessing.

In this context one can also mention the need to prepare one hour before Prayers, the studying of the holiday Halachot thirty days before, the obligation to engage in preparations for Shabbat, and in general that this world is a preparation for the next world:

רַבִּי יַעֲקֹב אוֹמֵר, הָעוֹלָם הַזֶּה דּוֹמֶה לִפְרוֹזְדוֹר בִּפְנֵי הָעוֹלָם הַבָּא. הַתְקֵן עַצְמְךָ בַפְּרוֹזְדוֹר, כְּדֵי שֶׁתִּכָּנֵס לַטְּרַקְלִין:

“Rabbi Jacob said: this world is like a vestibule before the world to come; prepare yourself in the vestibule, so that you may enter the banqueting-hall.” (Pirkei Avot 4:16), but this world has a value in itself.

In conclusion: the longer, and more demanding the required preparation, the greater the self-worth. Sometimes we too can see in retrospect how we were blessed with things we dealt with in the preparations, no less than the results they caused.