Parshat Pekudei - Appreciating Effort
We tend to be very goal-oriented. We work to achieve something and focus only on that final product. What about all the hard work to reach our goals? What if we put forward a lot of effort, but the end result is not what we were expecting?
Parshat Pekudei describes the reaching of a goal: the completion of building the Mishkan, the uniforms of the Kohanim, and everything else that was needed, just as HaShem had told Moshe. In fact, a midrash (Tanchuma, Naso 16) describes that the whole purpose of creation was so we would eventually build the Mishkan.
However, the parshah begins by Moshe giving an exact list of everything that was going to be used in the construction of the Mishkan: he lists the exact weight of gold, silver, brass, all of the coloured dyes and the thread, as well as the weight of mirrors and wood. As much as the main goal seems to be the completion of the goal, ie. building the mishkan, Moshe shows us that we need to take an exact accounting - we need to appreciate - everything that goes into the building, and not just the building itself.
This is true in our lives as well. When we work on a project or assignment, or study for a test, we are obviously trying to succeed. The Torah in Pekudei is teaching us that even if we don't succeed, we need to appreciate the effort that went into our attempt.
Any successful goal is made up of many smaller contributions. When we take the time to appreciate each small contribution, we recognize that the ultimate goal is the effort to succeed, and is not about the final result. We cannot reach our bigger goals without the effort and the small contributions.
Take a moment to appreciate your efforts and the small things in life. It is only because of the small successes, that we can achieve our goals at all.
Discussion Questions:
1. What other examples can you think of where the effort is more important than the result?
2. Why do you think it feels so good to accomplish a goal?
3. How do you think you would feel if you could accomplish your goals without any effort? Why?
Discussion & Answers from last week:
1. Describe a time when you needed help to accoplish a goal. Why was the help so important?
Almost everything I do requires help. From making sure this e-blast gets completed, to putting together all the details of programs, and even to learning Torah to prepare my "Torah Talk...", it is the help I receive regularly, or even help I received in the past, that gives me the opportunity to meet my goals.
The help is so important because we all have different strengths. Something that is hard for me (and might take me a long time), might be easy for someone else, and take them less time. By working together, we can accomplish the goal, better and faster.
2. Why does working together build community?
When we work together, we learn about each other - both for our strengths, our weaknesses, and more importantly, our personalities. As we connect more and can honour each other for our respective strengths and abilities, and also our individual journeys and stories, we feel more connected to each other. The more people who are involved in a project, the greater the sense of community can be.
3. What is it about working together that makes it easier to recognize HaShem in our lives?
We are all HaShem's children and HaShem's creations. When I put effort into a project, I have put part of myself into that project. Similarly, there is a "part*" of HaShem in each of us, and the more we connect to each other, the more connected we are to "parts*" of HaShem and can recognize the way HaShem acts in our lives: through the people we know and the experiences we have.
* Please note: According to Torah and Judaism (according to most opinions), HaShem is One. That means HaShem is completely indivisible and doesn't have any "parts". This is a metaphor - a way to help us understand the idea - that explains how we are each connected to HaShem and how we can find that connection in everyone else we know, and to find our own deeper connection to HaShem.
