* Translation by Yehoshua Siskin
Have you heard about the “Ikea Effect?” If we assemble a product we purchased by ourselves, we are more connected to it due to our personal involvement. A product that we take ready-made out of the box does not create a similar connection.
This week we finish the book of Shemot. The double parasha of Vayakhel and Pikudei that completes the book is concerned with the building of the Mishkan. Rabbi Jonathan Saks explained that just as we speak about the “Idea Effect“ we need to speak about what could be called the “Mishkan Effect”:
“The Israelites had seen God perform miracles: the plagues, the splitting of the sea, the manna from heaven. But the building of the Sanctuary involved no miracles. Instead it required human labour, skill and generosity. God deliberately withdrew so that the people could become His partners in the work.
God does not want us to remain passive recipients of miracles. He wants us to become active participants in the work of creation.
When parents do not do a child’s homework for them but instead teach them to work and make the effort themselves, the child becomes more engaged with the learning. When people help prepare something themselves, they feel a stronger sense of ownership and connection to it.
The greatest gift you can give someone is not a gift but a task – a challenge that calls on their best energies and allows them to become a partner in creation.”
B’hatzlacha.
