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Profundities of Torah: Vayakhel Pikudei - Laziness |
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Written by Rabbi Yochanan Zweig
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 (Exodus 35:27) Rashi quotes the Medrash that describes the Mishkan (Tabernacle)donation of the Nesiim (Tribal Heads). "....By the building of the Mishkan the
Nesiim decided to make up whatever deficit was left by the Public at large....and since they displayed (this) laziness.....". Why does the Medrash depict the Nesiim as being lazy?
In Mishlei (Proverbs 26:13) we find the following: "A lazy person says, 'there's a lion on the road, a lion between the highways'", (& therefore he can't go out). Why is this called laziness? If there is no lion then such a person is delusionary. If there is a lion why does this person deserve the epithet of "lazy one"?
In Avos (Ethics of Our Fathers 1:14) Hillel says, "if I am not for myself, who is for me? If I am (only) for myself, who am I? If not now, when?" What is the connection between the latter part of Hillel's dictum to the former? And why the necessity of emphasizing on self-focus? Don't most of us naturally do that?
In truth, most people don't do what is good for themselves. They are driven by pleasure and/or the search to avoid pain & exertion. They ultimately recognize that their actions are not beneficial. Hillel exhorts us to do what is truly positive & beneficial.
Procrastination gains nothing. The task before us must eventually be performed. All that has been accomplished is increased anxiety. Only when the external pressure has reached a breaking point does the procrastinator act. Hillel informs us that he who is really doing the best for himself possesses the motto of, "if not now when". He is the one who doesn't push off things. In short, the lazy person needs external stimuli in order to act, achieve, etc. One who isn't lazy is he who has acquired the inner drive to accomplish.
Therefore, since the procrastinator is only motivated by the external, the lion on the road can alter his decision to go outside. In contrast, the internally driven person will seek a solution to avoid the lion & do what he had planned to do.
That is why the Medrash depicts the Nesiim as "lazy". For the Nesiim had only offered deficit funding. They were motivated solely by the pressure of preventing the failure of the project (building of the Mishkan). They acted only in response to a crisis. The Torah's requirement for donations to the Mishkan was "nediv lev" (Exodus 25:2) - coming from a generous heart. A sincerely generous person doesn't need to have a cause in order to give. He is internally driven, continuously seeking out charitable opportunities.
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