The Lesson of the Tachash

 

by Rabbi David Hanania Pinto

"Tachash skins, acacia wood" [Terumah 25:5]

Chazal say (Shabbat 28b) that the tachash was a beautiful, multi-colored animal that was created for the purpose of building the Mishkan and then disappeared and is no longer found. So the entire reason for its creation was only for a specific time. The question is, why did Hashem create a special creature at the time of the building the Mishkan and then conceal it? Seemingly He could have made it a permanent creation so that it would be ready for its use in the Mishkan. And if the goal was that it should be a rare, unique creature that would be sighted only at the time of building the Mishkan, Hashem could have hidden it away in the distant forests and revealed it only when it was needed for the Mishkan. What lies behind this special act of creation specifically for the sake of the Mishkan? 

It seems that one can derive the following lesson from the creation of the tachash. Hashem wished to teach us that just as the Mishkan required a specific item, the skin of the tachash which was unavailable in the world, and therefore Hashem fashioned a special creation, so too man who is comparable to the Mishkan, (his mind is compared to the Aron HaBrit, his eyes to the Menorah, his mouth to the Shulchan etc.), must create and form within himself renewed strength to elevate himself in his service of Hashem. Even if his strength is waning, he should not give up but should toil with his last remaining strength, as it says in Mishlei (2:4-5), "If you seek it as [if it were] silver, if you search for it as [if it were] hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of Hashem, and discover the knowledge of G-d". This implies that if a person wants to understand the extent to which he must toil to acquire Yirat Shamayim and understanding of the Torah and what strengths he possesses for this, he should try to create a visual picture of the strength he would invest to search for silver and hidden treasures. 

Let us picture an extremely tired man who is long bereft of strength and since he is overcome with tiredness he leaves everything and lays his head down to rest somewhat. It is quite clear to all that if this person would suddenly receive a phone call announcing that he had won the lottery, he would immediately jump up like a lion, forget his tiredness and run to claim his prize because he is afraid of missing the chance. How sad it is that there are people who run after money and work the entire day but when the time comes for them to immerse themselves in Torah study, suddenly their tiredness overwhelms them and they cannot keep their eyes open to learn. 

This requires much work on one's middot, to create renewed strength for the sake of studying Torah which is more precious than gold and pearls. Since Hashem wanted to teach man that he must create new strengths when it comes to Torah study, even in a situation when it seems like a truly new creation of something from nothing, He therefore, did not create the tachash during the Six Days of Creation but singled out its creation for the time of the building of the Mishkan. Man, who is like a miniature Mishkan, should know that he must cleave to Hashem's ways and renew his strength when it comes to studying the Torah and fulfilling its mitzvot.