I was recently talking to a non-Jew, and he was telling me about his job, and how he works at a Jewish facility that has a kosher kitchen. Enthusiastically, he told me that the kosher kitchen at the facility makes some “good chicken sandwiches.”
When he told me this, I remember initially feeling prideful and proud of the fact that I was Jewish because we make good chicken sandwiches. “Yeah!”, I thought to myself, “we are the chosen people, the people whom were given the secret recipe and capabilities of producing the best chicken sandwiches!”
I then figuratively kicked myself back to reality. “Yeah!”, I thought to myself, “we are the chosen people, the people whom were given the secret recipe for producing the best life possible here on planet earth.” Our claim to fame has nothing to do with our ability to make good chicken sandwiches; rather, our claim to fame has everything to do with the fact that G-d chose us to be a light unto the nations and lead our lives as examples of what good human-beings are supposed to look like.
The Ohr HaChaim (38:24) says a fascinating idea on a verse in this week’s Parsha, Parshas Pekudei. The Torah says, "כל הזהב" – “All the gold” – when discussing what was used in the Mishkan. We are being taught that “all the gold” was used. What exactly does this mean?
The Ohr HaChaim explains that usually, when working with gold to create a vessel, the end product will contain less gold that what you had to begin with. This is basic physics. In order to create vessel out of the gold, parts of it will need to be sculpted, beaten, and rounded. By definition, some of the gold will be removed.
When the Torah tells us that “All the gold” was used, we are being educated of the fact that there was a tremendous miracle taking place. All the gold was used! In the words of the Ohr HaChaim, לא נותר ממנו דבר לבטלה והכל נכנס בכל מלאכת הקודש – No gold went missing. No gold went unused. Nothing went to waste!
This is an incredible chizzuk for us in our service of Hashem. When you do the right thing, even if that means you are giving up on certain old habits/beliefs/pleasures, you are not losing anything. You are not becoming less! In fact, quite the opposite, you are becoming more!
This, my friends, is our claim to fame. The fact that we can be holy in the face of an impure society. The fact that we can say no to the things that the world says yes to. The fact that we can remain firm to our core beliefs and values. The fact that we can daven each day and learn Hashem’s Torah.
This is what makes us special. And no, it’s not the fact that we know how to make good chicken sandwiches. Although, let’s be honest, we are pretty good at that too.
