תצוה- Take advantage of your influene

Parashat Tetzaveh starts off with Hashem telling Moshe to command the Jews regarding the contributions they must make to the Mishkan. "Ve ata tetzaveh et B'ne Yisrael..." The Me'am Loez writes that Moshe felt left out. He too wanted to make a contribution to the Holy Mishkan. Hashem then told Moshe that a person who causes others to do Mitzvot gets rewarded as if he had done them himself. It was because of Moshe, the leader of B'ne Yisrael, that they received this opportunity to do such a great Mitzva.

This specific Pasuk of "Ve ata tetzaveh...” tells Moshe to command the people to make pure olive oil for the lighting of the Menorah. The words used in this Pasuk for lighting the Menorah are "Leha'alot ner tamid." A question might arise as to why the word "leha'alot" (to raise) was chosen as opposed to "lehadlik" (to light). Rashi tells us that the word "leha'alot" was chosen to teach us that the Kohen would hold the candle in place until the flame would rise on its own. We can use this idea to teach us a great lesson.

Throughout our years we are given many opportunities to influence others. Whether you’re a parent influencing your children, an older sibling looked up to by your younger brothers and sisters, or even if you just happen to be sitting next to a fellow Jew on a plane. We are like the fire and the people we influence are the wicks. Just as the Kohen Gadol would hold the candle in place until the flame would rise on its own, we too must make sure that we don’t leave the wicks (the people we influence) until they're able to rise on their own. Sometimes these opportunities last longer than others, but we have to realize that the time we have to affect someone is limited, and that we must take advantage of it. You will only be looked up to by your children, siblings, or friends for a limited amount of time. For this reason it is important to always be an active role model to those people who look up to you, and to do your best to steer them in the right direction.

As we learned from the Me'am Loez, for every Missva that you caused your child, sibling, friend, or fellow Jew to do, you receive reward as if you did it yourself. May we all take advantage of the many opportunities we have to influence others, and in Zchut of the Missvot that stem from our efforts may we see the coming of Mashiah Bimhera B'yamenu.