Wiggle Room! - Vayakhel

Description

“These are the things that Hashem commanded to do them:” (35:1) Here's a parable drawn from motorcycles to illustrate the concept of ‘bidieved’ - an untranslatable word usually translated as ‘after the fact.’ A mitzva has an ideal – lechatchila – way to be performed, but there is also a degree of latitude that, while not ideal, will still cause the mitzva to have its effect. That's 'bidieved.' But what's that got to do with motorcycles?