שֵׁ֣שֶׁת יָמִים֮ תֵּעָשֶׂ֣ה מְלָאכָה֒ וּבַיּ֣וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֗י יִהְיֶ֨ה לָכֶ֥ם קֹ֛דֶשׁ שַׁבַּ֥ת שַׁבָּת֖וֹן לַיהוָ֑ה כָּל־הָעֹשֶׂ֥ה
ב֛וֹ מְלָאכָ֖ה יוּמָֽת׃ (35.2)
“On six days, work may be done, but the seventh day shall be holy for you, a day of complete rest for Hashem.”
Most of Parsha Vayakhel talks about the mishkan, and everything involved in it. So the mention of shabbat here in the beginning of the parsha seems out of place. R. Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld offers an explanation and says that both Shobbos 10b and Beitah 16a relate that shabbat is a gift from Hashem given to the jewish people and after the jews sinned with the cheit haegel they were afraid that they were not worthy of this gift anymore. Sicnce it says in the gemara that if you participate in Avoda Zara you are liable to death. So to show the jews that they were wrong the torah presents us with the mitzvah to keep shobbos right before and right after the cheit haEgel. Since hashem is trying to show them just as they were obligated in shobbos before they sinned, so too they are still obligated in shobbos after they sinned. So according to this interpretation the beginning of the parsha doesn't have to do with the mishkan, rather it's the mitzvah of shabbat surrounding their sin.
- Why else could the mention of shabbat be placed at the beginning of the parsha?
- Where else in the torah is shabbat mentioned?
- Where else does something seem out of place in the torah but is there to teach us something?
The first time that the idea of Shabbos is mentioned in the Torah is in Beraishit when Hashem created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. The Chachamin say that on this day Hashem created rest- menucha and without i sustained creativity would not be possible. I really like that Hashem gives us Shabbos to rest from the rest of the week just like he rested after creation. Its the one day of the week where everything “stops” and we are able to focus on this one specail holy day different from the rest of the week that no other nation has
ReplyDeleteWhy is Shabbat mentioned now, in the begging of the parsha? Rashi explains that Hashem mentions shabbat now, including the punishment you get if you violate it, in order to intimidate bnei yisroel. Bnei Yisroel is about to receive the commandment of building the mishkan. Both the mishkan and shabbat are holy things and hashem wants to convey to bnei yisroel that while building the mishkan is extremely important, they can not push aside shabbat! I really like this idea because it is really relevant with what is going on so it fits right in with the pasukim!
ReplyDeleteAccording to Chizkuni, the reason that it is placed in the beginning is to remind them that the 6 days of working and then resting also applies to them building the mishkan. I like this idea because it’s very straight forward and it’s also important for them to know that they can’t work on the mishkan bc it counts as melacha- it is a reminder for them. It also comes to teach us that Bnei Yisrael aren’t perfect and they also need reminders about things to remember not to do.
ReplyDeleteWhere in the Torah is something out of place, but teaches us a lesson?
ReplyDeleteAs we recently learned in Shemot, the names Shifra and Puah seemed very out of place. Where did these two midwives come from? Eben Ezra tells us that the two midwives are officers over the other midwives. Pharoah specifically asks them two because they’re in charge over all the other midwives. What can we learn from this? We know that the midwives didn’t carry out Pharaoh’s message. A possible answer could be that they were really Yocheved and Miriam, as Rashi says a conservation of characters, and they never delivered the message to their subordinates to prevent the Jews from being killed. Or they could have been Egyptians with a moral compass. We can learn from these two midwives that holding a high position of power can be used for good. I like this answer because it makes two characters who seem unknown to actually be Jewish and closely related to Moshe.
Another place in the torah where shabbat is mentioned is in the passuk, “וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם֙ אֶת־הַשַּׁבָּ֔ת כִּ֛י קֹ֥דֶשׁ הִ֖וא לָכֶ֑ם מְחַֽלְלֶ֙יהָ֙ מ֣וֹת יוּמָ֔ת כִּ֗י כָּל־הָעֹשֶׂ֥ה בָהּ֙ מְלָאכָ֔ה וְנִכְרְתָ֛ה הַנֶּ֥פֶשׁ הַהִ֖וא מִקֶּ֥רֶב עַמֶּֽיהָ׃” (שמות - 31:14). R’ Yonatan Ben Yosef says that the word לָכֶ֑ם comes to teach us that Shabbat was given to us, we were not given to shabbat. Therefore, this passuk is used as a proof that saving a life overrides shabbat. Shabbat was given to us as a gift so we obviously save a life over keeping a present given to us.
ReplyDeleteI don’t like this answer because it’s a little bit hard to understand. Also, it’s a little bit of a far-fetched answer just from the word לָכֶ֑ם.
According to the Alshich, the reason that shabbos is juxtaposed is to highlight their similar holinesses. The mishkan and all the items within it are not holy until the Shechinah dwells within it. We assume shabbos is intrinsically holy but the Alshich teaches us that shabbos is only holy when we create an environment that hashem wants to rest in. I love this idea because I feel that I take shabbos for granted or don’t use it in a way they glorifies the day.
ReplyDeleteRivka Krause