At first glance, Parashat Vayakhel seems repetitive. Moshe was already given the directions for building the Mishkan, the portable Temple used before the more permanent structure was built in Jerusalem. We read this before. Why does the Torah need to repeat the same details now that Moshe actually presides over the construction? Every detail of the construction of the Mishkan and its parts is mentioned. The same details were already given. What is different this time?

This week’s parashah is an essential one for studying the laws of Shabbat. The Parashah begins with another exhortation to keep Shabbat, including the one prohibited labor explicitly mentioned: that of lighting fires.

“Six days you shall perform labor, and on the seventh day you shall have a great and holy day of rest to the Eternal; anyone who labors on it shall be put to death. You shall not light any fire throughout your dwelling places on the day of Shabbat. (Exodus 35:2-3)”

Immediately after Moshe’s reminder to the people not to labor on Shabbat, Moshe instructs the people as to how to build the Mishkan. The people go to work, bringing materials, and performing whatever tasks they have the skills to perform. After the work is done, the people continue to bring materials beyond what is necessary. Moshe gives the order to cease construction:

And Moshe commanded, and they proclaimed throughout the camp saying ‘Let no man or woman do any more labor for the offering of the Holy Place.’ And the people were stopped from bringing. (Exodus 36:6)

This verse is seen as proof that taking objects from one area to another, i.e., from indoors to outdoors, or from the private to the public domain, or vice-versa, is a prohibited labor on Shabbat. The Talmud Yerushalmi (Sbabbat 1b) reads:

From where is it that taking out is called labor? Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman in the name of Rabbi Yonatan: They got the implication from this­­—‘And Moshe commanded, and they proclaimed throughout the camp saying ‘Let no man or woman do any more labor for the offering of the Holy Place.’ And the people were stopped from bringing. (Exodus 36:6)

And so we have the description of the building of the Mishkan, the one project which involved the labor and donations of the entire people of Israel, sandwiched between verses that teach us about the labors forbidden on Shabbat. Lighting fires and carrying objects frame the rest of the labors involved in building a sanctuary.

On Shabbat, we are forbidden not only to do the work that we do to make a living, but to build a sanctuary for ourselves. We are commanded then to enjoy the holy time and spaces that we already have, and to nourish our souls from there.