At first glance,\nParashat Vayakhel seems repetitive. Moshe was already given the directions for\nbuilding the Mishkan, the portable Temple used before the more permanent\nstructure was built in Jerusalem. We read this before. Why does the Torah need\nto repeat the same details now that Moshe actually presides over the\nconstruction? Every detail of the construction of the Mishkan and its parts is\nmentioned. The same details were already given. What is different this time?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This week\u2019s\nparashah is an essential one for studying the laws of Shabbat. The Parashah\nbegins with another exhortation to keep Shabbat, including the one prohibited\nlabor explicitly mentioned: that of lighting fires. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSix days you\nshall perform labor, and on the seventh day you shall have a great and holy day\nof rest to the Eternal; anyone who labors on it shall be put to death. You\nshall not light any fire throughout your dwelling places on the day of Shabbat.\n(Exodus 35:2-3)\u201d<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Immediately after\nMoshe\u2019s reminder to the people not to labor on Shabbat, Moshe instructs the\npeople as to how to build the Mishkan. The people go to work, bringing\nmaterials, and performing whatever tasks they have the skills to perform. After\nthe work is done, the people continue to bring materials beyond what is\nnecessary. Moshe gives the order to cease construction:<\/p>\n\n\n\n And Moshe\ncommanded, and they proclaimed throughout the camp saying \u2018Let no man or woman\ndo any more labor for the offering of the Holy Place.\u2019 And the people were\nstopped from bringing. (Exodus 36:6)<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n This verse is\nseen as proof that taking objects from one area to another, i.e., from indoors\nto outdoors, or from the private to the public domain, or vice-versa, is a\nprohibited labor on Shabbat. The Talmud Yerushalmi (Sbabbat 1b) reads:<\/p>\n\n\n\n From where is it\nthat taking out is called labor? Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman in the name of Rabbi\nYonatan: They got the implication from this\u00ad\u00ad\u2014\u2018And Moshe commanded, and they\nproclaimed throughout the camp saying \u2018Let no man or woman do any more labor\nfor the offering of the Holy Place.\u2019 And the people were stopped from bringing.\n(Exodus 36:6)<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n And so we have\nthe description of the building of the Mishkan, the one project which involved\nthe labor and donations of the entire people of Israel, sandwiched between\nverses that teach us about the labors forbidden on Shabbat. Lighting fires and\ncarrying objects frame the rest of the labors involved in building a sanctuary.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Shabbat, we\nare forbidden not only to do the work that we do to make a living, but to build\na sanctuary for ourselves. We are commanded then to enjoy the holy time and\nspaces that we already have, and to nourish our souls from there.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,43],"tags":[44],"class_list":["post-3106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rabbi_blog","category-weekly-drasha","tag-44"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mainesynagogue.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mainesynagogue.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mainesynagogue.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mainesynagogue.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mainesynagogue.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3106"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.mainesynagogue.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3106\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3107,"href":"http:\/\/www.mainesynagogue.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3106\/revisions\/3107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mainesynagogue.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mainesynagogue.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mainesynagogue.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}