Parshat Vayakhel 5779
Rabbi Jablinowitz
We read in the beginning of this week's parsha the mitzvah of Shabbos and immediately afterwards the Torah reviews the mitzvah of building the Mishkan. In last week's parsha, Ki Sisa, the building of the Mishkan is brought before the mitzvah of Shabbos. Why is the order of Shabbos and the building of the Mishkan reversed in these two parshiyot?
Rav Tzadok explains the difference in the order according to the position of the Ramban (based on the Zohar Hakadosh) that the parshiyot are brought in order of the chronological events. There were two separate commands to build the Mishkan, one before the Cheit HaEgel, and the command brought in our parsha which took place after the sin. Before the Cheit the Mishkan is mentioned before Shabbos and in our parsha after the sin, Shabbos is first
The Gemara in Shabbos 69B teaches that if one finds himself in the desert and doesn’t know which day is Shabbos, according to Rav Huna he counts six days and then he keeps Shabbos. Chiya Bar Rav disagrees and holds that he should stop and keep Shabbos, and then count the six days of the week. Rav Huna’s solution follows the chronology of creation, six days of work and then Shabbos, while Chiya Bar Rav’s alternative follows the experience of Adam HaRishon who was created on Erev Shabbos. His first full day was Shabbos, and then he experienced the six days of work.
This weeks' parsha, which occurs after the Cheit HaEgel, parallels the experience of Adam HaRishon. Adam sinned on his first day and needed the opportunity of Shabbos and doing Teshuva in order to infuse the following days with Kedushah. Similarly, Bnei Yisrael after having sinned were taught again the mitzvah of Shabbos; only then was the building of the Mishkan repeated. First there needed to be the Kedushah of Shabbos before Bnei Yisrael could build the Mishkan and infuse the physical vessels of the Mishkan with the Kedushah necessary for the Shechinah to reside in their midst.
This process holds true for all of us every week as well. The experience of Shabbos is meant to enable us to infuse the week after with the holiness of Shabbos. We need to view everything we do as Meleches HaMishkan; all that we are involved in should be considered as if we are building the Mishkan. We need to focus our activities all week long with the intention of serving Hashem and bringing honor to His name.
This concept is taught by the Rambam in Hilchos De'os. He states (Chapter 3, Halacha 3), One should intend to be strong and healthy in order to for his soul to be straight and to know Hashem. For one can't be ill and attain wisdom at the same time. And one should want to have children in order that the child should grow up to be a "Chacham V'Gadol B'Yisrael". And even when one is sleeping, if his intention is to rest in order that he should serve Gd better when awake, his sleep is considered as serving Hashem.
This is what Rav Tzadok means when he says that one's activities during the week should be like building the Mishkan. When one does things for the right reason, L'Shem Shamayim, everything he does is part of his Avodas Hashem. And this is why in the second set of Luchos, Yetzias Mitzrayim is given as the reason for the mitzvah of Shabbos. For just as Bnei Yisrael were purified through their experience in Mitzrayim, so too Shabbos purifies us and enables us to face the world afterwards with the right frame of mind and the right intentions. We need to constantly bring holiness and light into the darkness of the world; and in order to do this we need to start first with the inspiration of Shabbos.
Good Shabbos
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