Parshat Vayakhel 5782
Rabbi Jablinowitz
We read in the first pasuk in this week’s parsha, אלה הדברים אשר צוה ד' לעשות אותם. These are the matters which Hashem commanded Bnei Yisrael to do. There is a disagreement among the commentators what the pasuk is referring to. According to the Ramban, the matter being referred to is the matter of building the Mishkan. And the very next pasuk mentions Shabbos in order to teach that Shabbos, however, overrides the mitzvah of the Mishkan, and its building is prohibited on Shabbos.
Rashi, however, learns that the first pasuk is referring to the matter of Shabbos, as the next pasuk continues. And since the parsha of Shabbos precedes the mitzvah of the Mishkan, we derive that Shabbos overrides the building of the Mishkan. (See the Maharal in the Gur Aryeh who explains why this drasha is necessary, since Rashi derived this from the words אך את שבתותי תשמורו in last week’s parsha).
The Sfas Emes learns the first pasuk like Rashi, but points out a problem with this understanding. The pasuk seems to emphasize that there is something we need to do on Shabbos, as the words say לעשות אותם. On Shabbos, though, the opposite is true; we refrain from working on Shabbos. Why is it that the Torah suggests we need to actively accomplish something on Shabbos?
Whenever we are commanded the mitzvah of Shabbos in the Torah, it is always preceded with the notion of working for six days, and then you rest. As we read in our parsha (Chapter 35, Pasuk 2), ששת ימים תעשה מלאכה וביום השביעי יהיה לכם קודש שבת שבתון יהיה לכם. Why does the Torah need to emphasize that one works during the six days? Is the mitzvah of Shabbos dependent on having worked the six days prior?
The Sfas Emes explains that the Torah teaches the mitzvah of Shabbos in this manner in order to illustrate that one’s resting on Shabbos takes on its real significance when he worked the whole week. The only reason he didn’t work on Shabbos is because of the mitzvah of Shabbos. Work is something which is suitable during the six days of the week, which parallel the six days of creation of the physical world. On Shabbos we rest, because we exist on a higher plane and recognize the physical world was created by Hashem. By limiting our work precisely on Shabbos, we acknowledge that the physical world is based on the spiritual; the ultimate reason for our existence is to minimize the physical and connect with the infinite holiness of Gd who created our physical world.
This is the meaning of the words לעשות אותם as it relates to Shabbos. We fulfill the notion of work, by not working on Shabbos. ביטולו הרי הוא קיומו. We acknowledge the true essence of the physical by not engaging in such activity on the holy day of Shabbos. Shabbos reflects a higher world and a higher existence from where the physical began.
Our actions parallel what the Torah tells us about Hashem in sefer Bereishis. The pasuk says (Chapter 2, Pasuk 2), ויכל אלוקים ביום השביעי. Gd completed the creation on Shabbos. But how could the Torah say that? Hashem didn’t create anything on Shabbos; He rested!
Rashi answers by stating באת שבת, באת מנוחה. When Shabbos came, there was now rest in the world. The Sfas Emes teaches that the word מנוחה doesn’t mean rest, but rather that a holiness of רוח הקודש rested upon the world. On Shabbos, there became a realization that the world was not just a physical, natural reality; it was created by Gd.
And this is the meaning of the words ויכל אלוקים ביום השביעי. The creation wasn’t complete until the realization that the world was created by Gd. And these words are paralleled by the words לעשות אותם in our parsha. We uplift the world when we indicate that the work we do the whole week is secondary to the Kedushah of Shabbos. Our ongoing struggle in life is to show the physical is not only inferior to the spiritual, but it gets its essence from the Divine, from Hakadosh Baruch Hu. And when we keep Shabbos and desist from work, we show the source of everything we have in this world.
Good Shabbos
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