Parshat Vayakhel 5785
Rabbi Jablinowitz
We read in the beginning of this week’s parsha the prohibition against kindling a fire. The pasuk says (Chapter 35, Pasuk 3), לא תבערו אש בכל משבתיכם ביום השבת. Unlike any other of the prohibited melachos, the Torah singles out the prohibition of הבערה as a separate negative command. All the other prohibitions are included in the general command of (Chapter 20, Pasuk 10), לא תעשה כל מלאכה. Why was this issur singled out from the rest?
This issue is primarily presented in the Gemara as a disagreement between Rabbi Nosson and Rabbi Yosee. Rabbi Nosson holds לחלק יצאת; this separate command is meant to teach that all the different melachos are separate transgressions. If one violated a few melachos B’Shogeg at one time, he must bring a separate Karban Chatas for each one. The violation of kindling fire was brought separate to teach that just as it is a separate and distinct violation, so are all the others.
Rabbi Yosee holds ללאו יצאת. He says the reason that this violation was singled out is because it is unique. Unlike all the other melachos of Shabbos which are punishable by סקילה or כרת, depending on whether there was a warning beforehand, הבערה is treated like any other negative command in the Torah. It is singled out to teach that it is a less severe prohibition and only punishable by מלקות.
According to Rabbi Yosee, הבערה is singled out to teach something unique about the melacha itself. But according to Rabbi Nosson, this separate lav is teaching something about all the violations of Shabbos; they are treated as separate and distinct violations of the law with separate punishments. If so, why was this prohibition selected to teach this principle? Surely the Torah could have made the same point with any of the other 38 melachos!
The Sfas Emes answers that from a halachic perspective, the prohibition of הבערה, according to Rabbi Nosson, is the same as all the others. And as such it teaches us that just as הבערה is separate and distinct, so too are all the other melachos of Shabbos. But beyond the purely halachic consideration, the prohibition against kindling fire on Shabbos is expressing a broader and more fundamental point about Shabbos.
The Sfas Emes quotes the Zohar Hakadosh which refers to the light of Shabbos as מאורי אור and the light of the weekdays as מאורי אש. The reason the light of the week is called מאורי אש is because we live in a physical world. And the light of fire is based on a physical fuel which is being consumed and creates the light. During the six days of the week we attempt to live an inspired life by destroying and reducing the physical constraints of our life. And when we eradicate all the physicality around us we are able to produce great light. This is the light of מאורי האש we strive to create during the week.
If the six days of the week represent Olam Hazeh, then Shabbos Kodesh represents Olam Haba. And if we are successful in our Avodah during the week of making light by removing the פסולת in the world, then we are able to come into Shabbos and receive the great light of Shabbos. And this is the work of a lifetime, trying to burn away the refuse in our life and purify ourselves so that we can enter Olam Haba. The alternative to making our own fire in Olam Hazeh, is to be purified in the fires of Gehinnom, Chas V’Shalom.
This is why the Torah singled out לא תבערו אש בכל משבתיכם ביום השבת. When Shabbos arrives, we cease our activity of creating our own light in the world by burning away the refuse. On Shabbos, we are able to enjoy the pure light of Hashem, the מאורי אור. This is the light of creation which was hidden away for the Tzadikim to enjoy in the future, לעתיד לבא. On Shabbos we get to sense and feel this אור הגנוז. Therefore, לא תבערו אש; we cease making our own light based on physical fuel and benefit from the pure light of Hashem.
And when Shabbos ends, we return to our process of creating our own light through burning פסולת. And this is why on Motzei Shabbos we make the blessing of בורא מאורי האש. We make our own light through fire and we make the blessing right after Shabbos as an attempt to try to coopt the light of מאורי אור we just experienced on Shabbos and turn it into our own light of מאורי האש.
Good Shabbos
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