Parshas Vayakhel
The Incredible Versatility of the Mishkan and Shabbos1
Juxtaposing Shabbos to the Mishkan makes eminent sense to us. We’ve seen
Rashi’s comment, that placing Shabbos first in our parshah, before
mentioning the Mishkan, serves notice to us that Shabbos takes precedence
in any conflict with the readying of the Mishkan. Construction of the
Mishkan goes on hiatus when Shabbos arrives; its kedushah brings
the work of building the Mishkan to a grinding halt.
Upon further reflection, however, we ought not to be so pleased with this
explanation, even though it rings true. The reason that it rings true is
that we’ve heard the message before, in parshas Ki Sisa, where the Torah
appends a warning to the final instructions regarding the Mishkan’s
construction. “However, you must observe My Shabbosos.”2 Rashi there as well offers that the Torah links
Shabbos to Mishkan so that we will understand that building the Mishkan
does not trump the strictures of Shabbos. So why do we need to hear this
twice?
A clue lies in the timing of our parshah. Moshe gave it to us on the day
after Yom Kippur, the day that he made his way down the mountain with the
news that HKBH had forgiven them for the sin of the Golden Calf. Along
with that welcome news came a restatement of two mitzvos which had been
mentioned before: Shabbos and Mishkan. Precisely because of the role that
these two would play in the process of maintaining the process of
teshuvah, they had to be repeated on the morrow after our first
national experience with Hashem’s forgiveness.
Shabbos and Mishkan share an element of universal relevance. They both
target all Jews, even those at the extremes of continuum of spiritual
accomplishment. They both address people on the absolutely highest levels
of spiritual accomplishment, as well as those who have fallen into the
deepest ruts. Shabbos illuminates the world of the Jew who lives on the
cutting edge of spirituality. On the other hand, even the Jew who has
strayed so far as to worship avodah zarah like the generation of
Enosh can find atonement through the proper observance of Shabbos.3
The Mishkan parallels this, exactly. Even those (or more accurately,
precisely those) on the highest levels are moved by the influence
channeled through the aron and the luchos to a more
sophisticated appreciation of Torah and Divine service. The menorah
directed a Light of Elokus to those same people. The flame atop
the outer altar that burnt through the night offered protection from the
darkness of all kinds of mishaps. In a similar manner, each of the vessels
of the Mishkan offered some similar dividend of influence from Above,
which could be appreciated and utilized best by the spiritual cognoscenti.
At the same time, the Mishkan certainly functioned as a lifeline to those
who were spiritually adrift. The sinner brought his offering here to find
atonement. The most regular fixtures of the Mishkan served a similar
purpose. Chazal tell us that the morning Tamid atoned for nocturnal sins,
while the afternoon Tamid addressed daytime sins.4
This, then, is the significance of the coupling of Shabbos and Mishkan,
and its twice-articulated statement. Both of them have great relevance to
the Jew in Ki Sisa, untainted by the sin of the Egel. But both
speak a different language and offer a very different service to the Jew
in Vayakhel, weighed down by the burden of a very serious aveirah.
To them they offer guidance and encouragement on the path to a spiritual
makeover. The Torah presents Shabbos and Mishkan twice – together – to
underscore their parallel roles, and their application both before and
after chet.
Considered more deeply, we find that not only has the Torah charged
Shabbos with two different roles, but those roles can be thought of as
opposite sides of the same coin. As as source of ethereal illumination,
Shabbos is an example of isr’usa del’ayla – of awakening sent from
above. Through Shabbos, the Jew who is pure and cleansed of sin can draw
towards himself the its light and holiness. Shabbos stands in the opposite
position for the post-chet Jew. To him, Shabbos comes in the form
of isr’usa del’sasa – arousal begun from below. Shabbos is
effective for him only to the extent that he has readied himself prior to
its arrival by jettisoning his deficiencies and loosening his attachment
to the mundane. (The zachor/shamor duality directly flows from
this. Zachor, the positive, affirmative facet of Shabbos, relates
to the light and kedushah it brings. Shamor, the avoidance
of forbidden activity, points to the avodah, the difficult inner
preparation that Shabbos demands of some of us.)
We understand the reference to the use of the plural Shabsosai in
Ki Sisa; we can experience indeed two different kinds of Shabbos,
depending on our level. When the Gemara5 speaks of Shabbos as the “good gift” that Hashem
wishes to release from His treasure trove, it means the pre-chet
Shabbos, which in fact is a freely offered gift – at least to those on the
level to deserve it. On the other hand, when in Kiddush we mention
that “Bnei Yisrael guarded, observed Shabbos la’asos, to
make the Shabbos,” we point to the post-chet Shabbos that
places the burden of effort upon ourselves and our doing. Without our own
activity and input, we are unable to enter into the Shabbos experience.
(The Zohar6 tells us that there is a
continuum of successful preparation. An anagram of the letters of Shabbos
is boshes, shame. The embarrassment we feel about our own
inadequacy as the holiness of Shabbos approaches is itself a form of
effective preparation for it.)
We get some idea of the extent of Shabbos’ reach in the Zohar’s7 insistence that even evildoers consigned
to gehinom participate in Shabbos. R. Yosi sees an allusion to this
in the double portion that Bnei Yisrael were instructed to collect on
erev Shabbos so that they would not have to collect the manna on
Shabbos itself. The evildoers as well, says R. Yosi receive a double dose
of their punishment on erev Shabbos, so that they too – even those who
publicly violated Shabbos in their lifetimes – experience Shabbos as a day
of peace and rest.
The essential point is that Shabbos – like the Mishkan – has universal
application without exception, extending to all people, saint and sinner
alike.
1 Based on Nesivos Shalom pgs 259-261
2 Shemos 31:13
3 Shabbos 118B
4 Bamidbar Rabbah 21:21
5 Shabbos 10B
6 Tikunei Zohar 5B
7 Zohar Chadash, Bereishis
Text Copyright © 2008 by Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein and Torah.org
