Wednesday, February 19, 2014

VaYakhel ויקהל – Enjoy the Creation

In parshas VaYakhel Moshe assembles the nation of Israel to charter them for the establishment of the Temple. However, before even telling them what the Temple is to look like, he admonishes them to keep the Shabbos. He declares that six days of the week are for working at their profession (מלאכה) but on the seventh day there is to be a decided cessation for Hashem. To add emphasis Moshe exclaims anybody doing work on Shabbos will die and they shouldn’t even burn a fire.

The commandment that Moshe gives to the children of Israel parallels the mitzvah given to Moshe by HaShem at the conclusion of the instructions how to construct the Mishkan. The commandment from Hashem is a bit longer and has both stern and gentle elements. It includes reasons though some of them are not so intuitively understandable by flesh and blood. We are told that Shabbos is a sign between Hashem and Israel and a vehicle through which we will know that Hashem sanctifies Israel. The penalty for work is estranged from the people. G-d concludes the mitzvah by saying that Shabbos is a sign that He made the heaven and earth in six days and on the seventh day took pleasure (וינפש) from His labors.

After properly relaying the musar about Shabbos, Moshe itemizes the components of the Temple and the priestly raiment. This passage forms the basis for the Mishna (Shabbos 7:2), “there are forty less one principle crafts”. The crafts fall into four basic categories, production of bread, cloth garments, leather, and construction. The Gemara explores the word forty and asks what the missing trade is. Several explanations are brought one of them is the trade of Yosef. The verse concerning Yosef’s labor in the house of Potiphar (Genesis 39:11) is brought. It would seem that the profession of Yosef was that of a butler, auditor, and an administrator in charge of running the master’s plantation. It does not look as if he got his hands dirty. This hints that engaging in activities for the sake of profit, that are not otherwise forbidden, may be undesirable, but permissible in certain circumscribed situations.  

From these passages we learn something about the nature of Shabbos observance. The most fundamental prohibition of labor is for the ordinary production of articles for normal physical uses such as food, clothing, and shelter. The exhortation not to burn a fire on Shabbos is the source of consideration discussion. All of the commentaries reject the idea of a blanket prohibition on fire in favor of sitting in the cold and eating cold food. Rather there is an elaborate body of law dealing with what should and should not be done with fire. The Rambam goes so far as to use this verse as the source for prohibiting application of punishments of Shabbos, something that is not a literal use of fire. Lighting a fire is in fact counted as one of the 39 forbidden crafts. However, there is a discussion whether this verse (Exodus 35:3) is its primary source.

Fire though is a major tool for production. For example a fire is needed to bake bread and also to heat water for dyeing and laundering. It seems that the prohibition against burning a fire is essentially a prohibition for preparing to do any craft on Shabbos even though the craft was not actually done. Under the halacha preparing for weekday activities on Shabbos, if not forbidden outright, is at least restricted and greatly frowned upon.

A difficulty arises when the objective of the work done is not so much the laborer’s sustenance but rather for the community good particularly to aid in Shabbos observance. Because construction of the Temple is forbidden on Shabbos one can infer no production is permitted on Shabbos. Therefore nobody can say his work is so important that it takes precedence over the Shabbos. In extreme situations where human life is at stake all work is to be performed, a number of rationales some apparent others not greatly are given. In situations where the absence of a particular activity will cause pain or serious inconvenience it is often permitted but only in convoluted way and sometimes with legal fictions given to justify it.

The issue of a hobby for example a flower garden is illustrative. One could argue that watering, weeding, or fertilizing such a garden does nothing for a person’s parnasah. They do, though, involve a degree of bother, which really is not Shabbosdik. On Shabbos a person should enjoy their garden, look at the flowers and admire their beauty, and try to see the hand of Hashem in their garden as well as remnants of His six days of handiwork. Through this we can understand how Shabbos is like the Temple. By resting on Shabbos and partaking of the blessings that have come to us from Above, we recognize and explicitly give thanks to the Creator. In the case of Temple we bring a sacrifice to express the same thought.

Of at least equal importance to the idea of rest on Shabbos are the concepts of recreation (וינפש), the relationship between G-d and Israel, and a cultivated belief that G-d created the world in six days. This means that cessation of work is not enough, rather one should enjoy the day off as well. As a result a person should specifically do things that give them pleasure. However part of the day should also be related to religion. Desirable religious studies would be ones that emphasize the interaction between Hashem and the Jewish people.

The issue of the creation of the world in six days is more complex. The Chumash testifies that G-d created the world in six days. However we may not see it that way in our own minds. It would seem that the Torah is saying that we should delve into this belief with the assurance that we will ultimately see its truth. For those that really do see it the Chumash encourages us to develop this belief until we can see it in detail in the physical world.

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לע"נ, האמה ,מלכה בת חיים ז"ל נלב"ע ט"ז ניסן תשנ"ח

Acknowledgements to websites: תורת אמת, וויקיטקסט, http://dictionary.reference.com/, http://hebrewbooks.org/,


וגם בדואר אלקטרוני  ניתן באתר http://dyschreiber.blogspot.co.il



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