Vayak'heil for Tweens

Since there are more Torah portions than Sabbaths in most Jewish years, certain Torah portions may be combined in order to make sure that the entire Torah could be completed. On this Shabbat we read such a "double portion", Vayak'heil and P'kudei. Both portions continue the narrative of building the Mishkan (Tabernacle). The former concentrates of the tangible contributions of the community to the project and the second on the allocation of those contributions to the actual construction along with a detailed description of the priestly vestments.

In the first aliyah of Parashat Vayak'heil, Moses gathers the entire community to remind them to observe Shabbat:

These are the things that the Eternal has commanded you to do: On six days work may be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Eternal." (Exodus 35:1b-2a)

From the first creation story in Genesis, we learn that on the seventh day God rested from God's work of creation. (Genesis 2:2-3) The Fourth Commandment, which we read in Parashat Yitro,states Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy. (Exodus 20:8) The purpose of the assembly at the beginning of Vayak'heil is to receive further instructions about the construction of the Tabernacle. Nevertheless, these instructions begin with the instruction is to keep Shabbat. Although there are many things that God commands Moses and the Israelites to do and not to do, this command is singled out and repeated here so that the people remember to take a break, even from this holy work, on Shabbat. Abravanel, a 15^th century Spanish commentator, explains, "Actual work is a more eloquent witness of faith than cessation from work, since action is positive and inaction negation. … It might well have been argued that the work of the Tabernacle would have sufficed to draw attention and testify to the existence of the Divine Presence in our midst.… The desistance from work would therefore not be required, in this instance, to testify to these principles. On this account, God told Moses to say to Israel: verily you shall keep My Sabbaths, i.e., though the work of the Tabernacle is sacred and of great importance in My eyes, nevertheless you must not override the Sabbath, on its account, but observe it." (Cited in Leibowitz, New Studies in Shemot, 655-656) Leibowitz goes further and explains not only the reason this commandment is included here, but also the message it sends: God reminds the people that in their endeavor to create a holy space for God, God remains the sole One to create holy time. (658)

The rest we are commanded to take, the rest of Shabbat, is a complete rest, shabbat shabbaton. The root shin-bet-tav means a cessation from action, different from rest, a word with the root nun-vav-chet (as in the word menuchah). The construct shabbat shabbaton emphasizes the complete and utter cessation from work on Shabbat. The Day of Atonement (Leviticus 23:32) and the Sabbatical year (Leviticus 25:4) are also called shabbat shabbaton. These breaks from our regular routine are rests of for the sake of God, not for the human. We rest when we are tired from our work. We are to make a Shabbat because we are imitating God's rest, not because we think we need a break.

Abraham Joshua Heschel teaches that humans use time. On the seventh day, we are meant to contemplate time. "Indeed we know what to do with space, but not what to do about time. Most of us seem to labor for the sake of things of space. As a result, we suffer from a deeply rooted dread of time." ( The Sabbath, 5) God gave us special time as a solution to this problem of fleeing the realm of space. We are to work with space, but "be in love with eternity. Things are our tools; eternity, the Sabbath, is our mate." (The Sabbath,48) The proximity of our verse to the description of the building of the Tabernacle teaches us that this holy space is not to become another manipulation of space to distract us from the priority of time.

"When the world was created, Shabbat said to the Holy One, 'Ruler of the Universe, every living thing created has its mate, and each day has its companion, except me, the seventh day. I am alone!' God answered, 'The people of Israel will be your mate.' …It is with reference to this that My fourth commandment for you reads: 'Remember the Shabbat and keep it holy.'" (B'reishit Rabbah 11:8) On Shabbat we have a new purpose, a different kind of temporal "tabernacle" to construct. Shabbat is the time we give to God, when we reconsecrate the relationship ordained at the Creation.

Table Talk

1. How do you keep Shabbat? What makes the time special, and from what kind of activity can you cease?
2. Mishnah Shabbat 7:2 lists the 39 ("forty less one") categories of work prohibited on Shabbat. In our aliyah, only the commandment not to kindle fire is mentioned. (Exodus 35:3) How do you think making a fire is connected to other categories of work?
3. The idea of reading a double portion of Torah this week reminds us of other duos in our tradition, such as two Shabbat candlesticks and the double portion of manna God gave in the desert (symbolized by two loaves of challah on our Shabbat table). What does the image of a double portion evoke in you?

For Further Learning

There is an emerging movement that advocates for slowing down in everything we do. Carl Honoré writes, "In 1982 Larry Dossey, an American physician, coined the term 'time-sickness' to describe the obsessive belief that 'time is getting away, and there isn't enough of it, and that you must pedal faster and faster to keep up.' These days, the whole world is time-sick. We all belong to the same cult of speed. … Why are we always in such a rush? What is the cure for time-sickness? Is it possible, or even desirable, to slow down?" (In Praise of Slowness, 3) How is Shabbat rest a cure for time-sickness? How are holy times different from or similar to an overall approach to slowing down on a daily basis?