VaYakhel 5764
Parashat Vayakhel opens up with the law of Shabbat. It tells us 6 days we go to work, and on Shabbat we rest, we take off, and we are not allowed to do Melacha (work.) Following that we read about the Mishkan. We read about the funds that were collected, and what they did with the monies of the Mishkan, and actually the whole story is reviewed. And so of course all the Rabbis ask what is the connection between Shabbat and the Mishkan. Why does the Torah juxtapose them next t o each other?
There’s a Midrash that approaches this subject. The Midrash starts off and says that the Torah came in front of G-d and asked a question. The Torah asked, what is going to be with me once the Jewish people enter the land of Israel. Some Jews will be dealing with their vineyards, and other Jews will be dealing with their fields and will become land owners. So how will it be, the Torah asks, that the Jews will have time to study Torah? The Torah asks, ‘What is going to be with me?’ In the desert people had time on their hands. Nobody owned real estate. There was nothing for them to do except to learn Torah. The Torah was getting concerned what would happen once the Jews enter the land of Israel, since the Jews would need to attend to their properties, and they will not have time learn Torah anymore. So G-d answered that he has a mate for the Torah, a partner for Torah. And it is called Shabbat. Because on that day the Jewish people are not allowed to work and therefore they are going to have no choice but to sit and study Torah.
The Yerushalmi writes on this topic. It writes that Rabbi Chagai says that the purpose of Shabbat and Yom Tov is so people can sit down and eat well and drink well. But Rabbi Ben Achaya argues on this and says that Shabbat was given to immerse oneself in the study of Divre Torah. So our Rabbis come and say that in fact there is no argument between these two opinions. The opinion that says Shabbat was given for eating and drinking, that is referring to Talmide Chachamim, scholars that sit and study the whole week long. For them on Shabbat they can take a little break and eat a little longer than they normally do, and drink a littlie longer than they normally do. But businessmen who are all week long involved in physical pursuits, for them Shabbat is a spiritual haven where they have to indulge themselves in the study of Torah.
And maybe that’s the connection between Shabbat and the Mishkan. The Mishkan was a place where the people would go and recharge their batteries as they felt the Shechina presence concentrated in the Mishkan. Mishkan was that place where people can go and feel a closeness to G-d. And the Torah is telling you that Shabbat is like a Mishkan in the sense that it’s the day that we spiritually recharge our batteries. Through the study of Torah we get closer to Bore Olam, and that Kedusha of Shabbat which is like the Kidusha of the Mishkan carries us throughout the whole week until the next Shabbat.
There is an important lesson here for many of the businessmen who think that Shabbat is about catching up on lost sleep that was incurred during the week. There is something to say about sleeping on Shabbat, but of course there are more lofty ideals and ideas that Shabbat represent. Shabbat is a day of study of Torah and spiritual growth.
Let us take advantage of this modern day Mishkan called Shabbat, and use it to the right reasons for the study of Torah.
