Scheduling Announcement
This Shabbat, Parashat VaYakhel-Pekudei, March 17th, Minha will be at 6:15 PM at Har HaLebanon, followed by Rabbi Mansour’s Seduat Shelishi Lecture, and Arbit.
This coming week, Rabbi Mansour shall be in South Florida. On Tuesday, March 20th through Thursday March 22nd, the Rabbi shall give the Daf class each morning at 6:00 AM from The Safra Synagogue in Turnberry. Rabbi Mansour shall be speaking on Tuesday night March 20th at 8:15pm at Netive Ezra.
In his absence, Rabbi Mansour is proud to have Rabbi Veisman speak on Monday night March 19th in Brooklyn on the topic of the Bible Code. The class will be at 8:30 PM sharp a Har HaLebanon on the 2nd floor.
** We would like to inform our listeners of a new publication just written by Rabbi David Sutton. The book, "Stories of Spirit and Faith" contains over 130 fascinating stories about our ancestors in Aleppo. The stories are heartwarming, wholesome, spiritual, clever and witty.
Click "Stories of Spirit and Faith" to order it directly from its publisher ArtScroll at a special 20% discount. You can also order the Sephardic Heritage Haggadah co-authored with Rabbi Eli Mansour at the same 20% discount. For the discount, use the promotion code "yadyosef" when you check out. **
Parashat VaYakhel-Pekudei.......
The Ends Do Not Justify the Means
In the Parashiyot of Vayakhel and Pekudei, Moshe conveys to Benei Yisrael God's instructions concerning the building of the Mishkan (Tabernacle). Before presenting these instructions, however, he reminds the people of the Mitzva of Shabbat: "For six days shall work be performed, but the seventh shall be sacred for you, a day of complete rest to God" (35:2).
Why did Moshe command the people with regard to Shabbat observance in conjunction with the laws of the Mishkan?
The Rabbis offer two explanations for this connection between Shabbat and the Mishkan. For one thing, the Shabbat prohibitions are derived from the construction of the Mishkan. The Torah never specifies which kinds of constructive activity are forbidden on Shabbat. Instead, it juxtaposed the Mitzva of Shabbat with the laws of the Mishkan to indicate that the activities required for the building of the Mishkan are those which the Torah forbids on Shabbat. The Sages enumerated thirty-nine "Avot Melachot," categories of forbidden activity, that were performed as part of the building the Mishkan and are thus forbidden on Shabbat. Of course, the Shabbat prohibitions number much more than thirty-nine; the thirty-nine Melachot represent merely the general categories of forbidden activity, each of which consists of many details.
But in addition, the juxtaposition between Shabbat and the building of the Mishkan is intended to convey a very profound lesson regarding Mitzva observance. Benei Yisrael would have likely concluded that an important project such as the Mishkan, which would serve as God's "residence" on earth among His people, demanded a seven-day workweek. The people might have figured that the Shabbat prohibitions should give way to the overriding concern for the swift completion of the Mishkan's construction. Moshe therefore reminded the people of Shabbat observance before presenting the laws of the Mishkan; not even the building of God's Mishkan could override the prohibitions of Shabbat.
The lesson that emerges from Moshe's reminder is that regardless of one's noble intentions, the performance of a Mitzva does not justify the transgression of another Mitzva. As zealous as one may be to do a certain Mitzva, he remains bound by the rest of the Torah's laws; we do not have the right to discard one Mitzva in the interest of performing another.
The Gemara discusses a number of examples of this phenomenon. For example, if a person steals grain, uses it to bake Chalot, and sits down to eat the Chalot on Shabbat, the Beracha he recites is not only displeasing to God, it constitutes blasphemy. The Almighty has no interest in our Beracha if it necessitated theft; it is an insult to God to praise Him with stolen property. Similarly, the Gemara speaks of a case of a person who steals another Jew's Lulav to perform the Mitzva of four species on Sukkot. As enthusiastic and zealous as he feels towards the beautiful Mitzva of Lulav, this Mitzva may never come at the expense of the grave prohibition of theft. Indeed, the Mishna explicitly rules that one cannot fulfill his obligation with a stolen Lulav.
Unfortunately, we witness numerous manifestations of this mistake in contemporary Jewish life. Non-Orthodox congregations leave their parking lots open on Shabbat and even on Yom Kippur, inviting members to drive to services. They have taken the liberty to suspend the laws of Shabbat in the interest of greater participation in the prayer services. This is precisely the misconception that the Torah seeks to dispel in Parashat Vayakhel: the construction of the Mishkan does not warrant the suspension of the Shabbat prohibitions; certainly, then, we cannot dismiss the laws of Shabbat to allow people to attend prayer services.
Rabbi Yisrael Salanter (1810-1883) noted the irony in the fact that many students, in their zeal to listen to a Torah lecture or talk of Musar, push the other students aside as they make their way to the lecture hall. Of what value is the study of Torah and Musar if one has to trample on other people along the way?
In Judaism, the ends do not justify the means. Even the most important and noble of causes – such as the construction of the Mishkan – cannot justify compromising values and principles. If a worthy endeavor necessitates humiliating other people, engaging in questionable business practices, or suspending any other of the Torah's Mitzvot, then it should not be undertaken. If the means are not pure, then they may not be employed, even for the noblest of causes.
