VAYAKHEL_ EXODUS XXXV:1-XXXVIII:20
Although the fundamental theme of these chapters is the Mishkan, the Tabernacle, opening a parenthesis, the Torah exhorts to observe the weekly day of rest Shabbat. What is the relationship between the Mishkan and Shabbat? The Chachamim point out that Shabbat cannot be violated, even for the construction of the Mishkan. Although Shabbat will not interrupt the offering of Korban Tamid, the daily sacrifice, the Shabbat day cannot be violated for the construction of the Mishkan.
It has been pointed out that the Shabbat can be regarded as a ” Sanctuary in time” while the Mishkan is a ” Sanctuary in space”. The Torah gives preference to the “Sanctuary in time”, because even before the probability of exile, in which circumstance they will not have access to the Mishkan because they are outside that “space”, the Land of Israel, the Shabbat will always accompany them, since “time” rules equally in all latitudes.
It should be noted again that Shabbat is the only holy day mentioned in the chapters describing the creation of the universe. God created the universe in six days and rested on the seventh day; therefore, He instructed that all human beings and every living creature should also rest on that day. This fact indicates that the weekly day of rest is inviolable, as if the universe depended on that day for its continued existence. King Shelomoh reflected on the nature of the Mishkan during the day of the inauguration of the Beit HaMikdash he built, questioning the possibility that God be confined to a house, even to a Holy House like the Beit HaMikdash.
Isn’t God present in the entire universe and not even this unlimited space can contain Him? One of the names to designate God is Makom and the Chachamim comment that God is the Makom (“place”) of the universe and not vice versa, because nothing can contain God. How then can the Mishkan be the residence of God?
The Midrash, aware of the apparent contradiction between these concepts, suggests that just as the sea can fill with its liquid a cave formed within a rock that enters the waters without diminishing the flow of its waters, in the same way God can reside in the Mishkan without simultaneously diminishing His Presence in all confines of the universe and beyond it.
Our difficulties are structural and generic, because we try to understand an Infinite Being with the finite limitations of human language and intellect. Perhaps we should remember the comment of the Chachamim that reflects the message of several verses of the Torah: God is not in an enclosure, but Betoch Benei Israel, within the people of Israel. A similar answer was offered by a Hasidic rabbi who, when asked where God is, replied, “Where they let Him in, He is in the hearts that open before His Presence.”
The Mishkan and its successor, the Beit HaMikdash, have become objectives that appear unattainable in the present. This is so when we consider the “House of God” as a physical place, a “spatial structure”. But when we internalize its meaning, the need to be willing to sacrifice for the good of society, the idea of the Korban, the offering, acquires special meaning, including for our times.
For the construction of the Mishkan the contribution of Machtsit haShekel, half of the Shekel coin, was demanded from each. The poor could not contribute less, and the rich could not exceed this specific contribution. The Torah explains that the contribution is for Lechaper al nafshoteichem, to atone for their souls. The idea parallels that of Yom Kippur, the Day of Forgiveness, which invites us to atone for mistakes and ask forgiveness for sins and transgressions.
What is the sin that the contribution to the construction of the Mishkan must atone for? While Yom Kippur is the day on which each person individually intercedes before God—Who examines us just as a shepherd reviews his flock, according to the expression of the liturgy—Machtsit haShekel perhaps points to communal sins, because the Mishkan represented the community.
The daily offerings at the Beit HaMikdash had to do with the well-being of the collective. There is no Beit HaMikdash today, but as we read these biblical chapters, we must become aware of our social responsibility. As Rabbi Akiva pointed out, love for one’s neighbor, responsibility to the community is the foundation of the Torah.
MITSVAH: TORAH ORDINANCE IN THIS PARASHAH
CONTAINS 1 PROHIBITION
- Exodus 35:3 A court should not execute capital punishment on Shabbat
