Close To Torah

It is a famous rule that the building of the Mishkan does not push off the laws of Shabbos. More so, we actually learn the prohibitions of Shabbos from the building of the Mishkan. Anything that was considered a melacha, constructive action, in the Mishkan is prohibited on Shabbos (Shabbos 96b). This week’s Parsha recounts the terrible sin of the Golden Calf which seems to be deeply connected to the Mishkan and Shabbos which are both discussed at length in the Parsha as well.

The Midrash tells us that Klal Yisrael heard about Olam Habah from Hashem and they asked to taste a sample of it. Hashem responded by telling them, “for this reason I gave you Shabbos.” The 10 Commandments are found in the Torah twice, in Parshas Yisro and VaEschanan. In Parshas VaEschanan (Devarim 5:12), when Shabbos is commanded, it states, “Keep the Shabbos as Hashem your God commanded you.” In the 10 Commandments’ first appearance in Yisro, it omits any reason as to why one should keep Shabbos. The Aruch HaShulchan (Orach Chaim 1; Rabbi Yechiel Michel Epstein, 1829-1908) is perplexed by this and he provides a powerful answer that I believe ties everything together.

He answers that the first Luchos were given at Har Sinai but were smashed due to the Jew’s sinning with the Golden Calf. The second Luchos were given 80 days later when the Jews received atonement and Hashem gave them a second chance. The change in the wording became necessary after the sin of the Golden Calf. There are two major benefits of Shabbos, the first is the physical and mental rest and comfort that it brings. The second is the spiritual connection that Shabbos opens up between us and Hashem. Before the sin of the Golden Calf, the Jews were on the level of serving Hashem l’shem shamayim, with full devotion and focus on fulfilling His will, therefore, any commandment that was given was self-understood that its purpose was to forge a bond between Klal Yisrael and Hashem. After the sin, Hashem had to remind the Jews, keep Shabbos, not just for selfish personal reasons, but rather do it in order to develop our relationship and connection, “as I commanded you,” do it because you want to connect and follow me!

The Mishkan and Shabbos represent the same theme, both are places where we connect with Hashem in the most real and intimate way. This is the precise theme of Olam Habah. Hashem put us in this world in order to build closeness with Him and to ultimately earn our place close to Him in Olam Habah. The Golden Calf stood in direct opposition to this goal. It is no surprise that the Zohar tells us that Talmedei Chachamim live their week with the Kedusha of Shabbos and the Gemara (B”B 17a) tells us that Tzaddikim live life on earth as if they are already in Olam Habah. Both of these statements hint to the closeness and pleasure that one can achieve in this world when connecting to Hashem. May we merit to feel the radiance of Shabbos and the connection with Hashem!

The Chazal ask why is it that we find in a parshah primarily containing the subject of the mishkan however we find that the parshah begins with details of Shabbos, why? The Chazal teach us that building the mishkan is not permitted on Shabbos. That is visible since the pasukim of Shabbos are put before the mishkan that the nature of their observance should correlate to the pasukim.

This idea teaches us a great deal about Shabbos and the mishkan and how they are connected. We can apply a very well known thought that the Ramban says in regards to the pushing off of a positive mitzvah when it conflicts with a negative mitzvah. The law is that the positive mitzvah pushes off the negative mitzvah. Says the Ramban this is the idea that ahavah (love) comes before yirah (fear). In our case this law is not applicable because Shabbos is not only a negative mitzvah but it also is a positive mitzvah, while the mishkan is only a positive mitzvah. It is a well known notion that we do not push off a mitzvah that is both positive and negative when we have a positive mitzvah at hand. If that is so why must the Torah order the pasukim in a way that we know that the worship of the mishkan is in fact secondary to Shabbos, shouldn’t that be simple? You can answer this question in two ways. We know that under normal circumstances the mitzvos that are only positive do not push off those which are both positive and negative, however since the actual worship of the mishkan is permitted on Shabbos we may think that its building is as well. The prohibitions on Shabbos consist of the actions used to build the mishkan not the actual worship that was performed on a daily basis. The other way to answer this question can teach us a great lesson. You may think that love (positive mitzvos) supersedes fear (negative mitzvos) but the combination of love and fear is superior to love alone. That means our relationship between Hashem consists of several attributes. The connection between us and Hashem through fear alone is comparable to a Master and his slave. The slave performs his duty due to fear of the wrath of the Master. While he may perform his duties perfectly he does it because he must do it. The connection between us and Hashem through love is comparable to a Father and his child. The child does what the father asks of him only because he loves to do all that he asks of him. While the child truly wants to do the action for the father he lacks the trepidation that would enable him to approach his father with proper respect. You may ask if the child always loves to carry out the will of his father then why would he need to fear his father? If he does something he loves he will come to appreciate his father and respect him accordingly. It is well known that true judgment is not revealed to us in this world. The world could not stand with pure judgment. This world limits our ability to see the totality of the events that take place therefore we cannot always express love whole heartedly since we cannot always express such a strong conviction in doing something we cannot understand. Those difficult times where the love of Hashem is harder to express is why we need to have fear. For the small fragments of light that is concealed from our eyes we must respond with acceptance to that which we cannot understand. Perhaps that is what Shabbos is. Shabbos is the complete revelation of the will of Hashem as it should be seen always. Shabbos is a glimpse to the future of what fruits await us in the World to Come. The presence of both the fear and love for Hashem is sewn together to grow together. Shabbos provides us with the ability to see the things we have missed and savor the precious jewels of closeness with Hashem. The mishkan is a place that provides the People of Yisroel with the ability to see the divine presence in a way that is not visible in any other place. Shabbos enables the whole world to be visible to us for one day. That is why the pasukim regarding Shabbos are put before the ones about the mishkan so that we may be able to learn this fundamental idea. We should all be merited with the ability to bind our love and fear together in our worship and see the day when Shabbos will last forever!