Comment The Glory of the Single-Minded Person · we, as Jews, learn from this event?" Essay Parsha. Most of us have at least one single-minded person in our lives. It may be someone

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Vayakhel 5763 (2003)

The Glory of the Single-Minded Person Single-minded people aren't much fun. Wewouldn't want to be like them -- well, maybe justa little bit...

The Power of Acceptance One of the reasons for the ancient Jewish customto cover a bride's face during the marriage cere-mony is to symbolize the complete acceptance thatis integral to any enduring relationship

Vayak'hel — Exodus 35:1-38:20Three roofs and 48 wall panels, an Ark withcherubs, a lamp with seven flames, a table with12 loaves, two altars and a mirror-plated washbasin, and five lessons from the contrast, unionand interplay of community and individuality

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Multifaceted BeingEach of us has deficien-

cies, but as a whole we arecomplete. Each one is per-fected by his fellow, until wemake a perfect whole.

This magazine contains sacredTorah material. Please do not discard.

Shabbat is one sixtieth ofthe World to Come

(Midrash)

The Shabbat that Kept RoseRose felt like a leaf caught between heavy gusts ofwind with no anchoring force to answer her ques-tion: To keep her job, or keep the Shabbat?

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Parenting

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Comment

The Astronaut "Yesterday, an event took place that had noknown precedent in human history: a mannedspaceceraft approached the moon, orbited it sev-eral times, and returned safely to earth. What canwe, as Jews, learn from this event?"

Essay

Parsha

Most of us have at least one single-minded person inour lives. It may be someone at the office, a familymember, a neighbor or a friend. The subject of theirsingle-mindedness can be anything — a cause, a polit-ical opinion, an obsessive hobby, a worshipped celebri-ty. It may be virtuous or ominous, fascinating or bor-ing, intelligent or silly. Single-minded people come inmany shapes and forms, but they all share a seeminginability to talk about anything else, even — apparent-ly — think about anything else.

Single-minded people are not much fun. But there issomething about them that elicits our amazement, evenadmiration. They have devoted themselves to some-thing unequivocally. Imagine what we could achieve ifwe could make such a commitment to the things wetruly care about!

Not that we’d want to become a single-minded per-son. But we would like to have some of that single-mindedness mixed into the concoction of our character.Perhaps one part in five, or one part in fifteen. Justenough to impart that extra oomph! to our lives.

Our sages tell us that, “Gold was created only so thatit should be used for the Mishkan.” The Mishkan wasthe portable “Tabernacle” built by the Children ofIsrael in the desert as a “home for G-d in the physicalrealm.” According to the Chassidic masters, making ahome for G-d in the physical realm is the purpose ofeverything that we do; the Mishkan was simply theprototype, the model which empowered us — andtaught us how — to replicate it in our personal uni-verse.

Fifteen materials were used in the construction ofthe Mishkan — gold, silver, copper, three types of dyedwool, linen, goat hair, ram and tachash skins, acaciawood, olive oil, aromatic herbs and precious stones.Our sages explain that these represent a cross-sectionof the various “kingdoms” in creation (the mineral

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The Glory of theSingle-MMinded Personby Yanki Tauber

Commentkingdom, the vegetable kingdom, and the animalkingdom) and also correspond to the various com-ponents of the human being and the heavenly bodies— all of which are to be included in the home for G-d we make in the physical world.

“Gold was created only so that it should be usedfor the Mishkan.” And yet, G-d also allows the useof gold in wedding rings, teeth fillings, and gildedmoldings in ornate hotel lobbies. Apparently, G-ddoes not envision our world as a single-mindedplace.

(G-d already has single-minded creations —they’re called angels: there are angels of mercy andangels of judgment and angels of love and angels ofawe, but no angel possesses more than one charac-teristic or serves more than one function. That’s whyAbraham was visited by three angels — one toinform Sarah that she will have a son, a second toheal Abraham and rescue Lot, and a third to destroythe evil city of Sodom — no one angel can do twokinds of jobs).

Humans are not built that way. G-d wanted us tobe multi-faceted beings — beings who use the samematerial to build Him a temple, seal their marriages,fix their teeth and add some ritz to their travelaccommodations — and have it all somehow add upto this place for Him they’re making in their lives.

Yet a bit of single-mindedness is always a goodthing. That’s why one of the materials used in theMishkan was the hide of a tachash. According to theJerusalem Talmud, the tachash was a gloriously col-ored animal that was created specifically to be usedin the making of the Mishkan — it did not existbefore that moment, and has not existed since. If thepurpose of creation is to make “home for G-d in thephysical realm”, then there should be at least oneelement in creation that is used exclusively for thatend, in the most literal sense.

The interesting thing, however, is that the tachashis described as bedecked with many brilliant colors.Apparently, there’s more to single-mindedness thanmeets the eye.

By Yanki Tauber, [email protected]; based onthe teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, www.therebbe.org

Comment | Story | Parenting | Essay | Parshah | Week at Glance 22 2 2

A young girl stood near her father on the quay ofa Polish harbor, a steamer trunk at her feet. Out ofher nine siblings, twelve-year-old Rose was the childchosen to be sent to the “golden land,” America. Lifein Poland was hard, hunger a constant visitor in herhome. After much scraping and pinching, her familyhad saved enough for a single one-way ticket to theUnited States. And Rose, the youngest of the nine,was the lucky one chosen to go.

Her father hoisted the trunk on his shoulder andwalked silently, his coattails flapping behind him.Rose could see the effort he was making to keep hisemotions in check. The weight of living was appar-ent on the lines of his face, in the burning sadness ofhis wise eyes, and in the gray in his beard. His back,however, was ramrod straight, in seeming defianceof his tribulations.

With an involuntary sigh, her father dropped thetrunk on the deck and turned to his daughter. A grayhead bent over an upturned innocent face, as thefather gazed deep into his daughter’s uncloudedeyes. He felt an urge to scream, to protest the cruel-ty of fate. How he longed to snatch Rose back home,to hold her as he had held her when she was a mereinfant. Instead, he laid a trembling hand on hercheek.

“Rose, mein kind (my child), remember: G-d iswatching over you every step of the way. RememberHis laws and keep them well. Never forget that morethan the Jews have kept the Sabbath, the Sabbath haskept the Jews. It will be hard in the new land. Don’tforget who you are. Keep the Sabbath — no matterwhat sacrifice you must make.”

“Tatte! Tatte!” (Father! Father!)Rose buried her face in the scratchiness of her

father’s coat, her slender arms wrapped tightlyaround him as if to anchor herself to all that wasfamiliar in Poland. Tatte gave another heaving sigh.His straight shoulders bent over his daughter as his

tears mingled with hers. A blast from the ship torethe two apart. Tatte bent down and hugged Roseagain, squeezing the breath out of her in a hug meantto last a lifetime. Then he turned and walked downthe gangplank, a stooped man, finally defeated bylife’s hardships. As the ship steamed away from theshtetl life of Poland, a fresh sea wind blew on thepassengers preparing to start life anew.

For Rose, the journey was crammed with ques-tions and uncertainty. Would her relatives reallyextend a welcome to her, or was she to be all alonein the new land? How frightening was the thought ofa new life without her loved ones. As the ship madeits entrance into New York harbor, the passengersstood plastered against the railing, shouting andclapping as they saw the “new land.” Rose stoodaside, shy and unsure. Would the new land fulfill itspromise of hope, freedom, and riches? Would herrelatives meet her there — or was she now home-less?

Rose did not have long to worry. Her relativeswere waiting for her, solicitous of their “greenhorn”cousin. She was soon safely ensconced in theirhome. With her mature appearance and demeanor, itwas not long before Rose found a job as a sewingmachine operator.

Life in America was new and strange. Polish man-nerisms were quickly shed — along with religion.Modesty, keeping kosher, and Torah were aban-doned, together with the outmoded clothing andaccent. Rose’s relatives insisted religion was “old-fashioned”: an unnecessary accessory in America.Rose, however, never forgot her father’s partingwords. She put on the new clothes her relatives gaveher, cut her hair to suit the fashion, but never gave upon the Sabbath.

Every week without fail, Rose devised a newexcuse for her boss to explain why she did not cometo work on Saturday. One week she had a toothache,another week her stomach bothered her. After threeweeks, the foreman grew wise. He called her over.“Rose,” he said in a tone that indicated he only hadher welfare in mind. “I like your work, and I likeyou. But this Sabbath business has got to stop. Eitheryou come in this Saturday, or you can look for a newjob.”

Upon hearing of this development, Rose’s rela-tives were adamant. Work on Sabbath, she must.

Story

The Shabbat that Kept Rose by: Goldy Rosenberg

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Comment | Story | Parenting | Essay | Parshah | Week at Glance 22 2 2 3

They applied pressure; they cajoled, pleaded, andenticed. Rose felt like a leaf caught between heavygusts of wind, pushed and pulled with no weight orlife of its own. She was so young and vulnerable. Shewanted to please her relatives. But her father’s wordskept echoing in her head. What should she do?

The week passed in a daze for Rose. Her emotionswere in turmoil. On the one hand, Tatte is not here tohelp me be strong. I do want to please my newfriends. I want friends. I want to fit into this newland, she reasoned. And then just as quickly cameanother thought: On the other hand, how can I forgetSabbath? How can I give up the beauty Tatte taughtme?

“Rose, sweetheart, listen to us. It’s for your owngood.” On and on went her relatives, until Rose’sdetermination wavered.

On Friday, Rose walked to work, lunch bag inhand and head stooped in thought. She sat at hermachine throughout the day, listening to the hum-ming of the other machines as she absentmindedlywent about her job of mass-producing. Would it beso awful to do this tomorrow as well? Decision timewas nearing.

Whirr, bzzz whirr, bzzz. The machine kept tune toRose’s troubled thoughts. What should she do — orwas the question, what could she do? As the sunslipped over the parapets of the Lower East Side,Rose knew there was really no question. She wasJewish, and she would keep the Sabbath.

Sabbath in America was not like the warm dayRose had known at home. This week was the worstyet. She lacked the courage to face her relatives andtell them of her resolve. Instead, she left the house inthe morning, pretending to be headed for work. Backand forth through the streets of Manhattan she paced.Together with the city pigeons, she rested inTompkin’s Square Park. “Tatte, this song is for you,”

she whispered. The pigeons ruffled their feathers.“Yonah matz-ah bo manoach” (“on it [the Sabbath]the dove found rest...”). There she sat among thepigeons, singing the traditional Sabbath songs, withtears in her eyes and sobs between the verses. Whenthree stars finally peeked out from the black skyannouncing the end of Sabbath, the moon shonedown on a weary girl and bathed her face in its glow.Rose had triumphed, but her victory would cost herdearly. She had no job and had alienated her family.

“Baruch HaMavdil. . .” (the blessing said uponthe departure of the Sabbath). It was time to face thehardness of the world. Rose trudged homewarddreading the nasty scene to come when her relativeslearned that she hadn’t been to work.

As she neared home, a shout broke into her rever-ie. “Rose! What . . . what . . . I mean, how are youhere? Where were you?”

Rose looked up at her cousin Joe, her expressionwoebegone.

“Joe, what will become of me? I kept Sabbath andlost my job. Now everyone will be angry and disap-pointed with me, and oh, Joe, what will I do?” Thewords tumbled out together with her tears.

Joe looked at her strangely. “Rose, didn’t youhear?” he asked gently.

“Hear what?”“There was an awful fire in the factory. Only forty

people survived. There was no way out of the build-ing. People even jumped to their deaths.” Joe’s voicewas hushed, and he was crying openly. “Rosie, don’tyou see? Because you kept Sabbath, you are alive.Because of your Sabbath, you survived.”

Out of 190 workers, Rose Goldstein was amongthe minority of those who survived. The infamousTriangle Shirtwaist Factory fire on Saturday, March25, 1911, claimed the lives of 146 immigrant work-ers present. Because it had been Sabbath, RoseGoldstein was not there. As her father had said, morethan the Jews keep the Sabbath, the Sabbath keepsthe Jews.

From SMALL MIRACLES FOR THE JEWISH HEART by YittaHalberstam and Judith Leventhal (www.amazon.com)

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The Shabbat that Kept Rose

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The day we were engaged to marry we went to visitmy wife’s grandmother, who was 83 at the time. Witha smile on her face and a sparkle in her eye, she said:“I wish for you that the excitement and love you feelfor each other today will be carried with you for therest of your lives.” At the time we did not quite appre-ciate the wisdom contained in her words. As the yearswent by and we walked through the path of life togeth-er, it began making more and more sense.

Human nature is such, that when we are on the look-out for a relationship — whether it be a working one, asocial one, or for the purpose of a marriage — we focuson the strong points that the potential partner possess-es. An emotional chemistry is created and an attractiondevelops. Everything s/he says and does is fantastic. Ifhe interrupts me it’s because he loves us so much andhe wants to tell me so much about himself. If she’smessy, it’s because she puts all her energy into our rela-tionship. If he’s late, it’s because he stopped on the wayhome to buy me a gift.

As time goes on, our partner’s weaknesses (whichwere always there) begin bothering us. Interruptionsare rude. The mess isn’t tolerated and we can’t put upwith the lateness. We find him/her less attractive thanwhen we first met and we wonder why the spark andexcitement is gone.

The average person learns about love and relation-ships through movies and songs. The image of the per-fect relationship and the faultless person is an unful-filled dream that some of us expect in reality, withoutwanting to work for it.

One of the reasons for the ancient Jewish customthat a bride’s face is covered during the marriage cere-mony is to symbolize the complete commitment of oneto the other — the acceptance also of those parts of ourspouse’s character that are covered now, only to berevealed later.

There is only one secret for a long-term, successful,

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The Power ofAcceptanceby Yaakov Lieder

parentinghappy relationship and that is the power of accept-ance. Acceptance does not mean that we agree withthe other person’s behavior or shortcomings; itmeans simply accepting them the way they are,without working a whole lifetime trying to changethem, just like we accept ourselves the way we arewith our shortcomings. Once we accept the otherperson for what s/he is rather than what we wouldwant them to be, the energy used until now to criti-cize can be used for building and nurturing the rela-tionship.

This is no less true of the parent-child relation-ship. Some parents fail to accept their children theway they are. In their communication with theirchildren, they convey an open or hidden message:“Why are you not like … (i.e., what I believe a goodchild is supposed to be like).” This creates a distancebetween parent and child. When we truly accept ourchildren the way they are and the way they are not,we will experience a new level of relationship withour children which we never experienced before.

Try it — it works!

By Rabbi Yaakov Lieder, [email protected]; seewww.chabad.org/article.asp?AID=3047 for bio,

contact info and more articles by this author


From the Rebbe’s remarks at a farbrengen(Chassidic gathering) on Shabbat, December 28,1968:

Yesterday, an event took place that had no knownprecedent in human history: a manned spacecraftapproached the moon, orbited it several times, pho-tographed both its “light side” and its “dark side,”and returned safely to earth at the exact time andplace that were programmed.

The Baal Shem Tov1 taught us that “from every-thing a person sees or hears, he must derive a lessonin the service of his Creator.” Indeed, this event, andits every aspect and detail, is full with instructiveinsights into our mission in life.2

Some twenty-four hours before the conclusion ofthe space mission, another event took place: a ques-tion was posed at an “Encounter” session3 — aquestion that the said space mission can helpaddress.

A participant in the “Encounter” challenged oneof the speakers: “I understand that under Torah law,if a person eats a bite of non-kosher food, the penal-ty is thirty-nine lashes. I think that what a personeats is his own business. Laws should forbid andpenalize actions that are harmful to others and tosociety, but should stay out of a person’s privatelife.”

The rabbi conducting the session was quite flus-tered by the question. How to explain to a roomfulof young people, raised in free and democraticAmerica, the fact that for an act as “harmless” and“personal” as eating a bite of food, the Torahinstructs that a person be bound, stretched out, andthirty-nine lashes be administered to his bare backwith a whip? After much hemming and hawing, hecame out with the standard apologetic reply: that inorder for a transgression to be punishable by lashes,it must be committed in the presence of two wit-

nesses; that these two witnesses must first warn thetransgressor of the criminality of his deed and of thepenalty it carries; that the transgressor must committhe deed within seconds of the above warning; thus,due to these and a host of other stipulations, thispenalty was rarely, if ever, actually carried out. Itmight therefore be said that the Torah-mandatedpunishment of lashes is more an indicator of theseverity of the transgression than an operative penalprocedure.

All this is of course true, but it doesn’t reallyanswer the question. Even if the penalty of lasheswas administered but once in a hundred years, doesthe deed warrant such punishment? And why doesthe Torah legislate such a gross intrusion into a per-son’s private life?

But our sages tell us that “A person is obligated tosay: The entire world was created for my sake.”4 Inthe words of Maimonides, “A person should alwayssee himself as half meritous and half guilty, and theentire world as half meritous and half guilty, so thatwhen he transgresses one transgression, he tips thebalance for himself, and for the entire world, to theside of guilt, and causes it destruction, and when hedoes a single mitzvah, he tips the balance for him-self, and for the entire world, to the side of merit,and causes salvation for himself and for the entireworld.”5

Ingesting a spiritually toxic bite of food is not aharmless act, nor is it a personal one: all of creationis deeply affected by our every thought, word anddeed, for the better or, G-d forbid, for the worse.What greater crime can there be than for a person toknowingly jeopardize his own well-being, and thatof his family, community and the entire world,because his taste-buds prefer a non-kosher piece ofmeat over a kosher one?

This is what is written in the books. The nature ofthe human being, however, is that things are morereadily understood and accepted when he or shesees a tangible example of it. By divine providence,we have such an example in the space mission con-cluded yesterday.

Three adult men were told to put aside all per-sonal preferences and follow a set of guidelines that

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The Astronaut

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dictated their every behavior, including their mostintimate habits. They were told exactly what, howmuch and when to eat, when and in what position tosleep, and what shoes to wear. Should any one ofthem have challenged this “dictatorial” regimen, hewould have been reminded that one billion dollarshave been invested in their endeavor. Now, one bil-lion dollars commands a lot of respect. Never mindthat it’s not his billion — it’s only Uncle Sam’s bil-lion — still, when a person is told that one billiondollars are at stake, he’ll conform to all guidelinesand instructions. Of course, he has no idea how mostof these instructions relate to the success of his mis-sion — that has been determined by grey-haired sci-entists after many years of research; but he’ll taketheir word for it, and readily accept the extensiveintrusion into his private affairs.

And what if at stake is not a billion-dollar scien-tific project, but the divine purpose in creation?

FOOTNOTES1. Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov (1698-1760), founder

of Chassidism.2. What follows is but one of several lessons the

Rebbe derived in his talk from the said space flight. Foranother of these, see The Rocket Age http://www.mean-ingfullife.com/html/wir/archives/5760/Bereishit/W60-07ll.htm

3. The Lubavitcher community in Crown Heightsholds periodic “Encounter With Chabad” — weekends,in which Jews of all backgrounds stay with Chassidicfamilies and attend lectures and workshops on Jewishthought and practice.

4. Talmud, Sanhedrin 37a.5. Mishneh Torah, Laws of Repentance, 3:4

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The Astronaut

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PARSHAH in a nutshell

Vayak’helExodus 35:1-38:20Torah Reading for Week of February 23-28, 2003

Moses assembles the people of Israel and reiterates tothem the commandment to observe the Shabbat. Hethen conveys G-d's instructions regarding the makingof the Mishkan (Tabernacle). The people donate therequired materials in abundance, bringing gold, silver,copper, blue, purple and red-dyed wool, goat hair, spunlinen, animal skins, wood, olive oil, herbs and preciousstones. Moses has to tell them to stop giving.

A team of wise-hearted artisans make the Mishkan andits furnishings (as detailed in the previous Torah read-ings of Terumah, Tetzaveh and Ki Tisa): three layersof roof coverings; 48 gold-plated wall panels, and 100silver foundation sockets; the Parochet (Veil) that sep-arates between the Sanctuary's two chambers and theMasach (Screen) that fronts it; the Ark and its coverwith the Cherubim; the Table and its Showbread; theseven-branched Menorah with its specially-preparedoil; and the Golden Altar and the incense burned on it;the Anointing Oil; the outdoor Altar for BurntOfferings and all its implements; the hangings, postsand foundation sockets for the Courtyard; and theBasin and its pedestal, made out of copper mirrors.

This week's Torah reading also includes ParshatShekalim (Exodus 30:11-16), which speaks of the half-shekel each Jew contributed to the Sanctuary.

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The Parshah of Vayak’hel records the actual implementation of G-d’s instructions on how to build the Mishkan (Tabernacle),recounted earlier in the Parshah of Terumah. Indeed, Vayak’helis very nearly a repeat of Terumah—the same details that inTerumah are prefaced with the words, “And they shall make...”are here presented following the preface, “And they made...”

But first,

Moses assembled the entire congregation of the children ofIsrael, and said to them: These are the words which G-d hascommanded, that you should do them:

Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day thereshall be to you a holy day, a sabbath of sabbaths to G-d:whoever does work on it shall be put to death.

You shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations on theSabbath day.

The Donation

Moses then tells the people:

Take from among you an offering to G-d: whoever is of awilling heart, let him bring it...

Gold, and silver, and copper;

Blue, purple, and scarlet [wool], and fine linen, and goats’hair;

Rams’ skins dyed red, tachash skins, and shittim wood;

Oil for the light, and spices for the anointing oil and for thesweet incense;

Shoham stones and stones to be set for the efod and for thebreastplate.

And every wise-hearted man among you shall come, andmake all that G-d has commanded...

The response was overwhelming:

And they came, everyone whose heart stirred them, andeveryone whose spirit made willing, and they brought theoffering to G-d for the work of the Tent of Meeting, and forall its service, and for the holy garments.

They came, the men along with the women... and they


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AND MOSES ASSEMBLED THE ENTIRE CONGREGATION OF THE CHILDREN OF

ISRAEL (35:1)

This was on the morning after Yom Kippur, the day that Moses descend-ed from the mountain [with the Second Tablets].

(Rashi)

AND MOSES ASSEMBLED THE ENTIRE CONGREGATION OF THE CHILDREN OF

ISRAEL, AND SAID TO THEM... A SABBATH OF SABBATHS TO G-D (35:1-2)

This teaches us that Moses instituted the practice to assemble onShabbat to listen to the reading of the Torah.

(Midrash)

SIX DAYS WORK SHALL BE DONE; AND THE SEVENTH DAY SHALL BE HOLY... (35:2)

Here the Torah describes the Jew’s work in the course of the week as apassive endeavor—”Six days work shall be done” (not “six days youshall do work”). For the Jew regards his workday endeavors not as thesource of his sustenance, but merely as a “vessel” in which to receive G-d’s blessing..

(The Chassidic Masters)

SIX DAYS WORK SHALL BE DONE; AND THE SEVENTH DAY SHALL BE HOLY... AND

EVERY WISE-HEARTED MAN AMONG YOU SHALL COME AND MAKE ALL THAT G-D

HAS COMMANDED... (35:2, 10)

Why does the Torah place the commandment to cease work on Shabbatnext to the work of the Mishkan? To teach us that a person is guilty ofviolating the Shabbat only if the work he does has a counterpart in thework of making the Sanctuary: they sowed (the herbs from which tomake dyes for the tapestries); you, too, shall not sow [on Shabbat]. Theyharvested [the herbs]; you, too, shall not harvest. They loaded the boardsfrom the ground onto the wagons; you, too, shall not bring an objectfrom a public domain into a private domain.

(Talmud and Rashi, Shabbat 49b)

Thus the Mishkan not only defines the type of work forbidden onShabbat, but also the type of work the Jew is engaged in on the other sixdays of the week: the work of building a home for G-d out of the mate-rials of physical life.

(Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi)

GOLD, SILVER AND COPPER (35:5)

“Gold” represents the purity and perfection of the tzaddik. “Silver” rep-resents the great yearning of the Baal Teshuvah (“returnee” or penitent)for closeness to G-d—a yearning many times more powerful than that ofthe tzaddik, because it is a yearning from afar (kessef, the Hebrew wordfor silver, also means “yearning”; copper, the lowliest of metals, repre-sents the good deeds of the sinner. G-d’s home on earth is complete onlywhen it includes all three.

(The Lubavitcher Rebbe)

Commentary


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brought bracelets, and earrings, and rings, and girdles, alljewels of gold...

The women brought spun thread of multi-colored wool, linen andgoat hair for the roof-coverings and the priestly garments; thetribal heads brought the precious stones for the High Priest’sapron and breastplate and the herbs for the Anointing Oil and theIncense.

And all the wise men who carried out all the work of theSanctuary came, every man from his work which they did,and they spoke to Moses saying: “The people bring muchmore than enough for the service of the work, which G-dcommanded to do.”

And Moses gave commandment, and they caused it to beproclaimed throughout the camp saying: “Let neither mannor woman do any more work for the offering of the sanctu-ary.” And the people were restrained from bringing.

The material was sufficient for all the work to do it, and toomuch.

The Making of the Sanctuary

The team of “wise-hearted” artisans, headed by Betzalel ben Urifrom the tribe of Judah and Ahaliav ben Achisamach of the tribeof Dan, set about the task of fashioning these 15 materials into adwelling for the Divine Presence.

And they made the ten tapestries of the Mishkan[‘s roof] offinely-spun linen and [wool dyed] blue, purple andscarlet; with cherubim of artistic work did [Betzalel] makethem...

And he made sheets of goat-hair as an Ohel (tent-covering)over the Mishkan—eleven sheets he made them....

And he made the boards for the Mishkan[‘s walls] of shittimwood, to be stood upright... twenty boards for the southwalls; and forty silver foundation-sockets made he under thetwenty boards: two sockets under each board, for its twopegs... And for the other side of the Mishkan—for the northside—he made twenty boards and forty silver sockets... andfor the rear of the Mishkan, to the west, he made sixboards, and two boards for the rear corners...

And he made the Parochet (the “veil” that separatedbetween the Sanctuary’s two chambers) of blue, purple andscarlet, and fine-spun linen; with artistically woven cherubim

AND THEY CAME, EVERYONE WHOSE HEART STIRRED THEM... BROUGHT THE

OFFERING TO G-D (35:21)

It is written, “That which emerges from your lips, you shall observe anddo” (Deuteronomy 23:24). From this we know only, if he uttered it withhis lips; if he decided in his mind, how do we know that he must keephis promise? Because it says, “Everyone whose heart stirred them...brought the offering to G-d.”

(Talmud, Shevuot 26b)

THEY CAME, THE MEN ALONG WITH THE WOMEN (35:22)

The women came first and the men followed.

(Nachmanides)

AND THE TRIBAL HEADS BROUGHT THE SHOHAM STONES (35:27)

When Moses said, “Whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, theoffering for G-d,” and did not say it directly to the princes; they weredispleased at not being asked to bring, and so they thought: Let the peo-ple bring what they will and we shall make good whatever they omit.But all Israel entered with zeal into the work of the Mishkan and joyful-ly and enthusiastically brought all the donations. See what is writtenabout this! “And they came, the men along with the women”—theycame one on top of another, men and women together in an intermingledthrong, and in two mornings they had brought all the necessary dona-tions... The princes then wished to bring their donations but could not,because Moses had already given orders: “...Let neither man nor womanbring any more...” The princes were distressed, and said: “Seeing that

we were not privileged to participate in the offerings to the Mishkan, letus give towards the garments of the High Priest...” This is why when theMishkan was completed the princes took the initiative, and were the firstto bring offerings for its dedication (cf. Numbers 7)..

(Midrash Rabbah)

AND THEY SPOKE TO MOSES SAYING: “THE PEOPLE BRING MUCH MORE THAN

ENOUGH...” (36:5)

Said Rabbi Aba bar Achah: There’s no understanding the character ofthis people! They’re solicited for the Calf, and they give; they’re solicit-ed for the Mishkan—they give.

(Jerusalem Talmud, Shekalim 1:1)

AND THE PEOPLE WERE RESTRAINED FROM BRINGING (36:7)

When so commanded, refraining from doing a mitzvah is no less a mitz-vah than doing a mitzvah.

(Alshich)

AND HE MADE THE ALTAR OF BURNT OFFERING... FIVE CUBITS WAS ITS LENGTH,AND FIVE CUBITS ITS BREADTH; IT WAS FOURSQUARE; AND THREE CUBITS ITS

HEIGHT (38:1)

“And three cubits its height.” Rabbi Judah says: this is meant literally.Rabbi Jose said: Here it says “foursquare” (ravua), and regarding theIncense Altar it also says, “foursquare”; as the Incense Altar’s heightwas twice its length, so here, too, its height was... as the tabernacle wasten cubits high, so was the Altar ten cubits high. How, then, do I under-stand the verse, “And three cubits its height”? Three cubits from theledge (a ledge encircled the Altar and served as a walkway for the

Commentary



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he made it...

And he made a Screen for the doorway of the Tent: of blue,purple and scarlet, and fine-spun linen, with embroideredwork...

The Sanctuary’s Vessels

And Betzalel made the Ark of shittim wood: two cubits and ahalf was its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth, and acubit and a half its height. And he overlaid it with pure goldwithin and without, and made a rim of gold to it roundabout....

And he made the Kaporet (the Ark’s cover) of pure gold..and he made two cherubim of gold, beaten out of one piecehe made them, on the two ends of the covering... And thecherubim spread out their wings on high, and spread withtheir wings over the covering, with their faces one to anoth-

er...

And he made the Table of shittim wood... and covered itwith pure gold...

And He made the Menorah of pure gold; of beaten workmade he the Menorah, its foot, its shaft, its branches, itsgoblets, its bulbs, and its flowers, were of the same piece...

And he made the Incense Altar of shittim wood... and cov-ered it with pure gold...

And he made the Anointing Oil holy, and the Incense ofSpices pure...

The Outdoor Furnishings

And he made the Altar of Burnt Offering... five cubits was itslength, and five cubits its breadth; it was foursquare; andthree cubits its height...

And he made the Basin of copper, and its pedestal of cop-per, out of the mirrors of the women assembling, whoassembled at the door of the Tent of Meeting...

And he made the courtyard: on the south side, he hangingsof the court were of fine twined linen, a hundred cubits inlength; their pillars were twenty, their copper sockets twen-ty, and the hooks of the pillars and their trimmings were ofsilver. And for the north side the hangings were a hundredcubits... And for the west side were hangings of fifty cubits...

Kohanim).

(Talmud, Zevachim 59b; Rashi)

AND HE MADE THE BASIN OF COPPER... OUT OF THE MIRRORS OF THE WOMEN

ASSEMBLING... (38:8)

The daughters of Israel had mirrors in which they looked to adorn them-selves; these, too, they did refrain from donating to the making of theMishkan. Moses disdained these mirrors, since their purpose is to awak-en lust. Said G-d to him: Accept them, for these are more beloved to Methan everything else: through these, the women begot hosts of childrenin Egypt. When their men were exhausted by hard labor, they would goand bring them food and drink and feed them. They would take alongthe mirrors, and each would look at herself in the mirror together withher husband and tease him, saying, “Look, I’m more beautiful thanyou,” thus awakening desire in her husband and cohabiting with himand conceiving and giving birth there, as it is written (Song of Songs8:5), “Under the apple tree I roused you.”

(Midrash Tanchuma; Rashi)

THIS THEY SHALL GIVE... HALF A SHEKEL (30:13)

The mitzvah of the half-shekel is that each should contribute a coin that[is valued at] half of the dominant coin of that time. If the prevailingcoin is takal, they should give a half-takal; if it is a selah, they shouldgive a half-selah; if it is a darcon, they should give a half-darcon.

(Midrash HaGadol)

Why not a complete coin? To teach us that no man is a complete entityunto himself. Only by joining with another can a person become wholething.

(The Chassidic Masters)

THIS THEY SHALL GIVE (30:13)

G-d took a coin of fire from under His throne of glory and showed it toMoses, saying: "Such as this they shall give."

(Midrash Tanchumah)

Moses could not understand: How could a mere coin serve a person as"a ransom for his soul to G-d"? G-d answered him by showing him a"coin of fire." G-d was saying: When a person performs even a modestact of charity with the fire of passion and enthusiasm, he is giving apiece of his soul...

(The Rebbe of Kotzk)

Money is fire. Like fire it can destroy and annihilate, or illuminate andwarm, depending on how it is used.

(Rabbi Elimelech of Lizensk)

THE RICH SHALL NOT GIVE MORE, AND THE POOR SHALL NOT GIVE LESS (30:15)

People differ in their intellect, character, talent and sensitivity. But all

Commentary



The [width of] the east side was fifty cubits, [with] hangingsof fifteen cubits on each side [of the entrance]...

And the screen for the gate of the court was embroideredwork, of blue, purple and scarlet, and fine twined linen; andtwenty cubits was the length...

And all the pegs of the tabernacle, and of the court roundabout, were of copper.

Parshat Shekalim

When the Holy Temple stood in Jerusalem, the 1st ofthe month of Adar marked the beginning of the collec-tion of the annual half-shekel that each Jew con-tributed to the Temple. Thus the Torah reading of theShabbat that falls on or before Adar 1st is supplement-ed with the verses (Exodus 30:11-16) that relate G-d'scommandment to Moses regarding the first giving ofthe half-shekel.

When you raise the head of the children of Israel aftertheir number, they shall each give a ransom for hissoul to G-d...

This they shall give, every one that passes amongthem that are numbered: half a shekel after the shekelof the Sanctuary -- a shekel is twenty gera -- a halfshekel shall be the offering of G-d...The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall notgive less, than half a shekel...

And you shall appoint it for the service of the Tent ofMeeting; that it may be a memorial to the children ofIsrael before G-d, to make atonement for your souls."

are equal in the very basis of their bond with G-d: their intrinsic com-mitment to Him. So while every man contributed to the making of thevarious components of the Sanctuary in accordance with their individualcapacity, all gave equally of the silver of which its foundation wasmade. As regards the foundation of the relationship between man and G-d, the rich man cannot give more, and the pauper cannot give less.

(The Lubavitcher Rebbe)

Commentary

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COMMUNITY, INDIVIDUALITY, ANDFRUSTRATION

This week’s Torah reading, Vayak’hel (Exodus35:1-38:20), and next week’s reading, Pekudei (ibid.38:21-40:38), are replete with questions and contra-dictions. The first enigma is the question of whythese Parshiot exist at all. Most of their contentseems completely superfluous.

The Torah is very mincing with words: lawswhose details cover many pages in the Talmud areexpressed by the Torah in a single sentence or word,or even by means of a single extra letter. But when itcomes to the Mishkan, the sanctuary made by thepeople of Israel in the Sinai Desert, the Torah does avery unusual thing: it elaborates. And then it elabo-rates some more.

First (in the Parshiot of Terumah and Tetzaveh)we get a description of every one of the Sanctuary’sdozens of components as spelled out in G-d’sinstructions to Moses. And then we get all the detailsa second time, in the account of the Sanctuary’s actu-al construction in the Parshiot of Vayak’hel andPekudei. The most amazing thing is that these twodescriptions are virtually identical! The only real dif-ference is that in the first account, the description ofeach item begins, “And they shall make...”, and inthe second account it begins, “And they made...”

The Sanctuary is the prototype of the “dwellingfor G-d in the physical world” whose constructionconstitutes our mission in life. That’s why the detailsare so important. But why do they have to be relatedtwice? Couldn’t the Torah simply say, “And theChildren of Israel built it exactly as G-d had com-manded”?

Why It’s Frustrating Having a BrainHaving a brain means that you not only know how

things are, but you also understand how things oughtto be. Which means that you’re constantly beingmade aware that things are not as they ought to be.

Human beings (most of whom have brains) dealwith this frustration in a variety of ways. Some

become “academics”, which means that they con-centrate on the way things ought to be and makebelieve that that’s the way things are. Those who forsome reason (usually job-related) are compelled todeal with the way things are, try not to think aboutthe way things ought to be. Since neither approachcan be maintained 100% of the time, human beingsenjoy a higher stress level than cows, for example.

This has led humans to invent all sorts of salvesand balms for stress, on the one hand, and all sorts ofdevices to do away with (or at least numb) the brain,on the other. Which is a shame, since it’s great hav-ing a brain, and it’s healthy to experience stress.

That’s the lesson implicit in the “superfluous”chapters of Vayak’hel and Pekudei.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe explains that the Torahwants to emphasize that there will always be twoversions of G-d’s home on earth: the ideal version, asG-d envisions it and describes it to Moses, and thereal version, as it is actually built in and out of ourphysical lives.

Does this means that G-d is making allowances?That His vision can be compromised by “the waythings are” down here? But both versions are exact-ly the same in the Torah’s account! In other words,we are empowered — and expected — to recreatethe divine ideal in its entirety, down to every last peg,clasp and carrying pole, within the material world.

Recreate — not duplicate. G-d does not want us totransform physical matter into substanceless spirit;He wants us to make the physical world hospitable toHis presence.

Being human means never ceasing the effort totranslate the ideal into the real. Not that we can elim-inate the gap between matter and spirit. We can dobetter: we can make our lives a physical version ofthe divine vision. Human life is an attempt to achievethe impossible — an attempt that fails, and in failing,achieves something even greater.

If you’re experiencing stress, you’re doing some-thing right.

The Second Enigma: Transposed HeadingsThe second enigma of the Parshiot of Vayak’hel

Vayak’helFrom the Chassidic Masters


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and Pekudei concerns the names by which they arecalled, and an apparent contradiction between eachParashah’s name and its content.

To the casual reader, the names by which the 54sections of the annual Torah-reading cycle are calledseem quite incidental: a Parshah is almost alwaysnamed after the first distinctive word to appear in itstext. Chassidic teaching, however, which sees everyevent and phenomenon as specifically determined byDivine Providence, rejects the very concept of “inci-dence.” Furthermore, says the Lubavitcher Rebbe,Chassidism teaches that the name of an object in theHoly Tongue constitutes its soul and essence; theRebbe also points out that the word torah means“instruction,” implying that there is nothing in Torahthat is not instructive. Hence, the Rebbe concludes,there certainly cannot be anything “incidental” aboutthe name of a section in Torah.

At his weekly Shabbat farbrengens the Rebbewould often dwell on the name of the Parshah readthat week, demonstrating how this single word orphrase indeed enfolds within it the entire breadth andvariety of the Parshah’s contents, and how thisParshah’s name, when its nuances are analyzed andset against the other components of the Jewish cal-endar with which it intersects, carries a wealth ofinformation and instruction to our daily lives (fortwo examples, see Life after Death and Learning toLaugh)

Vayak’hel means “assembly” and “community,”while the word Pekudei connotes itemization andindividuality. So these two Parshiot, which followeach other in the Torah — and on certain years areeven joined together to form a single reading —express the conflict, interaction and paradox of thesetwo components of the human soul: a) our need anddesire to bond together in a communal identity; b)our need and desire for an individual identity distinctand unique from our fellows.

But the most amazing thing about Vayak’hel and

Pekudei is not that both are given equal prominencein the Torah; nor that they appear in the Torah in suchproximity to each other; and not even that theseseemingly dichotomous concepts are often fused toform a single reading called “Vayak’hel-Pekudei”.The most amazing thing about these two Parshahnames is that they seem to have switched places.

If we look beyond these names to the actual con-tent of their respective Parshiot, we discover that thecontent of the Parshah that carries the nameVayak’hel would seem to be most appropriatelynamed Pekudei, while the content of the Parshah ofPekudei begs the name Vayak’hel!

Vayak’hel begins by telling how Moses assembledthe people to command them on the observance ofShabbat and the making of the Sanctuary; this act ofassembly gives the Parshah its name (vayak’helmeans “and he assembled” and is a form of the wordkahal, “congregation”). But the remainder of theParshah is filled with the particulars of theMishkan’s construction. Each of the Sanctuary’sdozens of components is individually listed anddescribed: its roof coverings, wall panels, foundationsockets, pillars, braces, brackets and curtains; theArk, the Table, the Menorah, the two Altars, even thewashbasin and its pedestal. We are given the exactdimensions of these components, the materials out ofwhich they were made, the details of their design.

Pekudei means “accounts,” and the Parshahbegins with the statement, “These are the accounts ofthe Mishkan...” The etymological root of Pekudei,pakod, means to count, to remember, and to appoint— all expressing the concept of itemization, of par-ticular attention to detail (in modern Hebrew, a pakidis a bureaucrat). But while Pekudei also includesdetails of the Sanctuary’s construction (specifically,those of the priestly garments), a major part of theParshah is devoted to the Mishkan’s assembly. InPekudei the Torah relates how the components listedand described in Vayak’hel were fitted together toform the Sanctuary, and how the Divine Presencecame to dwell in the completed structure. Indeed, theparts of the Mishkan, even as each was fashioned inperfect concurrence with its divine specifications,could not house the Divine Presence until they wereassembled to collectively form the whole Mishkan.

In other words, the Parshah of Vayak’hel is taken



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up with the individual natures of the Sanctuary’sparts, while Pekudei describes how these combine toform the greater structure — the very opposite ofwhat each Parshah’s name means!

Five LessonsTo summarize:1) The Torah includes a Parshah called Vayak’hel,

and a Parshah called Pekudei.2) On certain years they are joined as a single

reading, called “Vayak’hel-Pekudei.”3) On other years, these two Parshiot form two

separate Torah-readings, read on separate weeks.4) Vayak’hel means “community,” but the content

of this Parshah is the value of individuality. Pekudeimeans “individuality,” but its content is the advan-tage in union and integration.

5) Vayak’hel comes first in the Torah, followed byPekudei.

Each of these nuances, says the Rebbe, is signifi-cant. Each illuminates the relationship between ourindividual and communal identities:

The First Lesson: We have and need them both.The fact that the Torah contains two Parshiot, onecalled Vayak’hel and the other called Pekudei, meansthat our need for communality and our striving forindividual distinction are both important and desir-able components of the human soul.

The Second Lesson: We can, and should, achievea synthesis of the two. If Vayak’hel and Pekudeiwere only to appear in the Torah as two separateParshiot, this would imply that while both are neces-sary, each has its time and place: that there are timeswhen our communality must be emphasized (to thenegation of our individuality), and there are timeswhen an assertion of individuality is called for(albeit disruptive to our communality). We wouldnot know that the two could be integrated.

The fact that, on certain years, Vayak’hel and

Pekudei are joined to form a single reading, teachesus that we can, and should, achieve a synthesis of thetwo: a community that is not a faceless mass but acommunity of individuals, each contributing his orher distinct personality and capabilities toward thecommunal goal, with the community, in turn, pro-viding the framework within which each can strivefor his or her personal best.

The Third Lesson: We most also nurture each ofthe two as a thing of value in and of itself. On theother hand, if Vayak’hel and Pekudei were to appearonly in their joint form, this would imply that theonly desirable objective is the achievement of somesort of balance between these contrasting drives—abalance that may well entail a compromise of one orthe other (or of both). Perhaps our individuality hasvalue only in that it contributes in some way to thecommunity; or perhaps the sole function of the com-munity is to provide a framework for the develop-ment of the individual. We would not know that eachis also an end unto itself.

The fact that Vayak’hel and Pekudei also appear inthe Torah as two separate readings teaches us that —in addition to the objective of integrating the two —individuality and community are viable objectives intheir own right as well. Individual perfection hasvalue independently of how this contributes to thecommunal good; and the creation of a community islikewise an end unto itself, for it represents a state ofbeing that is greater than the sum of its individualparts.

The Fourth Lesson: Each consists of the other.We have seen how community (“Vayak’hel”) andindividuality (“Pekudei”) each represent a desirablegoal, and how they can be integrated to form a thirdmodel, a community of individuals (“Vayak’hel-Pekudei”). But the Torah goes even further. It tells usthat even when each is considered as an end untoitself, the two are inexorably bound with each other.

This is the lesson to be derived from the fact thatthe content of “Vayak’hel” is the nature of individualthings, while “Pekudei” contains the description ofhow diverse parts are joined into a greater whole.The Torah is telling us even when the objective issolely the creation of a perfect community, the mostperfect community is a community comprised ofindividuals who are fully in touch with and exercis-



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VayakhelFrom the Chassidic Masters

Thus the believer engages in what can be termed“passive labor.” In the opening verses of Vayak’hel,Moses instructs the people of Israel:

Six days shall work be done; but on the seventhday there shall be to you a holy day, a sabbath ofsabbaths to G-d...

Not “Six days shall you work,” but “Six daysshall work be done.” The passive form suggests thateven during the week’s six workdays, when the Jewis permitted and obligated to work, he should beoccupied, but not preoccupied by his materialendeavors.

This is how Chassidic teaching interprets theverse (Psalms 128:2), “If you will eat the labor ofyour hands, you will be happy and it will be wellwith you.” What King David is implying, say theChassidic masters, is that the labor in which a per-son engages for his material needs (so that “you willeat”) should be only “of your hands” — an activityof the outer man, not an inward involvement. One’s“hands” and “feet” should attend to one’s materialendeavors, while one’s thoughts and feelingsremain bound up with G-dly things. This is thesame concept as that implied by the verse, “Sixdays shall work be done.” One does not do thework; it is “done,” as if of its own accord. The heartand mind are elsewhere, and only the person’s prac-tical faculties are engaged in the work.

The Jew works not to “make a living,” but onlyto fashion a keli (“vessel”) to receive G-d’s bless-ings. This is what the Torah means when it says,“And the L-rd your G-d will bless you in all thatyou do.” Man is not sustained by his own efforts,but through G-d’s blessing; it is only that G-ddesires that His blessing should realize itself in andthrough “all that you do.” Man’s work merely pro-vides a natural channel for the divine blessing ofsustenance, and man must at all times rememberthat it is no more than a channel. Though his handsprepare the channel, his mind and heart mustremain focused on the source of the blessing.

The Chassidic masters take this a step further. Intruth, they say, man should really not be allowed towork at all. For of G-d it is said, “I fill the heavensand the earth” and “The whole earth is full of Hisglory.” The proper response to the ever-present

ing their individuality (as Vayak’hel, even as aParshah on its own, is comprised of manifestly indi-vidual parts). And the Torah is telling us even whenthe objective is exclusively the realization of indi-vidual potential, an individual can optimally actual-ize his uniqueness only as a member of a communi-ty (as the Parshah of Pekudei includes the creation ofcommunity).

The Fifth Lesson: Imperfect individuals make aperfect community. The question remaining is:Which should come first?

Logic would seem to dictate that individual devel-opment (“Pekudei”) should come before communitybuilding (“Vayak’hel”): first one needs the parts, andthen one can assemble these parts into the greaterorganism. So the initial emphasis, it would seem,should be on the perfection of the individual, afterwhich these perfected individuals could be knit intothe ideal community.

The Torah, however, places Vayak’hel beforePekudei, teaching us that the very opposite is thecase: our very first objective, concludes the Rebbe,must be to bring people together, regardless of theirindividual state. Personal perfection will follow, fos-tered by the love and fellowship we show towardseach other.

Based on the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbewww.therebbe.org; adapted by

Yanki Tauber [email protected]

PASSIVE LABOR

One of the greatest paradoxes of a life of faithconcerns the need to work for a living. If G-d is thesource of all blessings, why toil to earn a livelihood?And if we do work, how can we avoid the thoughtthat it is our labor alone that produces materialresults? We seem torn between absolute passivityand the denial of G-d’s involvement in the world.


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nature of G-d would be to stand in absolute passivi-ty. To do otherwise would be to be guilty of what theTalmud calls “making gestures before the king.” If aperson standing in the presence of a king were to doanything other than devote his attention to the king,he would surely forfeit his life. So it is only becausethe Torah itself permits, indeed commands, “Sixdays shall work be done” and “The L-rd your G-dwill bless you in all that you do,” that work is per-missible and desirable. But to go beyond the level ofinvolvement sanctioned by the Torah — beyond the“passive labor” of making a “vessel” — that wouldbe, in the first place, to show a lack of faith thathuman sustenance comes from G-d; and secondly, itwould be “making gestures before the king” — anact of rebellion in the face of G-d.

The Double ShabbatThis explains the phrase shabbat shabbaton — “a

sabbath of sabbaths”—used by Moses in the aboveverses. Shabbat is not a day of rest following sixdays of active labor. Rather, it is a “sabbath of sab-baths,” a Shabbat following six days that are them-selves “sabbaths” of sorts — days of passive labor,in which one’s work only engages one’s external selfwith the true focus of one’s attention in a higherplace.

Indeed, a true day of rest can only be one that fol-lows such a week. Citing the verse, “Six days youshall labor, and do all your work,” the Sages say:“On the Shabbat, a person should regard himself asif all his work were complete.” This is true rest —rest in which one is utterly free of all workday con-cerns. If, however, during the six days, a person hadbeen preoccupied with material concerns, on the sev-enth day anxieties will invade him; even if his bodyceases work, his mind would not be at rest. On theother hand, if he has given his work its proper placeduring the week, the light of Shabbat will illuminatehim, and it will be shabbat shabbaton—a Shabbattwice over. For Shabbat will then permeate his whole

week, and when the day itself arrives it will have adouble sanctity.

The Day after Yom Kippur

This also explains the context in which Mosesaddresses the above verses to the assembled con-gregation of Israel.

Our Sages elaborate on how the building of theMishkan (Tabernacle) atoned for and rectified the sinof the Golden Calf. Ostensibly similar (both the Calfand the Mishkan were a “consecration” of physicalmatter, particularly gold), the Mishkan was, in truth,the very opposite of the Calf: the Golden Calf was adeification of the material, while the Mishkan was asubjugation of the material to serve the Divine. So onthe day after the first Yom Kippur, immediately fol-lowing G-d’s full forgiveness of Israel’s sin, Mosesconveyed G-d’s instructions to the people to buildHim a “dwelling place” in their midst; that very day,the people donated their gold, silver and copper tothe making of the Mishkan.

First, however, Moses gathered the people ofIsrael and commanded them in G-d’s name: “Sixdays shall work be done; but on the seventh day thereshall be to you a holy day, a sabbath of sabbaths toG-d...” This implies that, like the Mishkan, this com-mandment is a refutation of, and atonement for, thesin of idolatry.

Maimonides traces the origins of idolatry to thefact that Divine providence is channeled through nat-ural forces and objects. The original idolaters recog-nized that the sun, moon and the stars derived theirpower to nourish the earth from G-d, yet theyattached divine significance to them. Their error wasto regard them as objects of worship, whereas theyare no more than the instruments of G-d, like “an axein the hands of the hewer.”

In a certain sense, the excessive preoccupationwith business and the material world is also a formof idolatry. For this, too, involves the error of attach-ing significance to what is no more than a vessel orchannel of Divine blessing. The materialist’s preoc-cupation with material things is a form of bowing thehead, of misplaced worship. Only when a personsees his workday effort for what it truly is—a way ofcreating a natural channel for the blessings of G-d—will his work take the passive form and the focus ofhis thoughts be on G-d alone.


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This is how idolatry—whether in its overt or itsmore subtle forms—is atoned. Six days of passivework in the sense of mental detachment and the real-ization that human work is only an instrument of G-d, culminating in and inspired by a “sabbath of sab-baths” that focuses utterly on the source of our bless-ings—are the corrective for and the denial of theinstincts of idolatry.

Excerpted from Torah Studies<http://kehotonline.com/scripts/tgij/paper/kehot-

item.asp?book=740 (Kehot 1986), an adaptation of theLubavitcher Rebbe’s talks by Britain’s Chief Rabbi, Dr.

Jonathan Sacks

PARTNER

And the man took a golden ring, a half-shekel inweight; and two bracelets of ten shekels weight ofgold for her hands

Genesis 24:22A half-shekel — to allude to the shekalim con-

tributed by the people of Israel, a half-shekel perhead

Rashi, ibid.The first marriage of which we read in the Torah

is the marriage of Adam and Eve. Theirs, of course,was a marriage wholly made in Heaven: G-dHimself created the bride, perfumed and bejeweledher, and presented her to the groom. The firstinstance in which the Torah tells the story of a mar-riage achieved by human effort is in the chapter thatdescribes the search for a bride for Isaac. Here aredetailed the workings of a conventional shidduch: amatchmaker (Abraham’s servant Eliezer), an investi-gation into the prospective bride’s family and char-acter, a dowry, the initial encounter between thebride and groom, and so on.

The Torah, which often conveys complex laws bymeans of a single word or letter, devotes no less than67 verses to the marriage of Isaac and Rebecca.

Many of the details are related twice — first in theTorah’s account of their occurrence, and a secondtime in Eliezer’s speech to Rebecca’s parents. Forhere we are being presented with a prototype toguide our own approach to marriage — both in theconventional sense as the union of two humanbeings, and in the cosmic sense as the relationshipbetween G-d and man.

Half of TwentyOne of the details which the Torah includes in its

account is the fact that a ring, a half-shekel in weight,was one of the gifts that Eliezer presented toRebecca at their meeting at the well in Rebecca’shometown in Aram Naharayim.

Our sages explain that this was an allusion to, andthe forerunner of, the half-shekel contributed by eachJew towards the building of the Sanctuary. As G-dinstructs Moses in the 30th chapter of Exodus:

Each man shall give the ransom of his soul to G-d.... This they shall give: ... a half-shekel.... A shekelis twenty gerah; a half-shekel [shall be given] as anoffering to G-d... The rich man should not give more,and the pauper should not give less, than the half-shekel...

Why half a shekel? Maimonides writes that, as arule, “Everything that is for the sake of G-d shouldbe of the best and most beautiful. When one builds ahouse of prayer, it should be more beautiful than hisown dwelling. When one feeds the hungry, he shouldfeed him of the best and sweetest of his table....Whenever one designates something for a holy pur-pose, he should sanctify the finest of his possessions;as it is written, ‘The choicest to G-d.’”

Thus, in many cases Torah law mandates that theobject of a mitzvah (divine commandment) betamim, whole: a blemished animal cannot be broughtas an offering to G-d, nor can a blemished etrog beincluded in the Four Kinds taken on the festival ofSukkot. Even when this is not an absolute require-ment, the law states that, whenever possible, oneshould strive to fulfill a mitzvah with a whole object.For example, it is preferable to recite a blessing on awhole fruit or a whole loaf of bread, rather than on aslice (hence our use of two whole loaves at allShabbat and festival meals).

Why, then, does the Torah instruct that each Jewcontribute half a shekel towards the building of adwelling for G-d within the Israelite camp?



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The Torah’s repeated reference to this contributionas a “half-shekel” is all the more puzzling in light ofthe fact that in these very same verses the Torah findsit necessary to clarify that a shekel consists of twen-ty gerah. In other words, the amount contributed byeach Jew as the ransom of his soul was ten gerah.Ten is a number that connotes completeness and per-fection: the entire Torah is encapsulated within theTen Commandments; the world was created with tenDivine utterances; G-d relates to His creation via tensefirot (Divine attributes), and the soul of man,formed in the image of G-d, is likewise comprised often powers. But instead of instructing to give tengerah, the Torah says to give half of a twenty-gerahshekel, deliberately avoiding mention of the numberten and emphasizing the “half” element of our con-tribution to the Divine dwelling in our midst.

Separated at BirthFor such is the essence of marriage. If each part-

ner approaches the marriage with a sense of his orher self as a complete entity, they will, at best,achieve only a “relationship” between two distinct,self-contained lives. But marriage is much more thanthat. The Kabbalists explain that husband and wifeare the male and female aspects of a single soul, borninto two different bodies; for many years they liveseparate lives, often at a great distance from eachother and wholly unaware of the other’s existence.But Divine providence contrives to bring themtogether again under the wedding canopy and accordthem the opportunity to become one again: not onlyone in essence, but also one on all levels — in theirconscious thoughts and feelings and in their physicallives.

Marriage is thus more than the union of two indi-viduals. It is the reunion of a halved soul, the fusionof two lives originally and intrinsically one.

To experience this reunion, each must approachhis or her life together not as a ten, but as a half. Thishalf-shekel consists of ten gerah — each must give

their all to the marriage, devoting to it the full arrayof resources and potentials they possess. But eachmust regard him or herself not as a complete being,but as a partner — a part seeking its other part tomake it whole again.

The SanctuaryThe half-shekel ring given to Rebecca for her mar-

riage to Isaac was the forerunner of the half-shekelcontributed by each Jew towards the building of theSanctuary, the marital home in the marriage betweenG-d and man.

The soul of man is “a part of G-d above” — a partthat descended to a world whose mundanity andmateriality conspire to distance it from its supernalsource. So even a soul who is in full possession ofher ten powers is still but a part. And even when G-d fully manifests the ten attributes of His involve-ment with His creation, He is still only partly presentin our world. It is only when these two parts unite inmarriage that their original wholeness and integrityis restored.

So to build G-d a home on earth we must con-tribute half of a 20-gerah shekel. We must give our-selves fully to Him, devoting the full spectrum of ourten powers and potentials to our marriage with Him.But even as we achieve the utmost in self-realizationin our relationship with G-d, we must be permeatedwith a sense of our halfness — with the recognitionand appreciation that we, as He, are incomplete with-out each other.

Based on the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbewww.therebbe.org; adapted by

Yanki Tauber [email protected]



Friday, 26 Adar I | February 28LIGHT SHABBAT CANDLES BEFORE SUNSETSee this link for candle lighting times anywhere in theworld: http://chabad.org/calendar/candlelighting.asp

Shabbat, 27 Adar I | March 1Torah reading: Vayakhel/Shekalim (Exodus 30:11-34:35; 30:11-16) Haftarah: Vayichrot Yohoyada (II Kings 11:17-12:17) On This Date: Rebbe falls ill (1992) The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem MendelSchneerson, suffered a disabling stroke while praying atthe gravesite of the previous Rebbe, Rabbi YosefYitzchak of Lubavitch.Link: A Gatheringhttp://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=70404

Laws & Customs: Bless the new month This Shabbat is Shabbat Mevarchim ("the Shabbat thatblesses" the new month): a special prayer is recitedblessing the Rosh Chodesh ("Head of the Month") ofupcoming month of Adar II, which falls on Tuesday andWednesday of next week. Prior to the blessing, weannounce the precise time of the new moon's "birth" --Monday, March 3, 11:18:48 pm (Jerusalem time). It is aChabad custom to recite the entire book of Psalmsbefore morning prayers.Links: On the Significance of Shabbat Mevarchimhttp://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=54766

for more on the month of Adar, see entries for RoshChodesh Adar Ihttp://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=39973

ShekalimWhen the Holy Temple stood in Jerusalem, each Jewcontributed an annual half-shekel to the Temple. The1st of Adar marked the beginning of the collection of theshekalim; in commemoration, the Torah reading of theShabbat that falls on or before Adar 1 is supplementedwith the verses (Exodus 30:11-16) that relate G-d'scommandment to Moses regarding the first giving of thehalf-shekel. "Parshat Shekalim" is the first of four spe-cial readings added during or immediately before themonth of Adar (the other three being "Zachor", "Parah"and "Hachodesh")Links: The Shekalim Reading with commentaryhttp://www.chabad.org/parshah/in-depth/default.asp?AID=39625&SummaryAnchor=Shekalim;

Partner http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=70405

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Week at a Glance


Documents

Comment The Glory of the Single-Minded Person · we, as Jews, learn from this event?" Essay Parsha. Most of us have at least one single-minded person in our lives. It may be someone