SEDRAH SELECTIONS PARSHAS VA'YAKHEIL 5765 BS"D
Ch. 35, v. 2: "Sheishes yomim" - Six days - Rashi says that Moshe gave the
mitzvoh of Shabbos before the mitzvoh of erecting the Mishkon, to teach that the
building of the Mishkon does not push aside Shabbos. The difficulty raised by
Rishonim, such as Rabbeinu Chaim Paltiel, is that Rashi on Shmos 31:13 d.h.
"ach" says that from that verse we derive this ruling, and there Shabbos is
mentioned AFTER the building of the Mishkon. We see that we derive this point
from Shabbos being mentioned AFTER the Mishkon. Likewise, we find the verse "Ish
imo v'oviv tiro'u v'es Shabsosai tishmoru" (Vayikra 19:3), from which we
similarly derive that although there is a mitzvoh to fear one's parents,
nevertheless, if a parent commands his child to do an act that involves desecration of
Shabbos, the child may not comply, and there too, Shabbos is mentioned after
fearing one's parents. (Placing Shabbos afterwards to bring out this point of
information seems to be the logical order. Do this or that mitzvoh, BUT keep the
laws of Shabbos.)
A careful reading of our Rashi yields a most interesting answer offered by
the B'eir Yitzchok. Rashi does not say that Moshe taught the parsha of Shabbos
ahead of building the Mishkon. Rather he says "hikdim LO'HEM," he taught it
earlier to THEM. Note the name of our parsha, "Va'yakheil." This is one of the
very special occasions where Moshe deviated from the norm, of teaching a law
first to Aharon and his sons, then to the tribal heads, and finally, to all the
bnei Yisroel (gemara Eiruvin 55). Here he taught it immediately to all in a
public assemblage. The reason for this is simple. The building of the Mishkon was
not a mitzvoh that each person could do on his own, such as tefillin. Rather,
it was a communal mitzvoh, and as such, it was taught to all, even the women,
and in one go. However, there was no need to relate the mitzvoh of Shabbos in
the same assemblage. Why did Moshe first give THEM, "hikdim lo'hem," IN
ASSEMBLAGE, the mitzvoh of Shabbos? It must be to teach them to not build the
Mishkon at the expense of Shabbos. This is derived not from the positioning of
these two mitzvos one to another, but from the fact that Shabbos was taught in
"hakheil." This teaches that Shabbos plays a role in the building of the Mishkon.
However, we are left with a problem. According to this explanation the ruling
is not derived from HIKDIM, but only from the fact that Shabbos was also
taught in this assemblage. Why does Rashi mention which mitzvoh came first?
Lekach Tov, an Acharone, answers this. Had Moshe taught them the mitzvoh of
building the Mishkon first, some of the people would have been so enthused that
they would have immediately run out and begun the task. They would not have
realized that Moshe was about to continue with the laws of Shabbos. This is why
"HIKDIM lo'hem."
Why this ruling is taught twice remains to be explained. Although the
building of the Mishkon being mentioned both in parshas Trumoh and here is explained
by Rishonim (Some commentators say that it is a continuation of the parsha in
Ki Siso, and other matters mentioned in between were a tangent), the need to
repeat that Shabbos is not to be desecrated for the building of the Mishkon,
remains to be clarified.
According to the opinion that the command to build the Mishkon took place
chronologically ahead of the sin of the golden calf, we might have an answer. In
the interim some of the bnei Yisroel had sinned with the golden calf. M.R.
says that the building of the Mishkon brings exoneration for this sin. The need
for this "kaporoh" was so terribly important that I might mistakenly believe
that it must be done post haste, now even at the expense of Shabbos Kodesh. This
requires a repetition of this ruling. (Nirreh li)
Ch. 35, v. 3: "Lo s'vaaru aish" - You shall not ignite a fire - It is a
well-known (to those who know it well) historical fact that a group of deviant bnei
Yisroel, called Tzidokim, prohibited lighting a fire on the eve of Shabbos
for it to burn on the Shabbos. They derived this from their incorrect
understanding of our verse. Rabbeinu M'shulom, a Rishon, met some of these people and
brought a proof that they were wrong. In Breishis 2:3 the verse says,
"Va'yivo'reich Elokim es yom hashvii." In which manner did He bless it? If we look at
the curse Iyov pronounced, we can deduce that the blessing is the reverse. He
said, "Halayloh hahu yikocheihu ofel, y'kav lo'ore vo'ayin." We can deduce that
blessing is the opposite, that the night be well illuminated. From this we see
that the night of Shabbos must be illuminated, and since we all agree that
igniting a fire on Shabbos itself is prohibited, it must be that we illuminate
Shabbos with lights that were lit before Shabbos begins.
In addition, just as Iyov continued and said, "Al tovo r'nonoh vo," - let no
song come upon that day, we conversely make sure to sing Shabbos songs during
our meals. (Rabbi Yehudoh Chosid #1,147)
Ch. 35, v. 3: "Lo s'vaaru aish b'chole moshvoseichem b'yom haShabbos" - You
shall not ignite a fire in any of your homes on the day of Shabbos - The Holy
Zohar on parshas Trumoh writes that even the most evil person who is in Gehinom
and roasts there all week, has a respite from the fire on Shabbos Kodesh.
Hashem does not keep His fire going on Shabbos. There is one exception. For the
people who desecrated Shabbos, the fires keep going, as they had no respect for
the mitzvoh of not igniting a fire on Shabbos. This is alluded to in our
verse. Do not desecrate the Holy Shabbos so that you do not ignite a fire in ALL
your places of residence, even in Gehinom. (Chid"o in Chomas Anoch in the name
of Rabbi Vidal Tzrofasi)
Ch. 35, v. 20: "Va'yeitzu kol adas bnei Yisroel milifnei Moshe" - And all the
congregation of bnei Yisroel exited from in front of Moshe - The gemara Yoma
53 says that when one leaves the presence of his Rebbi he should not turn his
back on him, but rather, he should exit walking sideways, so that he would
still be facing his Rebbi. The stress in our verse is on "miliFNEI," from in
front of Moshe's FACE. Moshe was still within view. (Rabbi Chaim Palagi)
It is pointed out specifically here, because even the women were present, and
they too did the same. (Haa'meik Dovor)
Alternatively, it is because here they were in a great rush to start building
the Mishkon, and nevertheless, they walked out facing Moshe, even though it
slowed them down. (Nirreh li)
Ch. 35, v. 25: "V'chol ishoh" - And every woman - Compare this with the next
verse, "V'chol haNOSHIM," - and all the WOMEN, plural. The singular form is
used in our verse is because we are discussing the weaving of sheep's wool. Only
women who were not menstrually impure did this. The next verse is discussing
the weaving of the hair of goats, which the gemara Shabbos 74b and 99a says
was done in a most skilled way, while the hair was still attached to the goats.
The gemara says that this allowed even menstrually impure women to weave,
hence the plural form, "noshim." (Meshech Chochmoh)
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