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Vayakhel לֵה ְקַּיַו
££Shabbat and the Tabernacle:
£Shabbat and the Tabernacle: Shabbat and the Tabernacle:
Sanctif
Sanctifying Space, Time, and Soulying Space, Time, and Soul
Sanctifying Space, Time, and Soul
As we mentioned in the introduction to this book, the Rabbis coined
the term PaRDeS (סדרפ) – an acronym literally meaning “orchard”
– to refer to the four-tiered system of biblical interpretation, which
revealed that each word, verse, story, and mitzvah in the Torah
could be simultaneously understood on four different levels:
פ – P – Peshat – the straightforward or literal meaning of the
text.
ר – R – Remez – the deeper meaning, alluded to or hinted at by the
text.
ד – D – Derash – the allegorical, metaphorical, or symbolic meaning
of the text, revealed by the Midrashic tradition, often
contained in a body of rabbinic works known as the the
Midrash.
ס – S – Sod – the mystical or secret meaning, revealed by the
Kabbalistic tradition.
Over the course of this book, we have continually employed this
model to interpret the Torah, albeit in a more fluid, less structured
manner. As we have done several times before, we will now employ
PaRDeS systematically to explain a number of ideas.
Vayakhel begins with Moses assembling the entire nation of Israel
so that he can address them after descending from Mount Sinai with
the second tablets containing the Ten Commandments. He begins his
address by once again instructing the people to observe and keep the
Shabbat and then spends the remainder of the portion dealing with
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the Tabernacle’s construction. The commentators raise the obvious
question: why does Moses have to again remind the Jewish people to
keep the Shabbat when the rest of the portion deals exclusively with
the Tabernacle.
The straightforward peshat understanding is that this reminder is
necessary to prevent the people from erroneously thinking that the
Tabernacle’s construction supersedes Shabbat. Since the Tabernacle’s
primary purpose was to function as a dwelling place for the Divine
Presence on earth and was to serve as the primary meeting place
between God and the Jewish people, they might have thought that
such a lofty enterprise would in fact supersede Shabbat. Therefore the
Torah explicitly reminds the people that even such a lofty endeavor
does not negate the Shabbat.
The remez is alluded to by the juxtaposition of the Shabbat laws
and the Tabernacle’s construction instructions. The Oral Torah
transmitted by Moses explains this juxtaposition – which occurs
elsewhere in the Torah as well – as hinting that the very types of work
forbidden on Shabbat are to be derived from those creative works
performed in building the Tabernacle. The Sages identified thirty-
nine major categories of work performed in the construction of the
Tabernacle and transposed these to the laws of Shabbat, deeming
these the Thirty-Nine Categories of Forbidden Labor on Shabbat.
The derash interpretation perceives the juxtaposition of Shabbat
and the Tabernacle to allegorically or metaphorically allude to 24107-EYAL - 24107-EYAL | 10 - A | 18-01-28 | 12:12:04 | SR:-- | Magenta
the juxtaposition of holy time and space: Shabbat as the primary #24107-EYAL - 24107-EYAL | 10 - A | 18-01-28 | 12:12:04 | SR:-- | Yellow 24107-EYAL - 24107-EYAL | 10 - A | 18-01-28 | 12:12:04 | SR:-- | Black 24107-EYAL - 24107-EYAL | 10 - A
manifestation of holy time and the Tabernacle as the primary
manifestation of holy space – “They will make for Me a Sanctuary and
I will dwell in their midst” (Exodus 25:8). God in reality fills all time
and space, yet the very existence of Shabbat and the Tabernacle’s
construction teach us how to take “ordinary” time and space and
create proper vessels for God that can be infused with higher levels
of spirituality. Ultimately, this is our role in the world, to infuse
ordinary time and space with holiness.
Thus, this notion of holy space is not limited to the Tabernacle and
the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. The contemporary synagogue (beit
kenesset) is referred to by the Sages as a miniature Temple (Mikdash
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