Parashat Vayakhel - bein kodesh l'chol (commentary by Sam Berrin Shonkoff, "Six Days Shall You Work", on myjewishlearning.com)

READ HAVDALLAH LITURGY - hamavdil bein kodesh l'chol

Why is it important to separate between Shabbat (kodesh) and the rest of the week (chol)?

Which one is more important? Why?

COMMENTARY:

The talmudic phrase bitul Torah, literally the "cancellation of Torah," refers to the time one spends occupied with the world at large, away from Jewish text study. Chol, literally “profane,” refers to the six days of the week before Shabbat. Such language

suggests that religious life takes place only within the temporal boundaries of ritual.

Why is this notion problematic?

COMMENTARY:

The rest of Parashat Vayakhel, and much of Parshat Pekudei, are devoted to this grand project and document the overwhelming generosity of the Israelite community to complete it. Moses’ short instruction about the holy seventh day virtually dissolves in the details of construction--building, melting, welding, and other acts that are forbidden on Shabbat. Just as the vast majority of life occurs outside of ritual acts, the vast majority of this parsahah focuses on the activities of chol.

Verse 2 (above) mentions "work" - how does Jewish tradition determine what work is?

Commentary from Rashi:

He prefaced the prohibition of Sabbath to the commandment to build the Mishkan, to teach them that its construction does not override the Sabbath

Mishnah, Shabbati 7:2

The major categories of work [forbidden on Shabbat] are forty minus one: sowing, plowing, harvesting, binding sheaves together, threshing, winnowing, sorting, grinding, sifting, kneading, baking, shearing wool, whitening it, beating it, dyeing it, spinning, weaving, making two loops, weaving two threads, separating two threads, tying, untying, sewing two stitches, tearing for the purpose of sewing two stitches, hunting a deer, slaughtering it, flaying it, salting it, curing its skin, scraping it, cutting it, writing two letters, erasing for the purpose of writing two letters, building, demolishing, extinguishing [a flame], kindling [a flame], striking with a hammer, carrying from one domain to another. These are the major categories of work [forbidden on Shabbat] - forty minus one.

COMMENTARY:

Moses suggests that our work in the world before and after Shabbat is no less important than Shabbat itself. “Six days you shall do work,” he commands, “and on the seventh day you shall have a Shabbat of complete rest” (Exodus 35:2).

Thus, the first mitzvah that Moses articulates after Mount Sinai is that we should engage in work for six-sevenths of every week. Insofar as Shabbat is a call for rest on Saturdays, it is also a call for action on all other days. From this perspective, the true observance of Shabbat is an ever-flowing, lifelong affair that usually consists of working.

Do you find that the nature of your work-week makes Shabbat more meaningful?

How so?

Do you find that the nature of your Shabbat observance makes your work-week more meaningful?

How so?

COMMENTARY:

The construction of the Mishkan has traditionally been regarded as an illustration of what we should not do on Shabbat. Indeed, the Rabbis derived the 39 prohibited actions on Shabbat directly from the 39 acts of labor involved in the creation of the Mishkan.

However, we can also view this principle from the opposite angle. While the construction of the Mishkan demonstrates inversely what Shabbat should not look like, it also reveals a direct prescription for our engagement during the rest of the week.

How do the acts involved in building the Mishkan reveal God's desire for how we engage in the work-week?

How does the "willingness of our heart" effect our engagement with our work-week?

COMMENTARY:

According to midrash, the Mishkan is a microcosm of the whole world. Like the nation who built the Mishkan as a dwelling place for the Divine, we must work to make the world worthy of that Presence. The levels of scrutiny, care and “voluntary-heartedness” (Exodus 35:5) that define the building process in parshiyot Vayakhel and Pekudei beckon us to devote equally high levels of mindfulness and spirit to our own melachah (work) at all times. We must take our work during the week very seriously.

Every act of melachah--that which we do in homes and offices, public squares and private spaces--changes the world in a constructive or destructive way.

Taking this perspective into account, how does this outlook affect our daily decisions such as the purchasing of goods, the employment of others, our business ethics, how we use money, how we use time, what types of work/actions/activities we pursue, how we raise our children, etc. ?

COMMENTARY:

When we purchase imported goods, what types of labor are we supporting overseas? For those of us employed outside our homes, how does our professional work--and that of our companies and organizations--hurt or help people globally? How do we use our money, time, and physical selves to pursue justice in the world?

When we speak with children, when we are at home and on our ways, when we lie down and when we rise up, do we ask ourselves which nails, knots, clasps, and sheets we will contribute to the Mishkan of the world today? These day-to-day activities are what make our world a dwelling place for the Divine.

Shabbat is important, yet our behavior during the other six days is no less a part of religious life. Shabbat is when we step back and appreciate the created world. Chol is when we step up and participate in creating that world. Piety is not only a reflection of what we observe, but also of what we build.