Illustration Credit: Noa Kelner
Commentary פַּרְשָׁנוּת
At the end of our parashah, the Torah puts two important ideas together in one very short pasuk:
אֶת־שַׁבְּתֹתַ֣י תִּשְׁמֹ֔רוּ וּמִקְדָּשִׁ֖י תִּירָ֑אוּ אֲנִ֖י יהוה׃
You shall keep My Shabbatot and fear My Mikdash (holy space). I am God.
What’s the connection between the different parts of this pasuk: Shabbat and God’s Mikdash?
יָכוֹל יְהֵא בִּנְיַן בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ דּוֹחֶה שַׁבָּת? תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר "אֶת שַׁבְּתֹתַי תִּשְׁמֹרוּ וּמִקְדָּשִׁי תִּירָאוּ."
Could the mitzvah of building the Beit HaMikdash push off Shabbat? The Torah teaches: “You shall keep My Shabbatot and fear My Mikdash.”
According to Hazal, our pasuk teaches that even though building the Beit HaMikdash is really important, we cannot build it on Shabbat.
Why would the rules of Shabbat be prioritized over building the Beit HaMikdash? What can this teach us about each of these things?
אֲבוֹת מְלָאכוֹת אַרְבָּעִים חָסֵר אַחַת, כְּנֶגֶד מִי? אָמַר לְהוּ רַבִּי חֲנִינָא בַּר חָמָא: כְּנֶגֶד עֲבוֹדוֹת הַמִּשְׁכָּן.
Why are there 39 categories of melakhah (productive work) that are not allowed on Shabbat? R. Hanina bar Hama said: They match the actions involved in the Mishkan.
Most of the activities we aren’t allowed to do on Shabbat—known as melakhah—are not mentioned in the Torah. Hazal have a tradition that there are 39 categories of melakhah based on the different kinds of work that were involved in building the Mishkan.
- Can you think of some activities that are forbidden on Shabbat? How do you think they were part of building the Mishkan?
- Try it! When you avoid doing a certain melakhah on Shabbat, can you think about the ways that melakhah might have happened in building the Mishkan and Beit HaMikdash? Does that change your experience of observing Shabbat?
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