Vayakhel connecting Shabbat and the Mishkan

Parashat Vayakhel is a continuation of the story of the building of the mishkan, the portable sanctuary which is to be a place in which G-d will reside. Yet, interestingly enough it does not begin with a description of the way in which it is to be built. It begins with a paragraph about Shabbat regulations and then moves onto a description of the way contributions were made, the building of the structure, the vessels contained within it, and the clothing of the priests. Why does this parasha begin with Shabbat regulations? What is the connection of Shabbat and the mishkan? (share portion) If we look at the very first place that the word Shabbat is used in the Torah, we can find it in the paragraph commonly known as the vay’chulu. (share portion) In this paargraph Shabbat is not used as a noun. It is used as a verb. It is an event for G-d, not for human beings. G-d has created the world and then ceases his act of creation. The cessation was part of the scheme that G-d had while creating the world. It was not a completion of the process of creation, it was not an independent entity. It was part of the creative process. The original Torah text prior to having divisions arbitrarily put into it by the Church, had no division between the 6th day of creation and the 7th day of creation. The start of a new chapter in Genesis was not part of the original reading of the vayichulu text. From a Torah point of view, G-d had a plan, a deliberate intention in mind when creating the world and the cessation of work was part of that plan. Interestingly enough, the Torah never provides us with a large listing of actions that one must cease doing on Shabbat. Although there are 39 forms of activities that are prohibited on Shabbat, the Torah only mentions 10 of th . The source of the other 29 activities is taken from the forms of labor used to create the mishkan, because this week’s parasha basically states that the creation of the mishkan does not take precedence over Shabbat. There is another fascinating statement found in this week’s parasha about the individual who is “singled out by name” by G-d to produce the mishkan. That individual is Bezalel ben Uri. He is the only individual in Torah ever introduced this way…singled out by name. Nachmanides, a Torah commentator, points out that we can assume that Bezalel who has just been redeemed from Egypt, spent his days there in servitude. He was not educated in the fine arts. So perhaps he was just a natural artisan, with natural talents. If that were so, then in the course of doing his hard labor in Egypt, his dexterity would have been compromised. So why was he so unique? We are told that he could work with gold, silver, copper, wood, stone, and textiles. He was a renaissance man who was inspired with wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and ability. He had communication skills and could give directions. Bezalel was unprecedented as a human being who acted as a creator. He transformed raw materials into useful items. He had a plan, worked with intention, and was deliberate about what he would create. He used ingenuity and intellect to guide him in the construction of the mishkan. I think what the Torah is trying to tell us is that creation of the world was not an accident just as creation of the mishkan was not accidental. Both had a creator who had a design in mind and transformed raw materials into what was conceived. Just as cessation from creation was part and parcel of the design of the world, so too cessation from the creation of the mishkan was part and parcel of the expectations that would be followed when creating the mishkan. Just as the creation of the world resulted in a beautiful environment which had utility for those inhabiting the world, the creation of the mishkan also was beautiful and useful. I think too often we look at Shabbat as the day that followed creation rather than as a day that was part of creation. If we view it as a part of creation, then it can be recognized for its beauty, for its usefulness. Shabbat according to the writing of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, z’l, is a day of the soul as well as of the body; a day of comfort and pleasure. Shabbat is the day that inspires all the other days of the week. Our parsha mentions that we are to kindle no fire throughout your habitations on the Sabbath day. Taken one step further, we are not to kindle the fire of controversy nor the heat of anger. It is a day “to reclaim our authentic state, in which we partake of a blessedness in which we are what we are, regardless of whether we learned or not, of whether our career is a success or failure; it is a day of independence of social conditions.” Just as the cessation of creation for G-d might be thought of as a conscious harmony of G-d with G-d’s creation, so too the Shabbat is to be a conscious harmony of human beings and the world…a participation in the spirit that unites what is below and what is above and all around us. “ Time honored in this way, actually refreshens the creative spirit in each of us. It does not dim our creativity, it does not lessen our intentions nor our plans. Shabbat is about renewal and way of connecting to the idea that creation and creativity are continuous. Perhaps Bezalel ben Uri was a rare renaissance man who could create with any medium with which he was given, but each of us has a creative spark within us that mimics the creative nature of G-d, in whose image we are created. May we use our Shabbatot to connect to the aspect of our being that delights in the world and in existence. Shabbat Shalom. Questions: 1. How does thinking about Shabbat as being part of creation rather than as an event that took place after creation help one understand Shabbat in a different way than previously understood? 2. Did you ever consider that not kindling a flame on Shabbat could also be interpreted as not kindling the flames of controversy and anger? What would personal relationships be like for sure on one day a week if this were the case? 3. When do you feel your own creativity waning? When do you feel it maximized?