VaYakhel/Pekudei (Exodus 35:1-40:38)
OVERVIEW
This week, as is often the case (but not always), the two short parashiyot of Vayakhel and Pekudei are read together. Parashat Vayakhel seems a bit repetitive, telling the story of the actual building of the Mishkan. If it seems familiar, it is because it describes the people actually putting into effect the instructions we've already heard before. At Moses's bidding, the people bring all the materials required and the craftsmen begin to do the work. But, before the work even begins, everyone is reminded again to maintain Shabbat, emphasizing especially the prohibition against kindling fire.
Parashat Pekudei is the final portion of the Book of Exodus. Pekudei begins with Moses's full accounting of all the materials used in the construction of the Mishkan. He first inventories the building materials themselves, and then continues with the vestments of the Priests. Once all the work is completed according to God's instructions, Moses inspects the Mishkan and blesses the people. The Mishkan is then assembled for the first time, and the Divine Presence, manifest as a cloud, fills the Sanctuary, serving as a guide for the people.
IN FOCUS
On six days you shall have a Sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Eternal; whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. You shall kindle no fire throughout your settlements on the Sabbath day. (Exodus 35:2-3)
PSHAT
On Sinai, Moses received from God all the details of the building of the Mishkan. In Vayakhel, the instructions are carried through. In both cases, before there is any information given about the actual labour, a reminder is given that for six days the people can work. But no work is to be done on the seventh day, which is to be observed as a Shabbat Shabbaton - "a Sabbath of complete rest." This injunction here is an almost verbatim repetition of the statement in Exodus 31:15, including the harsh reminder that profanation of the Sabbath is punishable by death. However, here there is some new information: no fire is to be lit on the Shabbat.
DRASH
There is a whole lot of stuff going on here. It makes perfect sense that the Israelites, who are about to undertake their first major building project together - a house of God - and are still only a short time out of slavery where they were forced to work without break, should be reminded about Shabbat. The later sages developed the list of the types of labour prohibited on the Sabbath from the types of work involved in the building of the Tabernacle. The importance and significance of a day of rest makes the most sense when presented in the context of labour. Both Rashi and Ramban point out that the reminder here specifically emphasizes that even the building of the Mishkan does not supersede Shabbat.
But isn't death a little extreme as a punishment for failing to observe Shabbat? Many modern commentators suggest that these words are not to be taken literally. The death mentioned here is not physical death but rather a spiritual death, that is, death of the soul. This follows from the notion that on Shabbat we each acquire a neshama y'terah (an additional soul). A person who transgresses or ignores Shabbat loses this additional soul, and therefore experiences a type of spiritual death. In general, whenever punishment by death is mentioned in the Torah, the sages are very swift to point out that an actual execution has never been ordered or carried out by a Beit Din - a Jewish religious court of law.
The introduction here of the prohibition against lighting a fire on Shabbat is less clear. Rashi, drawing on discussions in the Talmud, states that the law against lighting fire on Shabbat is singled out in order to identify it "merely" as a negative commandment. As a separate negative command, it is not included in the general law about Shabbat, and therefore, if transgressed, is not punishable by death.
However, most commentators do not see the fire prohibition as connected to the death penalty. Ramban sees this as a statement that prohibits preparation of cooked food on Shabbat, which would not usually be included in the category of "work" and therefore needs to be mentioned separately. The wording of this prohibition has led to some controversy, with the rabbis of the Talmud, following the practise of the Pharisees, teaching that fire may not be kindled anew on Shabbat, but fire kindled before Shabbat is permitted to continue. The Karaites, a group of Jewish sectarians, rejected this idea, and spent Shabbat in darkness, eating cold food. Some believe that the lighting of the Shabbat candles was introduced specifically to oppose the Karaites, and eventually, with the addition of a bracha (blessing), became obligatory. Ironically, given the great dispute over these differing interpretations, there is also the view that the prohibition against kindling fire on Shabbat includes the fire of anger. Heated argumentation is as much a disruption to Shabbat as any form of labour.
DAVAR AHER
You shall kindle no fire throughout your settlements on the Sabbath day. (Exodus 35:3)
The Sabbath is a day of rest, on which the people have leisure to discuss communal affairs, to talk about their rabbis, cantors, slaughterers and sextons and to offer their comments on the way their institutions such as the Hebrew School and Mikvah (ritual bath) are run.
This is the reason why we are admonished explicitly: "You shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations on the Sabbath day." Do not mar your Sabbath rest by kindling fires of evil gossip and contention. This is not the purpose for which the Sabbath was given you. The Sabbath is not only a day of rest but also a day of moral sanctity. (Shelah HaKodesh)
