Shalom Friends;
This year’s Parshiyot Vayakhel/Pekudei vort is being sponsored by Steven and Debra Glanz and family of Ramat Beit Shemesh dedicated to their children for Hotslocha this year in all of their endeavors and dedicated for the safety of the Chayalim and for the good health and security of kol Am Yisrael. To the Glanz family, many thanks for your sponsorship and for your continued kindnesses.
You can celebrate a Simcha — a birth, a Bar/Bat Mitzvah, a Chassuna or other Simcha event in your life, or commemorate a Yahrtzeit of a loved one, or for whatever other reason by sponsoring a Parshat HaShavua.
Please forward to your relatives and friends and encourage them to sponsor a Parshat HaShavua. And please be in contact with me with any questions, or for further details.
Best Regards,
Moshe Burt
olehchadash@yahoo.com
skype: mark.burt3
Subscribe to the Israel and the Sin of Expulsion blog, to ask questions or to sponsor a Parsha Vort at: olehchadash@yahoo.com
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Our doubleheader Parshat Vayakhel-Pekudei opens upon Moshe’s descent from Har Sinai with the Second Tablets (Luchos).
The opening posuk of our doubleheader Parshat Vayakhel-Pekudei reads:
“Moshe assembled the entire assembly of B’nei Yisrael and said to them: ‘These are the things that Hashem commanded, to do them:’ On six days, work may be done, but the seventh day shall be Holy for you, a day of complete rest for Hashem; whoever does work on it shall be put to death. You shall not kindle fire in any of your dwellings on the Shabbos day.’” (Sefer Shemos, Perek 35, Posuk 1 – 3 As rendered to English in “The Artscroll Stone Edition Chumash )
Rabbi Hershel Reichman asks a number of questions and provides commentary in his Sefer, “Living the Chassidic Legacy: Lessons Based on Shem Mishmuel, Volume One” which, upon reflection regarding our times, seems profound (pages 307 – 312, 315) :
Why, in this particular rendition of Shabbos, does the Torah mention that Moshe gathered the people? Why, in [Parshat Vayakhel – in] this particular Parsha of Shabbos, does the Torah single out the prohibition against lighting fires? Shabbos has already appeared several times in Torah, and never until now was the prohibition against making fires mentioned. A third question: Vayakhel-Pekudei is a long review of the construction of the Mishkan. …There is a connection between the Mishkan and Shabbos — Halacha states that even though the construction of the Mishkan is… an important Mitzvah, it was not done on Shabbos. Why does the Mitzvah of keeping Shabbos override the Mitzvah of building the Mishkan?
Earlier, the Torah describes in great detail the Mitzvah to build the Mishkan. [In] Parshat Ki Tisa, the Torah reminds us to keep Shabbos, even during the construction of the Mishkan. In Parshat Vayakhel, the Mitzvah of Shabbos precedes the directive to build the Mishkan. Why, in the original commandment in Ki Tisa, does Shabbos come after the Mishkan commandment, while in Vayakhel, which describes the actual construction of the Mishkan, Shabbos precedes the construction?
The Shem Mishmuel presents an interesting thesis. Between the first commandment to build the Mishkan and the one in Vayakhel, an unexpected event happened [the eigel zahav — the golden calf], which changed the nature of the Mishkan, even if it externally appeared to be exactly the same. After the eigel, everything changed. The keilim and measurements are identical, but the nature of each [version of] Mishkan is surprising different.
This is the key to answering our questions. Based on the Zohar, the Avnei Neizer says that Shabbos is “the secret of one,” the day when everything is one with Hashem. Shabbos is the day when peace and unity are manifest [Verb – used with object: to make clear or evident; show plainly]. During the six days of the week, the laws of nature and the automatic functioning of the world create a veil — a barrier that distorts unity — through which it is hard to perceive Hashem in the world. On Shabbos, though, ….we feel Hashem’s presence in whatever we do.
Before the eigel, when the Jews were pure and unsullied [Adjective: not soiled, untarnished] by sin, every Jew was on such a high spiritual level that he alone warranted the construction of Hashem’s dwelling in the world. However, the sin of the eigel zahav effected a spiritual catastrophe. It destroyed the individual level of the Jew. Now, only the nation of Israel, as a collective unity, could build the house for Hashem’s presence in the world. There was a shift from the individual to the community.
This is why we need Shabbos. It creates unity between the people, the world, and Hashem. Only the… Shabbos gives us the power of connection and unity so that we can merit the connection to Hashem’s presence in the Mishkan.
The eigel was a regression back to the ways of Egypt. But Aaron, the spiritual doctor, wanted to treat the cause of the illness, not just the symptoms. Moshe had disappeared and the people felt frantic. But Aaron looked for the real cause. He saw that the people had lost their sense of unity. As long as Moshe was with them, they were united. Since B’nei Yisrael had accepted Moshe as their leader, they stood united around him and loyal to him. They believed that every word he spoke was from Hashem. This created a unity among B’nei Yisrael.
After the Asseret HaDivrot were given, Moshe went up the mountain to learn Torah for forty days and to receive the luchos… Moshe had detached from physicality… His soul hsd, in a way, departed from his body to go to Heaven to receive the Torah… Moshe received the entire Torah, including the Mitzvot and their explanations and the spiritual insights and the lessons of the Torah.
But this period became disastrous for the Jews who were left without a leader. Even [Moshe’s] spirituality left B’nei Yisrael and the Jews felt lost. They did not feel bound together with the single goal of serving Hashem. They had lost their model and teacher of this goal. The loss of Moshe was more than physical — it was a loss of identity for the people.
The Shem Mishmuel explains that Moshe’s role among the people can be compared to the role of the neshama in the body. The living soul unites the body. When a person dies and the living soul leaves the body, the body decays and literally falls apart. The neshama unites the body during life into a single entity.
Similarly, Hashem created the world and its many components in six days. In the seventh day, He made Shabbos… to unite the world.
Just like Shabbos is the living soul of creation, Moshe was the soul of Am Yisrael.
The Shem Mishmuel cites [from] a posuk: “asher anochi b’kirbo” [Rabbi Reichman citing from Sefer Bamidbar, Perek 11, posuk 21], which on a Chassidic/Kabbalistic level has a surprising meaning: Moshe said, “I am the life source of this people”: because of me they are one. The Asseret HaDivrot are written in the singular form. “Anochi Hashem Kelokecha — I am Hashem, your G’d” Hashem addresses Am Yisrael as if they are one person, because Am Yisrael is one. Moshe’s neshama and being gave them their focus and identity.
Moshe inspired… unity among the people, but it had a corresponding danger. If Moshe were to disappear, they could lose their unity.
The Midrash says that when Hashem was about to punish the Jews for the eigel zahav, Moshe objected, “But You commanded only me, not them. After all, Anochi Hashem Keilokecha was commanded in the singular [I am Hashem, your G’d.]” [Rabbi Reichman citing Rashi on Sefer Shemos, Perek 20, posuk 2]
…Even though Hashem was talking to all of Israel, Moshe was the soul who received that command. When the soul of Israel flew out of its body to go to the mountain and learn Torah in Shemayim, it created a disconnect with the people below. They felt they had lost their identity and unity. They splintered into many different factions. Some said, “Let’s stay loyal to Aaron and Chur.” Others said, “Let’s go back to Egypt,” and others said, “Let’s make an idol.”
Aaron understood this… and he knew how much damage was being caused by [Moshe’s] absence. He realized that the problem was that the people had lost their unity. He said, we need to reunite. If we could only reestablish our unity and collective direction, we could get back on track.”
Moshe came down from the mountain with the power to reignite the Jews with his presence. He threw the eigel into the fire, burned it, and purified the people with its ashes. After the episode of the eigel, Moshe moved on to the Mitzvah of the Mishkan.
In summation, Rabbi Reichman draws an analogy between the state of Am Yisrael when Moshe didn’t return according to the time they had incorrectly calculated, leading to the eigel zahav, and the current divisive factions within Jewry today (ibid, page 313) :
As Jews, if we think about our current situation in the world, we must realize how our disunity is wreaking havoc. We can’t agree on fundamental things. Our people do not agree about the Land of Israel and the Jews’ role in the Land, about Judaism and democracy in Israel and America, or how to raise Jewish children, or our attitudes toward deviant behavior. There are debates on marriage and divorce. The many issues that drive us apart, and the resulting disunity cause us so much trouble.
We see this divisiveness and factionalism playing out in Israel, via judicial reform vs unrepresentative agendized judicial dictates, Yeshiva and Kolel learning vs forced Hareidi draft into a military which, up to the present, seems to break-down religious soldiers, factions with ideologies disavowing Judaism’s connection to Eretz Yisrael and more. This divisiveness and factionalism portrays weakness to our enemies and begs the outbreak of war against us — ergo the War of Simchat Torah.
And in the United States, there are Jewish legislators in both levels of Congress, and in presidential administrations, as well among grassroots Jews and Jewish organizations that hold distorted, divisive, self-hating ideologies who disavow their Judaism and any connection to issues affecting Jews and Israel.
The way to the Ge’ula, and the Beit HaMikdash is through Shabbos — unity as one,
May our government and military bring about the total and complete, Final and Decisive victory over Hamas, their 7 October so-called “civilians(sic)” collaborators and the entire terror cabal, B’Yad Hashem, and become Totally self-sufficient as to manufacture of military equipment and aircraft, weaponry, munitions — heavy munitions, as well as showing independence of actions responding to any threat, regardless of so-called “super powers.”
May we see, from here on, that border guard personnel at all points of possible danger are listened to and treated with respect and dignity. May we see our Chayalim totally eradicate Hamas, Islamic Jihad, those so-called “civilians(sic)” who collaborated on 7 October, as well as Hezbollah, the Houthies, the Mullahs of Iran and all their terror accomplices B’Yad Hashem and mandated by a government secure in it’s foremost service of, and emunah in HaKadosh Borchu, B’Ezrat Hashem! And may we see the restoration of true unity within Am Yisrael. May these words come to fruition B’Esrat Hashem.
May we, the B’nei Yisrael be zocha that our brethren — the refugee families from Gush Katif be permanently re-settled in Gush Katif, once the IDF, by the Yad Hashem, destructs and eradicates the wild beasts of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, all other terror entities, and if necessary Iran, and that our brethren be made totally whole — be totally restituted for all that was stolen from them, that the thrice expelled families of Amona be restored to their rebuilt homes and the oft-destroyed Yeshiva buildings in Homesh be rebuilt, as well as the buildings of Yishuv Elchanan, all at total government expense. May our Chayalim return from battle unharmed — physically, mentally and spiritually and may all of the remaining hostages brutally taken by the wild beasts of Hamas be liberated and brought home to their families. Baruch Hashem that our dear brother Jonathan Pollard is now in his sixth year at home in Eretz Yisrael and continues in a new chapter in his life. May Esther Yocheved bat Yechiel Avraham have an aliyah in Shemayim and may her spirit and memory continue to lift Jonathan to at least 120 years. May the MIAs be liberated alive and returned to us in ways befitting Al Kiddush Hashem — as with the return in April, 2019, via Russia, of the remains of Zachariah Baumel, the recent recovery of the remains of Tzvi Feldman as well as the recoveries of the remains of Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin from the Gaza War of ten years ago. May we have the courage and strength to stand up and physically prevent the possibility of Chas V’Challila any future eviction of Jews from their homes and prevent Chas V’Challila the handing of Jewish land over to anyone, let alone to enemies sworn to Israel’s and Judaism’s destruction and eradication. May we fulfill Hashem’s blueprint of B’nei Yisrael as a Unique people — an Am Segula, not to be reckoned with as with “the nations” and may we be zocha to see the Moshiach, the Ge’ula Shlaima, as Dov Shurin sings; “Ki Karov Yom Hashem Al’Kol HaGoyim”, the Ultimate Redemption, bimhayrah b’yamainu — speedily, in our time”, — Achshav, Chik Chuk, Miyad, Etmol!!!
Good Shabbos!
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Moshe Burt, an Oleh, is a commentator on news and events in Israel and Founder and Director of The Sefer Torah Recycling Network. He lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh.
Moshe is available for editing of English language documents, articles, manuscripts and more. Please be in contact with him at olehchadash@yahoo.com for your English language needs.
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