Vayakhel (Genesis 35:1 - 38:20)  Previous Page,  Torah Lesson Plan, or YHVH Homepage

“And Moses assembled all the congregation of the children of Israel and he said to them, These are the words which the Eternal has commanded that you do them. Six days work shall be done, and on the seventh day there shall be holiness for you, a shabbat shabbaton.”

1; Why does it say “Moses assembled”? It usually says “Moses said.”

2; It says,“‘These are the words’ the Eternal has commanded that you do them.” There is no further explanation, only “These …words.” Many commentators say that this means the service of the mishkan. This is a difficulty, because further on in the passage, verse 4, the verse introduces the Mishkan with the starting words of “Moses said…” For this reason, the introductory phrase must be referring to a preceding  subject, namely the passage “Six days work…” This is also a difficulty because this commandment was also said previously within the Ten Commandments.

3; Why is there a double expression of Shabbat Shabbaton?

4; Rashi informs us that Moses assembled the nation on the morning of Yom Kippur.  This is the time that he came down from Mount Sinai. On that day God said to Moses, “I have forgiven according to your request.” He was referring of course to the golden calf. So there must be a relationship between the assembling and Yom Kippur, the day of atonement. What is it?

To start, we should take note of the verse, “six days work shall be done (tei’aseh)”. The Torah chose not to use the normal, ta’aseh (you shall do).  To say, “you shall do” would imply an active involvement, but as the Torah uses the phrasing “shall be done”, it is in the passive form, therefore, it alludes to the fact that the work will be done by itself.  To this the commentators say; “when Israel obeys the Will of Hashem, their work ‘shall be done’ by others.” What does this mean?

It means that when the avodah (service) of  a Jew is applied properly, his labors of the six days will be as labor of it’s self. His vessel will only go through the actions of the labor, and he will not need to worry, because he will be blessed. The Scripture says; “When you eat the toil of ‘your hands’ you will be happy and it shall be well with you.” If we break this down, “When you eat” represents the physical benefits, and “of your hands” alludes to the labors involved. The interesting thing here is that Scripture only makes note of “your hands,” rather than, your heart, or your intellect. It specifies that just as the reward is completely physical, the labor involved is also completely physical. The head and heart should not be engrossed in the physical act of the labor, one should make a division and bring to mind only his avodah (Divine service). As long as ones avodah remains the foremost priority, the hands will do the labor which they have already been conditioned to do (as second nature). If one dominates this within ones daily life, the Sages comment on the next part of verse; “you will be happy and it shall be well with you.” You will be happy in this world, and it shall be well with you in the World to Come.

As it says in Torah, “Your God will bless you in all you do.” Therefore, man must come to the awareness that all blessings come from above. All sustenance is God’s blessing. It is not up to the amount of hours which man labors, he only kids himself, and gives false illusions to his own false grandeur. But, this does not mean that man can sit idle and await his blessings. Because if you note, within the verse, it clearly specifies the need of a vessel to which the blessing can attach… “all you do.” Rashi informs us that a man needs eight hours of sleep, eight hours of labor, and eight hours of study. Of course, within our hectic lives, this leaves very little time for caring for our children, relationships, etc. But with the proper understanding, even those moments can be included into the study period. Because being that the soul has three garments with which to manifest itself, thought, speech, and action, and as we utilize these garments, it can be a learning experience when applied to Torah. Making sure that all of the souls energies which pass through these garments are in actuality associated with proper Torah conduct.

The Gemorah relates; “He who converses in signs in the presence of the king is guilty of a capital offense.” Thus, one who schemes, believing that this and that will produce, and it is due to his own grand wisdom that it does so, in actuality is mocking the King. And the Torah has given us a commandment which is often overlooked; “six days you shall labor (yes, even on Sunday - this is very important, and those whom understand it’s more esoteric implications will confirm). The Torah therefore permitted to work as much as is necessary, But to go beyond that commandment indicates a lack of realization that the principal thing is the Divine blessing, and in effect, he is gesturing in the presence of the King.

In simple language, this is what the verse means; “six days work ‘shall be done’, and the seventh day shall be… Shabbat Shabbaton.” In order for the Shabbat to be as it should, there must first be six days during which the work is done “of itself.” At the arrival of every Shabbat, the law states that a person must consider all his work as though completed.  If a person is heavily (overly) engrossed within his work during the weekdays, he will carry it into the Shabbat as well, and therefore, he will not be able to fully immerse himself into the perceiving of the Glory of the King. He will be full of alien thoughts, contemplating how much time remains of Shabbat so that he can go back to work. If he has held himself to a proper schedule during the “six days your work shall be done,” and he has applied Torah, and proper avodah to these labors, then on the seventh day he shall have “Shabbat Shabbaton.” Shabbat will illuminate him.  We now come to the double expression, our other question mentioned above.

Since his attitude is one of “work shall be done,” the whole week is on a level of Shabbat. By including Torah into the entire mundane week, he is actually illuminating it with Shabbat (on an esoteric level, Shabbat in itself is the perfection and culmination of Creation - the way things should be, and will be), and this Shabbat, which is carried through the entire six day mundane week, actually becomes crowned on the seventh day with Shabbaton (a complete and perfect Shabbat). This now resolves or third question from above. We also see that it helps to resolve our second question about the command, “These are the words”. This phrase does not refer to the Shabbat, but rather, to the procedure of how to achieve the Shabbat. How about the relationship between "Moses assembled” and Yom Kippur, the day of atonement? The Rambam in his Mishnah Torah, volume avodah kochavim, or the service of the stars, explains how the service of idolatry came about. He explains how people noticed the stars and saw how they ruled the sky and the seasons, the moods and the tides, and thereby, they understood them to be the servants of the King. All assumed that it is proper to pay honor to the servants of the King. Thus, as they referred to Hashem as the God of gods, they built altars to His servants, and gave them recognition, until things became so out of hand, that there was more honor given to His hosts than to Him. Hashem became more distant, and more difficult to understand. Chassidut teaches us that the mundane scheming and preoccupation with all efforts at earning a livelihood is also a form of idolatry - when one becomes engrossed to the point that one sees nothing outside of his own skills and efforts. Because this attitude implies that a person esteems the mundane involvement, which is only an intermediary, as if it had a value of its own. Such a person may believe in God, and that He is the true giver of all sustenance, however, he esteems also the mundane occupation and therefore throws himself into his work with his entire intellect, which is equal to the act of prostration, or bowing the head. Bowing the head is just a physical act and his involvement consists of much more: his entire intellect is engulfed within this pursuit, thus his entire being. He is now not united with Hashem as One, but rather, he is united with himself and the sitra achra (other side) as one.

Thus we see this persons position, he is within the phrase “six days you shall ‘do’ work”, rather than what the Torah says, “six days work shall ‘be done’”. If this person would accept the truth, that his efforts are nothing more than an axe in the hand of the hewer, a tool, he would raise his head from being in the work, he would conduct himself according to the principle of “the work is done of itself.”

This understanding also sheds light on the very phrase, “of itself.” Because this term already dictates that it is the work, and not the engrossed effort. The work itself is the tool. One gives up the golden calf (idol) and realizes where true sustenance comes from. If this can be achieved by an individual, than he has rectified the damage which was done with the golden calf.  “Do not be like the servants who serve their master for the sake of receiving a reward.” One may serve Hashem by learning Torah and observing the mitzvot, and motivated by personal enjoyment, and he does so because he gets pleasure from Torah and mitzvot. However, this type of service has reward - the pleasure which one receives, and thus, it fall into the category of  serving “for the sake of receiving a reward.” This is not to say that such service is not acceptable, it is, but it is not ideal. The ideal avodah is “without intent of receiving a reward,” that is to act not because of any enjoyment but simply because one wishes to be productive for his Creator. Be productive, and do mitzvot by caring for the family, studying with the kids or spouse, or visiting the sick. If one can achieve this for only 6 days, he will then see that he have awoken within him powers which he never knew he had. As Chassidut teaches; “Open for Me like the point of a needle and I will open for you like the entrance to a great hall.” What man does, is the point of a needle, but the principal effect comes from Above: “I will open.”

Every mitzvah was also pre-created for the use of each individual. As our Sages say on the verse of Job 41:3; “Who has given Me anything beforehand, I shall repay him”. In other words, even the opportunity belongs to Hashem, the only thing which is ours is the choice, and quality of service. All efforts must be “of itself,” and this means spiritual as well as physical efforts. Also, this is the atonement for the sin of the golden calf. The sin of the golden calf is actually closely related to the sin of the Tree of Knowledge. This sin was based in ego and brought moral impurity into the world, and this sin, the Sages teach us, was removed at the time of the Giving of the Ten Commandments (matan Torah), but later its affects returned to us through the sin of the golden calf.

The sin of the Tree of Knowledge signifies an awareness of the ego, as it is written: “the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes.” Hence, it was a personal “delight”, a physical one at that; “to the eyes.” Therefore, the correction for such a sin is making bittul (insignificant) the ego, and this is done through kabbalat ol (taking the yoke of Torah upon oneself simply because of must).  Instead of one thinking that ones own energy is producing the prosperity, there must be the attitude of “of itself.”

The atonement itself is what explains the reason that the Torah uses the word “assembled” Israel, rather than just the usual word; “saying” to Israel. The assembly was on the morning after Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, justly so, since it served as an atonement for the sin of the golden calf.  And since that sin had brought back the impurity of the sin of the Tree of Knowledge, it was necessary to restore the world to its prior state (without the impurity). When the earth was created, it was done so in its fullness, as one complete perfect unit. It was as one nation, and a reshut hayachid (a private domain - for those who have studied the laws of shabbat, you will be familiar with this term). It was “a” universe, and therefore a perfect single abode for Divinity. Therefore it said “Moses assembled, ‘that is’, he assembled and gathered together all entities to establish the ultimate unity.  A resting place for the Divine mercy.

Everything falls in three categories, of  world, year, and soul. All these categories are enumerated in our text: “These are the words [this alludes to the 39 types of labor which are prohibited on Shabbat, and they compound all worldly affairs - the world] …throughout your habitations [general principle of the soul] six days work shall be done and on the seventh day…Shabbat Shabbaton [general principle of time].” Our sages thus note that the precept of the Sabbath is put next to the command to construct the Mishkan (Tabernacle), that is, this type of avodah (service) will lead to the building of the Third Temple.

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