The first of this week's two portions reminds us about Shabbat - but with a difference. In the Ten Commandments we are told, "Six days shall you work" (Ex. 20:9); in this sidra the phrase is "Six days shall work be done" (Ex. 35:2). One could say that the result is the same - Shabbat is a day without work. But the Torah does not use words carelessly. Every nuance has significance.

The passive phraseology ("six days shall work be done") could suggest that work must not become a dominating obsession leaving no time for cultural or spiritual activity; work must not rule our lives to the exclusion of everything else. If we are able to find the right balance and keep work in its place, work thereby becomes a means and not an end.

There is a further possible explanation. Saying "six days shall you work" and "six days shall work be done" shows us that there are two issues, the worker and the work. The worker must not expect to rest on the Sabbath day or any other time unless they have earned the rest by work. But the nature of the work is also important. As the sages point out at the end of Tractate Kiddushin, one's work must be clean, constructive and honest.


THE LONGEST DOUBLE SIDRA

Every now and then, like this week, we read two portions on a given Shabbat. The synagogue congregation do not always appreciate it, especially when it comes to Vayakhel-P’kudei, the longest of the double portions. It prolongs the service and some would argue that it is boring and repetitive, reiterating material about building the Tabernacle which we have already covered over the last few weeks - though this time it is in the past tense, pointing out not what Israel had to do in order to build a Tabernacle but how precisely everything was carried out.

An extra dimension comes with the second sidra, which not only informs us how well the work was done but adds that there was an inspection and accounting. Everything was checked and double-checked and only then (actually in next week's reading) could the Tabernacle ritual begin.

On a personal note I have to say that I saw the tremendous wisdom of this procedure - plan, implementation and inspection - when Jerusalem had a bad winter one year and we turned on our reverse-cycle air conditioning to get some extra warmth, and the air conditioning unit blew up. We had been away when the work was done on our apartment and did not know until that moment that not everything had been double-checked before the contractors left. Maybe we had presumed too much, maybe we hadn't. Still, we should have remembered that the Torah has both Vayakhel and P'kudei.


MAKING UP FOR LOST TIME (VAYAKHEL)

To read this article, click on this link


SHARING THE LOAD (P'KUDEI)

To read this article, click on this link


Visit the OzTorah website -

for more of Rabbi Apple's insights on Parashat Vayakhel

for more of Rabbi Apple's insights on Parashat P'kudei

for Rabbi Apple's articles on Shabbat HaChodesh


Shabbat Shalom!