From: Netvort@aol.com
Sent: Friday, March 04, 2005 2:21 AM
To: JoshHoff@aol.com
Subject: Netvort : parshas Vayakheil, 5765



                                            
                                        An Embarrassment of Riches

                    By Rabbi Joshua (bashfully known as The Hoffer) Hoffman


 Moshe calls on the people to make their contributions to the construction of the mishkan and its component parts, and their response is overwhelming. Finally, the Torah tells us that the wise people who did the work of the mishkan came to Moshe and said to him, " The people exceeded in bringing more than the labor of the work that God has commanded to perform" (Shemos 36:5). Moshe then commanded, and a proclamation went forth, saying, " Man and woman shall not do more work toward the portion of the sanctuary." (36:6). Why was it necessary to tell the people to stop bringing contributions? On a simple level, we can say that Moshe simply did not want the people to give away their money when it was no longer necessary for the construction of the mishkan. The rabbis tell us, in another context, that the Torah was concerned for the money of Yisroel (Yoma 39a), and does not make excessive demands of them as far as the type of material to be used in the Temple service. However, the Torah says that Moshe told them not to do more work for the sanctuary. Why was there such an emphasis on constricting the work that they did after the necessary labors had been performed? Here, again, we could explain that Moshe did not want them to undergo unnecessary exertion. However, shouldn't such exertion be considered meritorious, since it was being done for a holy purpose, and out of a commitment to the sublime goal of building an abode for the divine presence in this world? Why, then, did Moshe tell them to cease their labors?

 The Malbim explains that the work of the mishkan was not like other endeavors. The specifications that were given for the construction were exact, and nothing more or less could be done. Of course, this is understandable in regard to the mishkan itself, as well as its utensils, since they were to serve as an atonement for the sin of the golden calf, which was characterized by a failure to follows God's instructions.  However, couldn't the extra material contributed be used for the repair of the mishkan when that became necessary? Both Rav Naphtoli Tzvi Yehudoh Berlin, in his commentary Ha'amek Davar, and Rav Meir Simcha HaKohein of Dvinsk, in his commentary Meshech Chochmah, give halachic reasons for this constriction, explaining that Moshe feared that the material brought would become consecrated through mere designation for holy use. If the materials were not then actually used for the mishkan, problems of their desecration may arise. This approach places an emphasis on the extra material that may have been brought. However, a close look at these verses seems to indicate that it was the work involved with producing and bringing these additional materials that was at issue, and, moreover, that the objection to this additional work reflects on the nature of the mishkan in general. What, then, was that issue?


Rabbi Avrohom Yehoshua Heschel of Apt, in his Ohaiv Yisroel, offers an explanation that accounts for the objection to additional work, albeit on the part of the workers who built the mishkan, rather than the people who made contributions towards it, in commenting on the concluding verse of the section we cited. We read there," And the work was sufficient ('dai') for them for all the work to do it - and having a surplus ("' hoseir')" ( 36:7). The two expressions, 'dai' - sufficient - and 'hoseir' - having a surplus - he says, seem to be contradictory, as already pointed out by Rav Chaim ben Attar in his commentary Ohr HaChaim. Rabbi Heschel explains that the mishkan reflected the universe in general, as pointed out in many midrashim. When God created the universe, he constricted Himself, through the process of 'tzimtzum,' thereby allowing for His infinite nature to have a presence in the finite world. Through this process of constriction, he left space for future righteous people to reveal more of His holiness in this world, through their holy actions and lifestyle. This process was paralleled in the construction of the mishkan, in which the workers, on the one hand, invested great spiritual intent in the various components they constructed, but, on the other hand, left space for people in the future to reveal even more spirituality in the structure. This approach to the cessation of work on the mishkan is obviously very esoteric and hard to relate to, but I believe that its kernel, the notion of constricting work in emulation of God's constricting Himself in creating the world, can help us  develop a different, more basic approach to the issue.

The Talmud derives, from the fact that the construction of the mishkan is juxtaposed to the prohibiton of laboring on Shabbos, that the types of labor forbidden on Shabbos are those types of labor that were performed in connection with the mishkan. The thirty-nine types of labor forbidden on Shabbos thus - the 'av melachos' - correspond to the thirty-nine types of labor performed in the construction of the mishkan (there is an opinion that forms of labor used in the service of the mishkan are also included in the list of thirty-nine forbidden labors, but we will not enter into that discussion here, beyond mentioning its existence) . The common element of all these melachos is that they are 'meleches machsheves,' the work of  a craftsmen, i.e. creative work. As Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch explains, on Shabbos we are to cease all of our creative activities and thereby acknowledge that God is the Creator of the universe. The types of labor involved in the construction of the mishkan thus represent all types of creative work that mankind is involved in. Rabbi Hirsch explains that even carrying from a private domain to a public one, or vice versa, which is the av melacha that is derived from the verses we are discussing that relate the bringing of the contributions to Moshe, is a creative  act, since it allows for societal interaction.

Why were these types of labor used in building the mishkan? To answer this question, we need to understand the function of the mishkan. We have often noted that the book of Shemos is referred to by the author of the work Halochos Gedolos as 'the second book', because it records the spiritual completion of the world, through the giving of the Torah and its acceptance by the Jewish people. Ramban says that the book of Shemos culminates with the dwelling of the divine presence within the mishkan, thus bringing the entire Jewish nation to the spiritual level attained by their forefathers. As part of the spiritual completion of the universe, work activity needed to be redefined. Before the nation entered the Holy Land and embarked on its mundane activities, each tribe pursuing its own niche, the ultimate purpose of the work had to be known. By initiating all creative types of activity within the mishkan, the people were being told that whatever type of work they entered into, it should, first, be performed in a matter consistent with the dwelling of the divine presence, and have as its ultimate goal the promotion of holiness. This is  accomplished by following the dictates of the Torah in pursuing whatever manner of work one chooses to occupy himself with, as symbolized by the fact that the focal point of the mishkan is the aron, the holy ark, that contains the Torah. That is why the mishkan is referred to as the 'mishkan ha-eidus,' or the sanctuary of the testimony,' the testimony referring to the tablets of the Torah contained in the aron (See Netvort to parshas Vayakheil, 5765, available at Torahheights.com, for more on this topic). With this perspective in mind, we can now return to the verses we began with.

  The work done in conjunction with the mishkan was to serve as a model for the people in conducting their daily lives. Whatever area of activity they would decide to engage in, it had to be done in conformity with the dictates of the Torah, and with the goal of making the Torah a reality in their lives and in this world. Once the people would enter the Holy Land and embark on their various forms of activity, there was a danger that the work would take on a life of itself, and the people would forget the central role that Torah was to play in their lives. In this way the work itself would become their goal, without a broader vision of making God's presence in the world discernable to all. To avoid this from happening, the people would need to devote some of their time to Torah study, to put their work into proper perspective, seeing it as a means of bringing holiness into the world through their mundane activities. Just as God constricted Himself in creating the universe, they would need to constrict themselves in their work, devoting some of their time to orient their lives around the Torah, rather than putting all of their energies into their work alone. Therefore, in the process of the construction of the mishkan, which set the tone for the future work of the nation in the Holy Land, Moshe put a halt to the work done on the part of the nation as a whole once all that was needed to be done on their part was finished. The people would thereby understand that the focus of all the work they were doing, and would do in their lives on a wider scale, was the Torah encased in the aron and its actualization in this world.


Please address all correspondence to the author (Rabbi Hoffman) with the following address - JoshHoff @ AOL.com.

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