Vayakhel / Pikudei

‎Moshe gathers the entire nation to teach them the laws of the building of the Mishkan, but prefaces it with some of the laws of Shabbos.  Rav Soloveitchik notes that no less than four times the Torah combines Shabbos & Mikdash, which he explains as teaching us that Shabbos is a sanctuary in the same way the Mishkan was a sanctuary. What does that mean? How does Shabbos compare to the Mishkan?

The first words of the parsha state ויקהל משה את כל עדת בני ישראל , that Moshe gathered the whole assembly of the Jewish people. The Chasam Sofer explains that the reason Moshe gathered everyone together was to show that the only way the Mishkan could be built, was with the complete unity of the Jewish people. 

The prerequisite for the building of the Mishkan was the achdus of the Bnei Yisroel. We know that the Beis Hamikdash was destroyed because of hatred & strife. Perhaps an investigation of the Shabbos laws would help elucidate this principal.

There is only one melacha which the Torah specifies that you can't do on Shabbos. לא תבערו אש בכל משבתיכם ביום השבת‏ , you shall not kindle fire in any of your‎ dwellings on the Shabbos. Why is this the only Melacha that is specifically mentioned? The Shelah explains that the Torah is telling us not to let the fire of anger & strife enter your home on the Shabbos. 

For, as the עקדת יצחק explains, Shabbos is the time when everyone is home; people get together; so it's only natural that there's a greater chance of fighting & arguments. Therefore, the Torah ‎explicitly cautions us to avoid arguments & getting angry on Shabbos. 

It's so important not to show anger on Shabbos that once, רבי עקיבא איגר was walking in the street on Shabbos when he saw a Jewish man standing & smoking a cigarette. Then, another Jewish man came over to the smoker & asked for a cigarette. Displaying great self-control to keep from getting angry, Rebbe Akiva stated a well-known maxim: our rabbis teach us עשה שבתך חול ואל תצטרך לבריות, rather make your Shabbos like weekday but don't come on to other people, don’t ask others for support. Rebbe Akiva then turned to the second man & said, "The first part you keep but the second part you don't? The first part making Shabbos into a weekday that you do but the second part not coming onto other people you don't do? Rather than get angry he rebuked with humor.  We see how  important it is to maintain calm and avoid anger on Shabbos.

Perhaps this is the connection between the Mishkan & Shabbos. Both require perfect harmony & peace, the Mishkan required us all to be there together to be of like mind to start the building & Shabbos requires us to keep calm & peaceful. If we all could make sure to avoid getting angry or fighting on Shabbos, we will be one step closer to the rebuilding of the Beis Hamikdash in our time!



‎