Vayakhel

Judaism in Time and Space

Parshat Vayakhel begins with a reminder of Shabbat observance, and continues with a detailed description of the construction of the mishkan, the portable Tabernacle. What is the connection between the two themes?

Halachic scholars, scholars of Jewish law, suggest that the kind of work we should avoid on Shabbat is the kind of work that was done to construct the mishkan. Mystical scholars suggest that just as Shabbat is a sanctuary in time, so the mishkan was a sanctuary in space. They are quick to point out, however, that Shabbat comes first, in order and in importance.

Abraham Joshua Heschel reminds us that the word kadosh, holy, first appears at the end of the story of creation. "And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy." (Bereisheet/Genesis 2:3). Here, holiness exists only in time. No object in space is endowed with the quality of holiness. The building of the mishkan is a compromise offered by God to meet human spiritual needs. It takes place only after the people succumb to the temptation of worshipping an object in space, a golden calf.

Jewish ritual, says Heschel, may be characterized as the art of significant forms in time, as the architecture of time. Rituals for each time of the day carry specific meanings: gratefulness in the morning, forgiveness in the evening. Each season carries a spiritual meaning: light at the winter solstice, mourning at the summer solstice. We remember the day of the Exodus from Egypt, the day when Israel stood at Sinai. And our Messianic hope is the expectation of a time of peace.

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