Rabbi Tendler Shiur Notes

Parashat Vayakhel-Pekudei

March 11, 1999

Q: Why now vayakehl? Overlooked pasuk. We started off in terumah, told to build the mishkan and why with vayakhel and kol adat yisrael. A: Here have a halachik requirement - how does domething become part of the mishkan. Goy kadosh means that kedusha is part of us and therefore kedusha comes from us. We are m'kadesh the zemanim. Vayakhel is the source of all kedusha. Shabbat is kadosh and therefore the mishkan can only have keddusha is you assign something to it. No formal stucture - only the source of kedusha. Therefore only was it can be holy is if Yisrael shares its keddusha with it. Kedusha of shabbat came first to show a priority - shabbat has in it the guarentee against the dangers of the mishkan - that Israel will deteriorate into multiple idolitrous cults because of the mishkan. 10 pesukim that say something to the effect of God being in charge - asher tzivah hashem. The mishkan must be made exactly in its way to show that you are strictly following the orders of God.

The priority of shabbat also preserves a this-world religion. Judaism not only about the "other world" but here and now oriented - work for 6 days, rest on the 7th. God demands a work ethic just as he demands a day of rest. Start off early with Jacob complaining to Lavan that he gave an honest days work. Gemara in Brachot - if you are standing on a fence, you cannot say shma but come down to that you can have kavvanah. If you are working, you don't. Don't take away work from the owner. Avraham can say to God I have something to do - I have the visitors. If you are other world oriented, worry about God; this worldly, worry about man.

Lo Tiva'aru aish - Gemara says that each lav stands by itself for punishment and 2) Don't do any constructive activities on shabbat. The ability to make fire demonstrates out mastery over nature - harnessing energy for the use of mankind. Don't make fire because not to utilize energy for constructive activity. Just as shabbat you realize that Hashem is the master, it's because the shabbat week not just the day that is important.

Zahav kesef nehoshet - S'forno - it establishes aesthetic limits. How nice a house do you have to build. There are limits - not nicer than the mishkan. God has gold plated wood. All rishonoim show that there are limits to aesthetics. Mendelsohn - 3 kinds of construction 1) Necessary 2) useful 3) aesthetic. Mishkan sets the limits to avoid conspicuous consupmtion - not part of midat yisrael to be ostentatious. A problem that we have in our lives. How do you divide up sense of obligation to selves and to God's sensibilities.

Mahloket between Bezalel and Moshe: God didn't specify to Moshe how to make the Aron - mishkan, Aron, or keilim or keilim aron mishkan. Followed Moshe - that the keilim and the mishkan was lying on the ground. The imagery is either inductive or deductive. Bezalel - deal with the concept then deal with the details - mishkan then the keilim. Moshe says do the details. From the details, you get the concept. Do the mitzvot and then you get the general concept. Moshe - each kli taught something - I want Yisrael to know the details. Don't start with the outline and then fit it in.

The gold has no details about it because 1) according to yonatan aibshitz - once you have the shefa beracha of the gold, you are expected to act like gold and trust what is being done

Sforno - why is the mishkan the only thing that never suffered destruction - no one captured it, no one burned it down - it just stopped usage. Only the mishkan of mishe didn't suffer destruction. 1) possibly the zechut of having the luhot. 2) the zechut of moshe 3) real reason - Bezalel made it, but by shelomo there were foreign workers and by bayit sheni didn't have the kedusha of the leveim. Therefore lacked the kedusha of the mishkan of Moshe. We don't like foreign workers. Teaches an ethic of building with your own hands. The idea that it should be built by Jews was lost. That work ethic preserved the mishkan from the destruction.

They asked Moshe for an accounting and he had trouble - couldn't explain where all the gold went. Do you deal with people in such a way that you should be above suspicion. Halacha is tzedaka is given to two people for trust. Hatam Sofer an Bach on hilchot tzedaka - even the most trustworthy person to give a heshbon. Moshe had no hiyyuv to give an accounting - but gave an example of integrity when dealing with the mamon of the community.