This Shabbos we discussed parsha Vayakhel, including commentary by Rav Yeager. It was a special Shabbos, as this is the bar mitzvah parsha of Harold Katz - a regular reader of these summaries. Harold pointed out that for his bar mitzvah there was a double parsha, as it was not a leap year, however Vayakhel was part of it. David Schlesinger led discussion.
David spoke some more about how Hashem has created the most perfect world for us. This most perfect world is not necessarily one in which we experience maximum pleasure and joy, but one which maximizes our opportunity to make an impact in the world by connecting with Hashem and doing mitzvah.
We discussed how it may be hard to grasp the spiritual which seems to be hidden, but we can use 3 aspects of physicality to help us connect. The three aspects are space, time and mass, which can have various degrees of holiness and potential to connect spiritually. Shabbos would be an example of a holy time with a great potential to connect. The Temple would be an example of a holy space with a great opportunity to connect. And a Sefer Torah would be an example of holy mass with a great opportunity to connect. We talked about how the “holy of holies” section of the Temple, is the ultimate in holiest and reflects an intersection of space, time and mass. Only the holiest people are allowed into this space, and only on Yom Kippur.
David talked about how we can use physicality to connect to the spiritual but there are 2 important points. First, we need to realize we are simply using the physical to connect, and it is not the physical itself that we are worshiping. And second, we must use the physical according to how we are instructed by Hashem and the Torah and not in any way that we wish.
This is one of the reasons why we are given such details as to how to construct the Tabernacle. The other reason is that the 39 types of work involved in constructing the Tabernacle, is the 39 types of work we are prohibited from doing on Shabbos. We discussed how Moshe gives the instructions on building the tabernacle, but also reminds the people about Shabbos observance.
We discussed some of the reasons why the details for building the tabernacle are given twice in the Torah. The first time, the details are given to Moshe on Mt. Sinai. In this week’s parsha, the details of the work are given again, but this time it is what we actually did. The first time we were at a spiritual height, and Moshe was given the details while in the spiritual world. The second time, we were in our own physical world, trying to build something that would connect us to the spiritual.
We discussed other examples where something is repeated in the Torah more than once. For example, the prohibition to mix meat and milk is mentioned 3 times. We discussed how one time is to remind us it is prohibited to cook milk and meat, the second time is to remind us it is prohibited to consume milk and meat, and the third time is to remind us it is prohibited from benefiting from a mixture of milk and meat.
Efroni posted his thoughts on the week’s parsha and why it was necessary for us to receive so many details. Efroni pointed out that when Hashem created the world, it was described in a few sentences,whereas the building of the tabernacle is described in substantially more detail. This is because the main purpose of the Torah is to focus on us and our impact on the world. The focus is on how we can be great, ourselves.
We discussed how Moshe was on Mt. Sinai and was going to receive not only the 10 commandments, but the entire Torah, however he was interrupted by the need to return to the people and deal with their worshiping of the Golden Calf. As we know, Moshe ended up breaking the tablets. The next time Moshe was on Mt. Sinai, Hashem no longer conveyed the Torah directly but Moshe had to write things down. As we know, Moshe returned with the tablets he had written. We then received the remainder of the Torah from Moshe over time, and celebrate receiving the entire Torah on Shavuos, although Moshe returned with the tablets on Yom Kippur.
We discussed how if we had not worshiped the Golden Calf, Moshe would have received the entire Torah at Mt. Sinai, directly, rather than the Torah being communicated over time. Although we as a people can climb ever higher spiritually, we will always have a scar from the Golden Calf. The Golden Calf represents our misuse of the physical. We have discussed how as Jews we do not reject physicality, however we use physicality as a platform to apply spirituality, in the ways we are instructed, encouraged, and allowed to do so.
I'd like to wish David a great trip to Israel and mazel tov to both David and Brett on their anticipated completion of the Daf, which they have been studying every day for more than 7 years. I'll include more about this in next week's summary in anticipation of Brett describing more of what has been accomplished.
This is a summary of what we discussed. No halachic rulings are intended or should be inferred.
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