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By Rabbi Shloimie Lindenbaum
ששת ימים תעשה מלאכה (פרק לה פסוק ב)
As introduction to the building of the Mishkan, the Torah reminds us of our obligation to rest on Shabbos from any
creative activity- the very ones that are done to build the Mishkan. The pasuk tells us, “six days your work shall be
done, and the seventh day will be holy for you etc.” The way the Torah tells us about Shabbos is very odd, firstly,
why does it need to say that the work should be done for six days- what does that have to do with resting on the
seventh? Additionally, why does the pasuk say “your work shall be done”, and not “you shall do your work”? In the
sefer Apiryon, R’ Shlomo Ganzfried explains that if someone believes that it is their hard work that makes them
money, and Shabbos is limiting them and restricting their ability to do that, then it will be impossible for them to
properly rest on Shabbos. They will constantly be frustrated and worried about their work. Only when someone
recognizes that the true source of all their livelihood is Hashem, and only He will decide how much money a person
receives, then they can rest properly on Shabbos. He will be calm knowing that he will never lose out by listening
to Hashem and refraining from work. That is why the pasuk says that your work “shall be done” for six days. This
indicates that it is not the person themselves amassing their wealth by doing work, rather “it is done”- Hashem is
the one “doing the work” and giving a person their share. The mitzvah of Shabbos needs this introduction because
only with this knowledge can one truly fulfill their obligation of resting on Shabbos.
ראו קרא ה’ בשם בצלאל וכו’ (פרק לה פסוק ל)
Moshe announces that Klal Yisroel themselves can see that Hashem appointed Betzalel as the master architect of
the משכן. R’ Moshe Feinstein asks, how were they able to see this? He answers that when Hashem bestows a
person with a set of skills and talents, it is with the intent that he uses them for the good of Klal Yisroel and for
Hashem’s honor. Therefore, by recognizing that Betzalel had all of the abilities required to build the משכן, it was
clear to everyone that he was the one intended by Hashem to direct it’s construction. R’ Moshe adds on that we
see from here that any gifts that we have from Hashem, in any area of life, are given to us so that we can use them
to fulfill His will. By recognizing are talents and abilities we can understand in what way Hashem wants us to
contribute to His nation and His honor.
ויכלא העם מהביא (פרק לו פסוק ו)
The Torah tells us that after there was enough material to build the משכן, Moshe told everyone to stop bringing
donations, and the פסוק states explicitly that they then ceased from bringing. The Chasam Sofer explains that the
reason for the פסוק to affirm that they stopped is to tell us that even in their stopping they were fulfilling a
mitzvah. Meaning, that which they stopped the donations was not with a sigh of relief that they were free of the
משכן tax, rather they would have gladly continued to donate to the cause. The only reason that they stopped
bringing materials was because Moshe told them to. They thereby fulfilled the command of Hashem through
Moshe even by discontinuing the donations.
כאשר צוה ה’ כן עשו (פרק לט פסוק מג)
Throughout the construction of the משכן the Torah reiterates that בני ישראל did everything exactly as Hashem
commanded. The בית הלוי explains the significance of this repetition especially in the building of the משכן. He says
that the מצוה of building the משכן was meant as an atonement for the sin of the עגל הזהב. The root of the עגל was
that we took matters into our own hands and wanted to do things our way, making our own decisions. When we
followed our own logic without subjugating ourselves and our reasoning to Hashem, we ended up in a sin of עבודה
זרה. By building the משכן exactly how Hashem commanded and constantly following every detail of His command,
we achieved a כפרה for the עבירה of acting solely on our own decisions.
