PIKESVILLE, Maryland — The tenth and eleventh weekly Torah readings from Exodus, Vayakkel (35:1-38:20) and Pekekudei (38:21-40:38) deal with the construction of the Tabernacle during Moses’s time. Many readers think the events and rules are not significant today because the temples later replaced the tabernacle, and both did not exist after Rome destroyed the second temple in 70 CE. Today, we have synagogues that contain only a few reminders of the temples.
But people are wrong. The Torah has much to teach us today, even when it discusses events and laws that are no longer relevant. The following are some teachings concerning God and the Shabbat mentioned in Vayakkel.
Verse 35:3 was a focal point of much controversy in the later years of the second temple period, when Jews at that time, as Jews today, were unable to get along and work together. The rabbis called the disagreements sinat chinom, “meaningless hatred.” Jews were unable to rally together, causing them to lose the temple in 70 CE during a Roman attack, and many Jews were banished from Israel, resulting in many but not all Jews not living in the homeland, Israel, for about 2,000 years. Among the many controversialists were Sadducees and Pharisees.
Verse 35:3 commands, “You must not burn a fire in all your dwellings on the Sabbath day.” Sadducees insisted that the Sabbath home must not have a fire burning on the Sabbath. It must be dark, sometimes even cold and gloomy. Pharisees interpreted the verse to restrict igniting a new fire on the Sabbath, and contrary to the Sadducees, they saw the Sabbath as a day of light, warmth, and joy. To highlight their view, they instituted the practice of lighting candles at home before Shabbat to brighten the dwelling on Shabbat.
Sadducees were involved with the temple and ceased to exist soon after the temple was destroyed in 70 CE. Jews follow the Pharisaic teaching today. The biblical portion Vayakkel reminds us that Jews see Shabbat today as a day that teaches many lessons, including a day of light, warmth, and joy.
The difference of opinion between Pharisees and Sadducees is similar to how Jews and Romans interpret Saturday. Jews today, following the Pharisaic teaching, think of Saturday as Shabbat, which means ceasing. They are reminded that God created and formed the universe, and when God stopped working, He left the perfect laws of nature for humans to enjoy, laws that needed no future repairs. They are thankful for these laws and happy.
The Romans named the seventh day Saturday, based on the Roman god Saturn. The word means “enough.” Saturn’s reign was regarded as a time of plenty. They considered Saturn the god of agriculture, wealth, and time.
But to complicate the matter and show people cannot agree, the word Saturnine, which comes from the name of the Roman god, is far from a cheery word. It describes gloomy, grouchy, glum, sulky, sullen, and surly people.
The Romans had different views about many things. Unfortunately, as with Jews and people today, they were unable to get along with fellow citizens with other ideas. And this led, as it did with Jews, to the destruction of their nation.
This biblical portion should remind us that if people would accept the Pharisaic Sabbath interpretation of the world instead of disagreeing with each other, the world would be more productive and joyful.
Christians, for example, accepted the seventh day as a sabbath with only some modifications from the Jewish view until the fourth century CE. Then, under the influence of the Roman emperor Constantine, they changed the Sabbath to Sunday and gave it new meaning at the Christian Council of Laodicea. It became a day to commemorate Jesus’s resurrection. The change enhanced some Christian teachings but lost some Jewish ones.
Soon, the Christians, like the Jews, began to bicker among themselves and split into rival groups.
When will people learn to treat others as they want others to treat them?
The Torah prohibits work on Shabbat but does not define work. In early Jewish history, work was defined as the 39 types of acts performed to construct the tabernacle. Some Jews insist God defined work at Sinai. Others say it is a human idea developed to inform Jews and to ensure Jews do not violate the work prohibition. They say the concept of the 39 acts was inspired by the work prohibition being given in this biblical portion, where the Torah discusses the work to construct the tabernacle.
Needless to say, the difference of opinion on this subject caused some foolish Jews to hate other Jews with a different idea.
The statement about burning raises the question of why burning a fire is mentioned as prohibited work when other types of work are not explicitly prohibited.
Burning is different than other work. Shabbat reminds Jews that God created the world from nothing or formed it anew from unformed matter. Making a fire that previously did not exist is the closest creative act to God’s. Jews cease to create on Shabbat as God did to remind them of God’s creative gift to humanity.[1]
The Jerusalem Talmud Betza 5:2 notes that 35:3 only prohibits burning on Shabbat and permits igniting a fire on other holy days.[2]
The Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 20a and Midrash Mekhilta note that 35:3 speaks about no fire in “your settlements” but only allows violating the Shabbat in the tabernacle and temples, but not in homes and synagogues. This was because the tabernacle intensely focused on God and superseded the Shabbat.
This portion has more than a dozen additional ideas.
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NOTES
[1] Making a fire is also prohibited on Yom Hakippurim, later called Yom Kippur, because the Torah considers it a Sabbath.
[2] But one should not extinguish a fire on holidays. As noted previously, igniting a fire is disallowed on Yom Kippur.
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Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin is a retired brigadier general in the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps and is the author of more than 50 books.