Shabbat Shabbaton

This week's Torah portion is Vayakhel (Exodus 35:1-38:20).  I find it amazing how we can spend an hour on one word or verse from the Parsha and it can be very deep and meaningful. 


This week we see the words Shabbat Shabbaton in verse 2 of chapter 35.  In the English it is written "a complete rest", but in the Hebrew it is written as Shabbat Shabbaton.  The question is why do we see Shabbat twice.  If we see a word more than once then we can question as to the special meaning behind it, it is looking to grab our attention and tell us something.  

We have work we must do during the week that is necessary and requires our hands.  However, our head and our heart should not be immersed or drenched in our work.

During the week our head and our heart should be on Torah and G-d's commandments while our hands are used for our physical needs.  At this point we may be saying I have to think about my job, I have to make it a priority.  Yes, our job is a physical priority during the week and Hashem knows this, however, your job is not who you are.  

Your job is not who you are it is what you do.  This is the mindset that we miss quite often.  We hear of people retiring or losing a job and they are lost because it is all they have known.  People have even died after retiring because they felt their purpose was gone.  Their whole life was their job. 


Whether we like our job or we can't stand it, the way we view it and ourselves can help us during the week so we don't lose who we are.  Work is only a vessel that G-d uses to give us benefit.  The blessings we receive from this work is the main thing while the work itself is secondary. 


What is the point?  The point is our job is work, it is not pleasure-why else would we get vacation?  Do we ever want vacation from pleasure?  We can like our job, but it is not our ultimate satisfaction, it is not our main purpose in life, it is a tool to sustain us.  If our pleasure is in godly things during the week, it is as though we have a piece of Shabbos all week long, then we get an extra measure on Shabbos, this is why Shabbos is mentioned twice.  

Going back to verse 1 and 2 of chapter 35, it says "These are the things that Hashem commanded,  to do them: on 6 days work may be done, but the 7th day shall be holy for you, a day of complete rest for Hashem..."


What are the things Hashem is commanding?  To work for 6 days.  However, what kind of work is he speaking of here?  This is where the English misses the mark.  I underlined the words may be done in the verse above.  This phrase is said with one word in the Hebrew and has 2 different connotations: work that may be done (passive) and work that you shall do (work we are busy with, immersed in).  It is all in the vowels as to which one is being spoken of here.  In this case, it is work that may be done, it is passive, things that happen automatically. 

The question is what work do we do automatically?  Preparing for Shabbos.   Hashem is commanding us to prepare for Shabbos during the week.  Read the verse now with this perspective. 

Shabbos is a rectification of the sin of the golden calf, a form of idolatry.  If we are preparing for Shabbos during the week we can avoid the sin of the golden calf.  What would our golden calf be today?  Working so hard that we forget Hashem, that we forget He is our G-d, we are in His image, He gives us purpose, not our job.  Our job is just a tool, like a surgeon uses a knife or a builder uses a hammer.

Perspective.  This is what we need.  Whether you like your job or it makes you miserable, it is not who you are, it is only a tool.  Hashem is telling us in these 2 verses (by the way this parsha is happening the day after Yom Kippur), to work our job with our hands and give our heart to Him.  We won't be disappointed!


Please share this with your kids!  This is part of Shema in the home, to speak with our kids about Torah so they will have a foundation to work from, to help in decision making, to deepen their relationship with Hashem.  In teaching them, we learn even more.


Shabbat Shalom!