Vayakhel
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Torah Portion -
Vayakhel
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Written by yehuda katz
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VAYAKEL--PEKUDEI
"He put the Table in the Tent of Meeting on the north side of the Tabernacle...." (40:22)
In Tractate Bava Basra 25b, it states the following: " One who desires wealth should face northward (while praying Shemonah Esrei), for the (Shulchan) Table was located in the north. However, one who desires wisdom should face southward, for the Menorah (Candelabra) was located in the south." A question can be asked, its understandable for the Sages to recommend a path towards wisdom, but why are they also recommending a path towards wealth? We all know that wealth can lead a person in the pursuit of luxuries. This has the tendency to dull a person's spiritual sensibilities ! A person with wealth can usually become arrogant, yet a person with wisdom has more of a tendency towards lofty goals and pursuits. I would like to propose, Bezrat Hashem, the following original answer: I would like to perhaps interpret the statement in Bava Basra 25b differently. A person often finds himself or herself confused in not knowing in what the direction they are actually going in. There is a way to determine if the direction is towards wealth, or wisdom. But how? When a person prays (Shemonah Esrei)
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Torah Portion -
Vayakhel
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Written by Rafi Jager
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In the beginning of the musical Fiddler on the Roof, we find a humorous exchange between the town beggar and a rich merchant:
"Alms for the poor, alms for the poor," says the beggar. He suddenly stops and looks in disbelief at the coin just handed to him.
"Half a kopek?," he calls out. "Last week you gave me a whole kopek!"
"I'm sorry, I had a bad week," replies the merchant.
"You had a bad week, so I have to suffer?"
This interaction highlights a trait that is all too common: people will give tzedakah (charity) and act righteously when things are going well for them, but when their fortunes vanish, so do their good deeds.
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Torah Portion -
Vayakhel
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Written by yehuda katz
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"............a day of complete rest for Hashem....."(35:2)
In Mechilta ,Exodus 20:13 it states the following:"He who observes Shabbos testifies before the Creator that He(G-d) created the world in 6 days and rested on the 7th. As it says (Isaiah 43:10),You are My witnesses, said the L--d.
When the Jewish people keep Shabbos properly, they in essence proclaim to the world and themselves that Hashem is the Creator of the universe..........We coronate Hashem as King of the universe.......This is a very important fundamental principle in Judaism........Acknowledging and recongnizing Hashem as King can and will dramatically change how we perform the Mitzvot of the Torah
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Torah Portion -
Vayakhel
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Written by d fine
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1)Fire!
The Zohar has a novel understanding/reading of the third pasuk in Vayakhel. The pasuk reads (35:3) ‘do not ignite a fire in your dwellings on the day of Shabbos. But the Zohar understands ‘fire’ here to mean arguments and bickering. This is party because fire represents passion. Whereas water symbolises a degree of calmness and serenity; water merely takes the shape of its container, fire, on the other hand, is more destructive, it moves, and can consume its container. Thus, according to the Zohar, the pasuk is warning us not to have destructive arguments with each other on Shabbos. In fact, Chazal (see gemarra Gittin 52a) reveal that the yetzer hara/sattan makes a special effort to push us to argue on Erev Shabbos - presumably he realises that an argument on Shabbos eve can spoil the sanctity and serenity of Shabbos.
2)Fire, Fire!
The only act singled out by the Torah explicitly as forbidden to do on Shabbos is igniting a fire. The other prohibited activities are learnt via non-explicit references or rules of extrapolation of the Torah. Why is fire-ignition singled out? There is a halachic dispute in the gemarra (Shabbos 70a) as to whether this singling out of fire is to tell us that fire is the exception or the norm in terms of punishment for violation of Shabbos. However, the Da’as Zekeinim here (35:3) gives us another answer. Lighting a fire is singled out as a forbidden activity because it does not seem like such a big act (compare the act of building or weaving), so one might (mistakenly) think that the Torah never prohibited such a thing. So the Torah specifically mentions that even the small act of lighting a fire forms part of the prohibited acts of Shabbos. Indeed, the fact that such ‘minor’ acts are forbidden on Shabbos (and can carry the death penalty) show how spiritually important Shabbos is. For the more important an event is, the less leeway for error there is. Take a heart operation, for example. The smallest act can have the most grave consequences. So too on Shabbos, seemingly ‘small/insignificant’ acts are forbidden as a result of the day’s immense holiness and importance.
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Torah Portion -
Vayakhel
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Written by Rafi Jager
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Every morning, as we rise from our slumber, we say in our prayers, "The beginning of wisdom is the fear of Hashem." And keeping this in mind, we try to live our lives accordingly. Of course, one of the best ways to do something is to follow an example, such as that which is presented at the very beginning of this week's parsha.
"Betzalel, son of Uri, son of Chur, of the tribe of Yehuda, made all that Hashem had commanded Moshe. With him was Oholiav, son of Achisomach, of the tribe of Dan. . ." (Exodus 38:22-23). On the surface, Hashem's choices for the builders of the mishkan appear to be rather odd. Betzalel, though of the most exalted tribe of Yehuda, was only thirteen years old; and Oholiav came from the least
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