Moshe transmitted all of the laws pertaining to the building of the Mishkan to the Children of Israel. However, it was first mentioned that they must suspend work on the Sabbath. The people responded generously to the request for money, metal, precious stones, and jewelry. Betzalel was mentioned again for his special talents and the donations became so plentiful that the people were asked to stop the donations.

“Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day, there shall be to you a holy day, a Sabbath of solemn rest to the Lord; whosoever does any work therein shall be put to death. You shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the Sabbath day.”

The parsha begins with a repetition of the commandment for the Children of Israel to observe the Shabbat. The sages write that this commandment precedes the commandment to build the Mishkan, to emphasize the fact that the observance of Shabbat takes priority over the building of even a Holy Sanctuary.

The death penalty for violating a Sabbath commandment was issued under strict conditions as interpreted by the sages. The act had to be willful and observed by witnesses and the offender had to have been previously warned. It is interesting that the Torah is vague about the nature of the work which is prohibited on the Sabbath (other than not to kindle a fire). The sages in the Talmud deduce 39 prohibited labors in tractate Shabbat. The number 39 comes from the Hebrew words “eleh ha-divarim” (these are the words) which begin the parsha. The gematria of “eleh” is 36. The concept of “words” implies at least two things that are prohibited and the sages consider the letter hey to be an additional extension to the concept. Hence, using their logic, an extra three is added to the 36 to make 39.

A story: A man was riding on a horse, down a long winding road. Along the way, he passed an old man struggling with a heavy pack on his back. “Would you like a ride?” the man inquired. The old man readily agreed and climbed on top of the horse without removing his pack. The rider asked the old man, “Why don’t you take off that heavy pack and place it with my load”? “Oh no”, the old man replied, “Your horse is already laden with packages. Why should I add to his burden.” “Don’t be silly”, said the rider, “The horse is already carrying you and your pack. You might as well make things easier for yourself and place it directly on the horse”!

We understand the meaning of this story by first looking at why the sages separated out the prohibition against kindling a fire on Shabbat. In the gemara (Shabbat 70a) we learn that the lesson of separation is that even kindling is a physical act and hence prohibited. The logic is as follows: The law of “you shall do no work” is a generalization. The prohibition against kindling fire is a further specification. Thus the sages deduce special status to that distinction.

We can glean more meaning by returning to the “ner tamid”. The menorah in the Mishkan had the ability to light up the darkness. This can mean either a physical or spiritual darkness. When the plague of darkness descended on the Egyptians, some sages deduce that it was a spiritual darkness that overcame the Egyptians. The Chanukah menorah lights up the dark winter by kindling a lamp which reflects the light of Torah. It is written in Mishlei:

”For mitzvot are a lamp, and Torah is a light”. The first light of creation (“va’yehi or”) was hidden away in the World to Come for the righteous, write our sages of blessed memory. The mastery of fire was a great step in Human evolution. It kept away the darkness and animals, gave warmth, and cooked food. By prohibiting the kindling of fire, we are asked to give up some of our mastery over fire and the earth. We must place our trust (bitachon) in God to provide for us. This is similar to the seventh shemittah year in which the land was to lay fallow.

When Moshe went to see the burning bush, he was asked to remove his shoes. Why? I think it has something to do with giving up a sense of mastery over the animal world. Shoes, especially leather shoes, demonstrate our control. It is an outer garment we use to protect ourselves. By removing his shoes, Moshe was demonstrating bitachon in trusting that nothing would happen to him. His outer garment was shed, but his inner garment, his faith, protected his spiritual soul. By prohibiting kindling fire as well as the other prohibited labors, we are trusting that God will carry our burden in the same way that the horse from our story carried the old man’s burden. Like the horse, which was already carrying the man and his pack, God is already carrying us everyday. Once a week, we might as well make it easier for ourselves and place down our material burdens and let the Shabbat carry the load.

Another interpretation involves the meaning of the word “eish” for fire. The masters of mussar (an examination and refinement of character traits typified by Rabbi Yisroel Salanter) write that eish refers to the fire of anger. The Torah, they say, is teaching us that we should not kindle our anger on such a joyous day like Shabbat. The Talmud tells a story about the great sage Hillel who was known for never losing his temper. Just before the Sabbath, a man approaches the sage Shammai and offers to convert to Judaism if he could be taught the entire Torah while standing on one leg. Shammai had little patience for such nonsense and quickly dismissed him. The man now approaches Hillel who was in the middle of washing up before the Sabbath. The same offer is made. Hillel calmly responded, “What is hateful to you, do not do unto your neighbor. All the rest is commentary. Now go and learn!”

We could spend more time examining the nature of Hillel’s response, but the point here is Hillel’s calm demeanor. Once two men made a bet that they one of them could make Hillel angry. He went through the village crying “Where is Hillel? Where is Hillel?” Hillel stopped what he was doing and listened to the man’s badgering and silly questions about nonsense. Each time, Hillel calmly gave the man an answer to each question no matter how strange or trivial. Finally tiring of the ordeal the man gave up trying to make Hillel angry. “What’s the use, he said. “Because of you, I just lost 400 zuz since I made a bet that I could make you angry.” Hillel’s response was, “Better that you should lose 400 zuz that I should get angry”.

The kabbalists say that on Friday evening, two angels come to a Jew’s home. If the table is set and there is love in the house the good angel says, “May it be this way always”, and the bad angel must respond “Amen”. But, if there is discord and strife, the bad angel says, “May it be this way always”, and the good angel must respond, “Amen”. May we all be visited by the good angel and our houses filled with love, joy, and the fulfillment of Torah and mitzvot. And may we all say, “Amen.”