5785 - An interesting explanation of why even in Parshas Vayakhel, dealing with the building of the Mishkan, Bnei Yisroel are warned, "You shall not kindle fire in any of your dwellings on the day…"

00:04 We are at the end of Adar, but the joy now is even greater than it was on Purim. The Rebbe points out the precise wording: “When Adar begins, we increase in joy.” That means each day’s joy must be greater than the day before. If we stay at the same level, we haven’t increased it. So we increase in joy: every day, there must be greater joy. By the time we reach the end of Adar, 29 Adar, the joy is at its greatest, because every day we have to work on being joyful. This week we read Parshas Vayakhel in the Torah. In Parshas Terumah, too, where the command to make the Mishkan is given, Hakadosh Boruch Hu commands us to keep Shabbos: “The children of Israel shall keep Shabbos.” And in Parshas Vayakhel, when the children of Israel built the Mishkan, Moshe Rabbeinu again warns them to keep Shabbos. In both parshas—both when the command is given and when it is carried out. Why does he warn them to keep Shabbos? We read in Parshas Ki Sisa that when the tablets were broken, Rashi brings the Midrash: Moshe Rabbeinu was the best man for the Jewish people. If Hakadosh Boruch Hu were to come and ask, “How could the children of Israel have sinned?”—the tablets were the marriage contract. So Moshe broke the tablets, as though tearing up the marriage contract. That is the analogy given there: tear up the marriage contract, and she is not yet married to you, so you cannot punish her. That is why he broke the tablets. The children of Israel thought, then, that if they were not yet married, they were not connected to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. And since it says that a non-Jew who observes Shabbos is liable to death, they must not be allowed to keep Shabbos. That is why, both before the sin of the Golden Calf and afterward, Moshe Rabbeinu warns them to keep Shabbos: they are still connected to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and they are obligated to keep it. And in Parshas Vayakhel,

02:17 it says: “Moshe assembled the entire congregation of the children of Israel and said to them: Six days work shall be done, and on the seventh day there shall be a Shabbos of complete rest ... You shall not—do not kindle a fire in any of your dwellings.” The simple meaning is that one might think building the Mishkan overrides Shabbos. So Moshe Rabbeinu warns them that even building the Mishkan—building a house for Hakadosh Boruch Hu—does not override Shabbos. But there is a very interesting interpretation brought in the name of the Shelah. “You shall not kindle a fire in any of your dwellings on Shabbos.” He explained it this way: Usually on Shabbos, when the children of Israel are resting and not going to work, they have time. Then they start talking and chatting about the rabbis, the community activists and the gabbaim. Yes, they talk and kindle a fire—a fire of strife. So Moshe Rabbeinu warns them: “You shall not kindle a fire in any of your dwellings on Shabbos.” Even though it is Shabbos, the time is not for idle talk, gossip and stirring up strife, but for learning Torah. May we have a peaceful Shabbos. With Hashem’s help, may we hear good news.