Hi everyone! As many of you know, our mom sent out weekly emails with her own commentary on the weekly parsha (Torah portion). Each week she spent hours reading and learning and putting pearls of wisdom from her brilliant heart and mind down on paper. They were originally written for the family, but soon had a very large following, yet still signed every email with “love you all more than words”. She truly loved every person and wanted to share these important life lessons. We are very excited that we will now be posting short excerpts each week. Mom- thank you for sharing these precious thoughts with us. We love YOU more than words.

A Beautiful Work of “Heart”

Twenty-Second Summary:  Parshat Vayakhel: Moses assembles the Children of Israel and tells them some of Gd’s commandments, including the commandment to observe Shabbos.  The people are told to bring materials for the Tabernacle, and they bring so much that there is more than needed.    Moses proclaims that the people must stop bringing materials.  Bezalel constructs the Tabernacle as directed.

The connection between Shabbos and building the Mishkan (Tabernacle):

It may seem odd to find the commandment to observe Shabbos inserted into this parsha, in the midst of the account of the building of the Tabernacle.

The connection may be that both the Tabernacle and Shabbos represent holiness but in different dimensions.  Shabbos is the sanctification of time, and the Tabernacle was the creation of holiness in the physical world.  In this parsha, the building of the Tabernacle is referred to as “sacred work.”  The most sacred construction work we perform in our lives is the effort we put into building our families.  As with any structure, the solidarity of our family unit depends on the strength of its foundation.