Devar Torah on Parashat Ki Tissah

I would like to focus on just one of the many themes of today’s parashah: the observance of Shabbat. After instructing Moses on how to take a census of the Israelites and how to build the Tent of Meeting, and the Sanctuary in particular, G-d singles out the fourth Commandement and stresses the obligation to observe the Sabbath, even though this has already been mentioned in a previous parashah, Parashat Yitro, devoted to the Ten Commandments. First I would like to suggest a possible link between the three elements mentioned above: the census, the Sanctuary and Shabbat, and then I would elaborate on the meaning of Shabbat.

I The link between the three elements

1. The half shekel.
In the previous parashiot, we dealt with the building of the mishkan, the Sanctuary, for which the Israelites brought offerings of gold, silver, brass, wood, precious stones, incense, and everyone gave according to his will (Ex: 25). But now, in order to make a census of the Israelites, everyone is commanded to give a half shekel contribution: ”the rich shall not give more and the poor shall not give less’.

1.1. Why is this?
We know that this particular contribution will be used to build the pillars of the Sanctuary. The Hofetz Chaim says that, because the mishkan is a place of communal worship, and that this money is going to fund the very foundation of the mishkan, then every Israelite has to contribute equally to this task in order to strengthen his sense of belonging to the community. It is interesting to note that this passage of the Torah has established a model of tsedakah for the building of communal institutions such as synagogues and yeshivot, where the Jewish communities favor the contribution of many over that of a single individual.

1.2. And why is the amount a half shekel and not a full one?
Because a Jew alone is considered incomplete, like half a person. He has to connect to another Jew and to the rest of the community in order to become whole. So now we understand how an equal contribution of half a shekel creates a unity, a bond, a sense of community among the Israelites. By sharing an equal responsibility, they become fully conscious of being a people. The success of the whole operation rests on the shoulders of every single member of the group. I would like to share with you an observation made by my son Emmanuel who studies to be a rabbi. He pointed out to me that the word mahatsit, meaning half, used in the verse 14, has the letter tzadek in the middle, or tzadik, a righteous person. This points to the fact that the Jews have to be united around a tzadik. Look at the letters on either side of the tzadek: chet and yud, reading chai or life. This implies that whoever is close to the tzadik is close to life. Now look at the letters at both ends of the word mahatsit: mem and tav, meaning met, death, pointing to what awaits those who distance themselves from a righteous person.

2. The mishkan.
After the census, once the Jews are aware of their nationhood, G-d defines the characteristics of this nation. And how does He define them? By ordering the construction of the mishkan. So we see here that, unlike all the other nations of the world, Israel is not only defined in terms of its territory, but also by a common spiritual goal, symbolized by the Sanctuary. Very significantly, the Tent is a portable structure, which means that the Jewish people can still be a people even if they are deprived of their physical territory, the Land of Israel.

3. Shabbat.
In the midst of all this comes the reminder: ”However, you must observe My Sabbaths, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations’. Why remind us of the Sabbath at this particular point? Let’s recall that Shabbat is the first law given to the Israelites after the splitting of the Red Sea and before revelation at Sinai (Exodus: 15; 25). It is also the first law that we explain to a would-be convert. The Gemorah says that not observing Shabbat makes you like an idol worshipper. The fact that this law is mentioned here at this particular point implies that the obligation to observe Shabbat overrides the importance of building the mishkan. Therefore we realize how the half shekel contribution, the building of the mishkan and the observance of Shabbat are connected. They are presented as different steps that lead to the consolidation of the Israelites as a community and as a nation. By linking these three passages, we come to understand how the observance of Shabbat is presented as one of the pillars of Judaism. Let÷s analize now what makes Shabbat so special and how it binds us together.

II The spiritual importance of Shabbat or Shabbat as the eternal bond of the Jewish people

2.1. A sanctuary in time.
We know that the Sanctuary is a visible sign to the Jews that G-d dwells among them. Symbolically, we could say that the Jews themselves are a mishkan unto the world, a living testimony to G-d’s presence and this is most true on the Sabbath day, when the Jews evoke and re-experience the creation of the world and by doing so recognize and exalt the Master of the Universe. To use the words of Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, by giving us Shabbat, G-d has created for us ”a sanctuary in time’. And it seems to me that this sanctuary in time mirrors the sanctuary in space. Rabbi Irving Greenberg says that we Jews are a nation of dreamers. We dream of perfection. We are known as the people who are still awaiting to be redeemed. And this is not easy. So he argues that every 7th day, G-d provides us with a foretaste of perfection. Keeping Shabbat keeps us going as Jews, as a people. We all know the famous saying of Ahad Ha÷am: ”Shabbat has kept the Jews more than the Jews have kept Shabbat’. Shabbat is G-d’s gift to the Jewish people and our own revolutionary gift to the world. Imagine the face of Pharaoh or that of a Roman emperor who finds out that he has to give a day of rest to all his slaves and workers!

2.2. A remembrance of creation.
So while we await redemption, G-d gives us strength to carry on until we reach our dream. And how exactly do we experience the foretaste of redemption, of a messianic world? By being for a day in perfect harmony with creation, with nature. On Shabbat, we aknowledge that G-d is the Creator, that the world that He created is perfect and that there is nothing more to create. That’s why we don’t work on Shabbat. On six days of the week, by trying to perfect the world through tikkun ’olam, we have a chance to become partners of G-d in the process of creation. But on the seventh day, we acknowledge that we were created in the image of G-d by imitating Him: He created the world in 6 days and rested on the seventh. Our Shabbat is an emulation of His Shabbat. That÷s the meaning of the words used in the Shabbat prayer: ”zecher lema÷ase bereshit’ (a remembrance of creation).

2.3. The mishkan as a model of creativity.
It is very significant that the categories of work forbidden on Shabbat are defined by the rabbis as the 39 activities that are performed in or for the Sanctuary. The fact that the building of the mishkan and the reminder to observe the Sabbath follow one another probably suggested the connection between the two. Thus the mishkan becomes the model of all creative work. Some say that these are also the labors involved in the construction of the Temple. Therefore both the mishkan and the beit hamigdash become a symbol or a microcosm of the entire world.

2.4. Shabbat as a spiritual and physical bond.
The observance of Shabbat links the Jews vertically throughout history in an unbroken chain of generations and horizontally with both Israel and the communities in the diaspora. In a physical way, we are united by the rituals and prayers, even the meals of Shabbat. We detach ourselves from the mundane and the ordinary, from activities that often divide us and make us compete with each other and we try instead to connect with our fellow Jew, to achieve a communal and peaceful experience.

2.5. A spiritual journey.
Shabbat is also a time for privacy and introspection. Together and individually we travel to a place in time that is timeless. We reach a place that cannot be measured in time or located in space. We experience holiness and this happens in the deepest silence of our beings. It is a time when we have to see with the eyes of the soul. May be this is why it is said that on Shabbat G-d gives us an additional soul so that we can experience the divine presence, the Shekhinah. To give you a taste of this experience, I will conclude by telling you a story that happened to Rev Nussan, a close friend of Rabbi Nahman of Braslav: ”One morning, when Reb Nussan woke up, the first thought that entered his mind was that it was Shabbas. So he got and started praying as he did on every Shabbas. But that day he felt at ease and at peace with the world in a way that he had never experienced before. But he didn’t know why. It seemed to him as of the garment of the Shabbas Queen, the robe of the Shekhinah, that is woven out of light, had descended upon him like an invisible cloud. So it was that Reb Nussan was completely taken aback when his wife called him to remind him that he had to buy the challah, for then he realized that it was only Friday and he became quite confused. The next morning, when it was truly Shabbas, he told Reb Nachman about his experience. And Reb Nachman said to him: ”Oy, Nussan, for half a day your soul celebrated Shabbas in the Holy Land, where everything takes place one day before it does here. For you must know that on the day before Shabbas, all Jewish souls in the diaspora strive to make their way to the Promised Land and to the Holy City of Jerusalem. But each week, only one soul succeeds. This Shabbas you were the guest in the City of Jerusalem. When your wife spoke to you, your soul was called back here. What a pity, Nussan, that you couldn’t stay for Havdalah!’ (adapted from Howard Schwartz, The Captive Soul of the Messiah, The Cauldron Press, 1980, p. 90-91).

Oro Anahory-Librowicz