The Miskhan + Shabbat…a Palace on the Ground and a Palace in Time
Finally, after weeks of instruction in Torah portion after Torah portion, the Mishkan, the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, is finally completed. And what’s the first instruction given once the Mishkan is completed? The reminder to keep Shabbat!
Why does a parsha about Mishkan begin with discussion of Shabbat? We’ve already heard about Shabbat in other places in the Torah – and even as recently as last week’s Torah portion. Rashi, the great commentator from the 11th century asks, and answers, the same question. He writes that Shabbat appears so that the people are warned that keeping Shabbat isn’t overridden by building the Mishkan.
What is Rashi’s concern? The focus on the building of the Mishkan, might be so overwhelming that the people forget to observe Shabbat. They brought gifts from their hearts – so many gifts that Moses had to tell them to stop! With such a preoccupation on building the Mishkan the people might begin to believe that building a physical place in which God could dwell was more important than keeping Shabbat. Rashi isn’t belittling the process of building the Mishkan, he knew that it wasn’t trivial, unimportant work.
What Rashi is noting is that there is an absolute tension between the Mishkan and Shabbat. The Mishkan is all about physical space while Shabbat is all about spiritual time.
In practical terms there is a direct connection between the building of the Mishkan and observing Shabbat. All the good things that you do on the 6 days of the week, like building the Mishkan, you shouldn’t do on Shabbat. The Mishnah counts these crafts as 39 categories of work. Everything that is commanded and desired and creative as part of the work of the Mishkan is forbidden to do on Shabbat. The work of building the Mishkan is deeply connected to the work of Shabbat. How? They are absolute opposites. Just as we work creatively to build the Mishkan, so too we should not create things on Shabbat.
Rashi’s comment teaches us that just as there are holy spaces, such as the Mishkan, so too there is holy time, such as Shabbat.
The great 20th century philosopher, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, recognized the connection between the Mishkan and Shabbat. He refers to Shabbat as a Palace in Time. In his writing he explores two basic, and intersecting, dimensions of human existence: space and time. Heschel argues that modern Western life is dominated by an obsession with space — with building, mastering, and conquering things of space. But life is empty, says Heschel, “when the control of space, the acquisition of things in space, becomes our sole concern” He calls on us to reconsider our priorities and relax our attachment to “thinghood,” shifting our attention from the “Palace in Space to the Palace in Time.”
Heschel stresses the importance of the Sabbath to modern life. Shabbat offers us the opportunity to retreat temporarily from our work-a-day routine, from the world of space consciousness, and to enjoy the manifold gifts of creation provided for us by God. Heschel describes the Sabbath as a “palace in time,” whose architecture is built through a combination of intentional abstentions. Just as the Israelites in the desert refrained from working on the Mishkan on Shabbat, so too should we refrain from business dealings, long-distance travel and instead focus on acts of prayer, study, joyous meals and interaction with loved ones.
The Mishkan that is finally completed in our parasha this week, is the ultimate holy space. Shabbat enters our portion as well as a reminder that our focus must not only be on holy space. It must be on holy time as well. Even though they seem like opposites, the mention of Shabbat together with the Mishkanis natural. Shabbat is holy time while theMishkan is holy space. Both offer us the opportunity to create holiness in our lives.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Donald Goor