Parashat HaShavua - VaYakhel
Are we obligated to work on all six weekdays that are not Shabbat? It seems we might be! “Work is done for six days / שֵׁ֣שֶׁת יָמִים֘ תֵּֽעָשֶׂ֣ה מְלָאכָה֒,” (Ex. 35:2) we are told at the beginning of Vayakhel this week, echoing last week’s almost identical statement. (Ex. 31:15) According to Avraham Ibn Ezra, however, this isn’t actually an obligation to work, but rather informs us that “on six days we are permitted to do work / כי ששת ימים מותרים לעשות מלאכה.” His interpretation seems justified when we consider that the pesukim this week and last use the passive voice when referring to work on non-Shabbat weekdays. “Work is done,” is easily interpretable as “can be” done rather than “must” be done.
That is harder to argue, however, for the two times that the language is not passive. When we receive the commandment of Shabbat as part of the Ten Commandments, we are told, “Six days you shall work and perform all your labor / שֵׁ֣שֶׁת יָמִ֣ים תַּֽעֲבֹד֘ וְעָשִׂ֣יתָ כָל־מְלַאכְתֶּךָ֒.” (Ex. 20:9) Not long after, we are similarly told, “Six days you shall do your deeds / שֵׁ֤שֶׁת יָמִים֙ תַּֽעֲשֶׂ֣ה מַֽעֲשֶׂ֔יךָ.” (Ex. 23:12) Many interpretations therefore see this language as an affirmative command to work. The Mechilta of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai teaches that “six days shall you work…is a separate decree; just as Israel was given the positive commandment of Shabbat, so too we were commanded about work / ״ששת ימים תעבד״…הרי זו גזרה אחרת שכשם שנצטוו ישראל על מצות עשה של שבת כך נצטוו על המלאכה.” (Ex. 20:9)
Two connections are drawn to strengthen this point. “Even Adam the first person,” it is taught, “didn’t taste anything until he did work, as it says, ‘He placed him in the Garden of Eden to work and protect it,’ after which he ‘could eat from every tree of the Garden’ / אף אדם הראשון לא טעם כלום עד שעשה מלאכה שנאמר ׳ויניחהו בגן עדן לעבדה ולשמרה׳ וגו' ׳מכל עץ הגן אכול תאכל׳.” (Avot d’Rabbi Natan 1:11) In other words, our existence in the world depended on and was defined by our work from the very beginning.
And so was God’s, according to the second connection: “Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah says, work is tremendously important, as God’s divine presence didn’t dwell in Israel until they worked, as it says, ‘You shall make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among you’ / ר' אלעזר בן עזריה אומר גדולה מלאכה שלא שרת שכינה בישראל עד שעשו מלאכה שנאמר ׳ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם׳. (Mechilta of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai 20:9) If not for our work, God would not dwell among us!
Thankfully, though, we do not do that work alone. Perhaps the use of active and passive voices for the work that is done is our tefillah that if we do our part during the six weekdays that are not Shabbat – fulfilling the commandment that we must work – then the things that we cannot or have not yet done will happen with God’s help. The Mechilta of Rabbi Yishmael finds a different way to reassure us about the work we have not yet done, based on how the Torah always follows the requirement of work with mention of Shabbat. “Is it possible for people,” it asks, “to complete all their work in six days? Rather, we are told to rest as though our work is done / וכי איפשר לו לאדם לעשות כל מלאכתו בששת ימים? אלא שְׁבוֹת כאילו כל מלאכתך עשויה.” (Yitro 9) As Rashi adds, “you should not think about work / שֶׁלֹּא תְהַרְהֵר אַחַר מְלָאכָה.”
May we all value the work we do, and experience fulfillment and a sense of accomplishment. May we also always find that God will in some way help us with our work, especially the work not yet done. And when our work happens to be interrupted by Shabbat, it can wait!
Shabbat shalom!
Rabbi Jack Nahmod
Middle School Judaic Studies Head
Rabbinic Advisor
