In the first part of Vayakhel, Moses relays the commandment to build the Tabernacle to the Israelites. But he prefaces it by reiterating the commandment to observe Shabbat. Why? See below!

The rest of the double-sedra describes the fulfilment of the detailed instructions to build the Tabernacle. We note that in this first-ever Jewish fundraising campaign, the people actually brought too much and Moses had to make a general announcement asking the people to stop bringing any further contributions!

Bezalel (from the tribe of Judah) and Aholiav (from the tribe of Dan) were appointed to oversee the making of all the parts of the Tabernacle, as well as the priestly garments. They were granted a special Divine wisdom to make the various parts and to teach others to assist. The Torah records that they and their helpers carried out all the instructions exactly as G-d had commanded. It was then left to Moses to erect the Tabernacle itself. Again, the Torah records that he did it according to G-d's precise instructions.

Points to Ponder
1. Why do we have a 'double' Torah Portion this week?

Answer. The Torah is divided into 54 portions. Up to seven may be doubled up in any one year. This may be due to the year being twelve months, as opposed to thirteen in a leap year, or to some of the festivals falling on Shabbat. In the latter case, the festival pushes aside the regular Shabbat Torah Portion, creating a 'double portion'.

This year is a non-leap year, which automatically creates four double portions in the Spring. Vayakhel-Pekudei is the first; the other three occurring after Pesach. The double portions or sidrot, usually have a thematic connection with each other.

2. Last week, we posed the question: why did the many details of the Tabernacle conclude with the commandment of Shabbat, which we have already seen three times in the book of Shmot? Well here it is again, this time preceding the details of the Tabernacle.

Answer: In Judaism, time actually has greater holiness than space! We also see that in Judaism, refraining from actions can have even greater impact on ourselves than positive actions. Putting this together, the observance of Shabbat, which testifies to G-d's creation of the Universe, and for which Shabbat was the crowning glory - has more significance than even the building of the Tabernacle, and takes precedence. Perhaps to emphasise this point, the mitzvah of Shabbat is mentioned more times in the Torah than any other mitzvah.

3. Why does the Torah go into such great detail regarding the construction of the Tabernacle?

Answer: such a major, holy project demands attention to detail. Such attention reflects the value we place in the project itself. This should of course point the way to our conduct of mitzvot in general, particularly those which, by their nature demand attention to detail, such as Pesach, which is the theme of the next paragraph.

Parashat Hachodesh
From the second Sefer Torah, we read the first 20 verses of Exodus Chapter 12. these verse contain the commandment to observe the first ever Rosh Chodesh, that the months should be counted from Nissan, and that on the 10th of the month, the Pascal Lamb should be set aside. This would then be slaughtered on the afternoon of 14th Nissan, and its blood smeared on the doorposts and lintel. That night (the 15th), the first Seder should be celebrated, eating the Pesach (the lamb), matzah and maror. The Israelites should be dressed ready to leave Egypt, and at midnight, the Almighty would slay the firstborn.

In the future, there will be a weeklong festival to mark this occasion, with a severe prohibition against eating chametz, leavened products. From this chapter, we also note the designation of the first and last days as 'Yomtov', on which work forbidden on Shabbat - melachah - is forbidden on these days, with the exception of cooking and carrying.

Points to Ponder
Why was it so important to smear the blood on the doorframe, why take the lamb, and why was the first seder observed before the Israelites had even left Egypt, and were technically still slaves?

Answer: The Israelites had to demonstrate a 'leap of faith', and actually show that they wanted to be redeemed. The lamb, an Egyptian god, is also the sign of the zodiac for the month of Nissan. This made the Egyptians feel especially powerful at that time. The Israelites had to demonstrate their freedom from such feelings, and from the Egyptians. This resonated a lot in the 1970s and 1980s,when we used to hear of Soviet refuseniks observing mitzvot in open defiance of the KGB.

Shabbat Shalom