Parshat Vayakhel-Shekalim
March 1, 2003

Moshe begins his instructions for the building of the Mishkan with a reminder to observe the Shabbat:
Six days shall work (MELACHAH) be done, but on the seventh day there shall be for you holiness, a complete Shabbat to Hashem . . . (Shemot 35:2).

It is well-known that the 39 categories of creative work, referred to here as MELACHAH, are derived from those activities that were necessary for the building of the Mishkan. These are examples of labors that demonstrate skill and talent, as seen in the description of the one who was appointed to build the Mishkan:
And Moshe said to the Children of Israel, “See, Hashem has called by name Betzalel, son of Uri son of Chur, of the tribe of Yehudah. And He has filled him with the spirit of G-d, with wisdom, with insight and with knowledge and with all work (MELACHAH); and to make plans (MACHASHAVOT), to work in gold, and in silver, and in copper; and in the cutting of stones for setting, and in carving wood, to make all the work of planning (MELECHET MACHASHAVET). And to [be able to] teach has He put in his heart; he, and Oholiav, son of Achisamach, of the tribe of Dan. He filled them with wisdom of heart to do all the work (MELECHET) of the craftsman and weaver (V’CHOSHEV) and embroiderer in blue and in purple, in scarlet and in linen, and weaving, makers of all work (MELACHAH) and makers of plans” (35:30-35).

MELACHAH is creative, the type of action in which man emulates the Creator:
And G-d completed on the seventh day His work (MELACHTO) that He had made, and on the seventh day He ceased from all His work (MELACHTO) which He had made. And G-d blessed the seventh day and He sanctified it, for on it He ceased from all His work (MELACHTO) that G-d created to do (Bereishit 2:2-3).
Hirsch (Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch, 1808-1888) connects MELACHAH to MALACH, “angel”:
Just as MALACH, a messenger, is the bearer and executor of the thought and intention of another, so MELACHAH is a thing which has become the bearer and executor of the thought and intention of a mind. Every material to which a directing mind has given a form conforming to a definite purpose, by being given that form, becomes the MELACHAH of that mind, its actual messenger.

When Hashem creates, intention and action, design and execution are one:
And G-d said, “Let there be light.” And there was light (Bereishit 1:3).

But when man acts, his plans are often disappointingly different from his results. This will not do, however, when it comes to building the Mishkan which, as Hirsch writes,
is the very highest conceivable plan for human artistic activity. The mastery of Man over matter, in getting, producing, changing, manufacturing the raw materials of the world, attained its highest meaning in the Temple. The world submits to Man, for him to submit himself and his world to G-d, and for him to change this earthly world into a home for the Kingdom of G-d, to a Temple in which the Glory of G-d tarries on earth. The building of the Temple is a sanctification of human labor.
Thus, when Hashem commands the Children of Israel to build the Mishkan, He demands the highest standard of action, in which thought and deed are synchronized. This, as we are told when Betzalel is designated by Moshe, is called MELECHET MACHASHEVET, purposeful work, the closest Man can come to the Divine synthesis of design and execution.

Since, as we have said, the Mishkan is the prototype for all MELACHAH, the standard of MELECHET MACHASHEVET defines the type of MELACHAH prohibited by the Torah on Shabbat. In a number of places (Beitzah 13b; Chagigah 10b; Bava Kama 26b, 60a; Sanhedrin 62b; Zevachim 47a; Keritot 19a), the Talmud states categorically that, insofar as Shabbat is concerned, the Torah prohibited a MELACHAH only if it is MELECHET MACHASHEVET.

Torah Temimah (R. Baruch ben Yechiel Michel HaLevi Epstein, 1860-1942) puts the matter this way:
Just as in the Mishkan they performed actions in accord with earlier thought and design, so one is not liable on Shabbat except in a similar manner, and not if it has been changed from what it was in thought and design.

Unless an action is deemed MELECHET MACHASHEVET, the perpetrator is exempt from the punishment of stoning if he did it intentionally, or from atonement (sacrificing a chatat, sin-offering), if he did so unintentionally. This is because, when it comes to Shabbat, only MELECHET MACHASHEVET is MELACHAH. (Nevertheless, such an action is, in the majority of cases, prohibited by Rabbinic decree.)

There are a number of halachic ramifications of the principle, “The Torah prohibited MELECHET MACHASHEVET.” Among them, one is guilty of performing a MELACHAH according to the Torah only if it was done:
• In the usual manner (k’darka).
• For a productive purpose (m’takken), rather than for destruction.
• For the purpose as was done in the Mishkan (tzarich legufo).
• With intention (kavvanah).

It is noteworthy that the term MELECHET MACHASHEVET, which is so central to the laws of Shabbat, is mentioned only once in all of Tanach, and only in the context of the building of the Mishkan. It is the Mishkan which, as Hirsch says,
is represented as being a combination of all those creative activities of Man, by the cessation of which . . . the Sabbath is made into an acknowledgment of man’s allegiance to G-d.

Hashem created the universe according to His design, and then formed Man to bring Him into permanent residence in the universe. When Betzalel is appointed to build Hashem a sanctuary, he finally fulfills Hashem’s design for the universe. And when we safeguard Shabbat, we build Hashem a sanctuary in time.

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