Transformative nature of Shabbat

Parasha Vayakel begins with the construction of the mishkan (the portable desert sanctuary): “Moses called the whole community of the children of Israel to assemble, and he said to them: ‘These are the things that the L-rd commanded to make’.” Following this verse, one would expect the Torah to list the details inherent in the construction of the mishkan. This is the case, for example, in the beginning of Parashat Terumah.

But in our parasha, instead of presenting the constitutive elements of the mishkan and how it is to be designed and assembled, the Torah discusses the sanctity of Shabbat and the specific proscription of igniting a fire on this most holy of all days:

Six days work may be done, but on the seventh day you shall have sanctity, a day of complete rest to the L-rd; whoever performs work thereon [on this day] shall be put to death. You shall not kindle fire in any of your dwelling places on the Sabbath day. (Shemot 35:2-3)

Rashi, basing himself upon the Mechilta, the halachic midrash to Sefer Shemot, explains why these seemingly incongruous pasukim (verses) were included at this juncture: “Six days: He [Moses] prefaced [the discussion of the details of] the work of the Mishkan with the warning to keep the Sabbath, denoting that it [i.e., the work of the Mishkan] does not supersede the Sabbath.” The Torah, therefore, is teaching us the ultimate holiness of Shabbat. Even the construction of Hashem’s dwelling place on earth must cease at the onset of this most consecrated day.