Rabbi Mayer TwerskyShabbos: The Source of Sacred Creativity

Parshas Vayakhel provides the foundation for hilchos Shabbos. The Torah's re-enforcement of issur Shabbos in conjunction with the tzivui of meleches hamishkan teaches that the melachos forbidden on Shabbos are those necessary for the mishkan.

At first glance this correlation between meleches hamishkan and meleches Shabbos is counter intuitive. After all, the lamed tes melachos are all forms of profaning and desecrating. How ironic that these melachos are identified because of their association with the creation of kedusha, i.e. the mishkan!

Upon reflection however the Shabbos - mishkan nexus needs to be understood and configured differently. When properly configured, it imparts a fundamental lesson.

The lamed teis melachos during the six week days are potentially a source of kedusha. Engaging in these mleachos, man can create kedusha, an abode for the Shechina. The source or spring-well for scared creativity during the week is Shabbos. By abstaining from the lamed tes melachos on Shabbos as a testament to malchus Hashem we empower these selfsame melachos to serve as sources of kedusha during the week. This is the correct perspective on the Shabbos-mishkan connection. The lamed tes melachos are categorically forbidden on Shabbos not because they are inherently forms of profanation and desecration. On the contrary, abstention from these melachos elevates them to potentially serve as sources of kedusha during the week.

The initial irony recedes. How beautiful and sublime that meleches Shabbos and meleches hamishkan are one and the same. But a totally different irony surfaces. How ironic that we compromise the quality of our Shabbos by rushing in at the last possible moment and rushing out at the first possible moment. We erroneously think that by so doing we are maximizing our mundane accomplishments. The Shabbos-mishkan connection teaches differently. The more we savor and enhance Shabbos, the greater our genuine productivity will be during the week.