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Why does Parshas Vayakhel introduce new prohibitions on Shabbos (שבת)—no fire-lighting, no executions—when Shabbos was already commanded? The shiur develops a revolutionary distinction: before the second Luchos, Shabbos meant resting in our world to testify Hashem (ה׳) created His; after Vayakhel, Shabbos means we enter His world entirely—ein od milvado—a foretaste of Olam Haba requiring communal perfection.
This shiur explores the deeper meaning of Parshas Vayakhel and its revolutionary redefinition of Shabbos (שבת) following the Chet HaEgel (sin of the Golden Calf). Rabbi Zweig addresses a fundamental question raised by the Midrash: why is Vayakhel the only parsha in the entire Torah (תורה) that begins with gathering the entire community together (Vayakhel Moshe), and what does this have to do with Shabbos? Furthermore, why does the Zohar begin this parsha by discussing Hashem (ה׳)'s eternal war against Amalek, and what is the connection to the material at hand? The shiur identifies a critical problem: several laws about Shabbos are introduced here for the first time—the prohibition against lighting fire on Shabbos and the prohibition for a court to execute someone on Shabbos—despite Shabbos having been commanded multiple times previously, including at Sinai and even before Matan Torah. The Ramban (רמב"ן) explains that until this point, making a fire that warms the entire body would have been permitted because it provides pleasure rather than constituting "work." Similarly, executing a criminal would have been permitted as carrying out divine justice. What fundamentally changes at this moment in Jewish history?
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Parshas Vayakhel
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