Komentarz do Wyjścia 35:2

ששת ימים SIX DAYS [MAY WORK BE DONE] — He intentionally mentioned to them the prohibition in reference to the Sabbath before the command about the building of the Tabernacle in order to intimate that it does not set aside (supersede) the Sabbath (cf. Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 35:1:1).

וביום השביעי יהיה לכם קדש, and you may not violate the Sabbath even in order to complete the Tabernacle sooner, although the work on the Tabernacle is also a sacred task.

ששת ימים תעשה מלאכה, "during six days work shall be performed, etc." The reason the Torah emphasises the work to be performed on the weekdays may simply be a hint that if one observes the seventh day as a holy day, the work required for our maintaining ourselves during the subsequent six days will take care of itself.

כל העושה בו מלאכה יומת, “anyone performing forbidden categories of work on that day deserves to be executed.” Even if the person concerned was busy doing work sanctioned by heaven, it does not take precedence over the legislation governing the rules of the Sabbath. One of these rules, for instance, is what follows:

וביום השביעי יהיה לכם קודש שבת שבתון, “and the seventh day shall be holy for you, a day of complete rest.” In this passage Moses does not warn the people that they are to observe the Sabbath, i.e. ושמרתם את השבת “you shall observe the Sabbath” (Exodus 31,14 or 31,13).
It appears therefore that we derive from here that the mystical dimension of the Sabbath is not to be revealed to the masses. When the Torah used the expression ושמרתם את השבת instead of ושמרתם את יום השבת, this is an indication that in chapter 31 the Torah addressed itself to the philosophical and hidden meanings of the Sabbath. Seeing that in our paragraph Moses spoke to all the people, including women and children, this was not the time and place to reveal hidden meanings of the Sabbath. In 31,13, on the other hand, G’d had instructed Moses with the words דבר אל בני ישראל, “speak to the Children of Israel,” implying that he should reveal to them both the obvious as well as the hidden meanings of the Sabbath legislation. The manner in which the Torah phrases what went on here is a hint to us not to reveal hidden meanings of the Torah to people who are not on the spiritual level enabling them to appreciate such meanings.
There is another proof for what we just said from the Talmud in Megillah 3. The Talmud says that when Onkelos was engaged in translating the Torah, a heavenly voice was heard to exclaim: “who is this who reveals the hidden dimensions of the Torah?” If restrictions are in place when one merely translates the written text of the Torah, how much more so must one be careful not to reveal the mystical dimensions of the Torah which have not been spelled out for all to see in the text to people not on the appropriate spiritual level? Anyone who becomes guilty of violating this principle is known as a מגלה סתרים, someone revealing mysteries. Only slanderers do something like that (Proverbs 11,13).

Saying . . . it does not supersede . . . Rashi is answering the question: Why are they admonished again here concerning Shabbos? They had already been admonished. You might ask: On the contrary, perhaps the admonition of Shabbos is repeated here to tell us that the work of the mishkon supercedes Shabbos, even though it is written [pertaining to Shabbos], “You must not do any work” (Shemos 20:9)? The answer is: The section of Shabbos is written before the section dealing with the work of the mishkon. And the section written first is surely the more important one, and supersedes the one written afterward. The proof is that otherwise, a question arises: why did Moshe change the order here? In parshas Ki Sisa, Hashem stated the admonition of Shabbos to Moshe after having stated the work of the mishkon. And that is why it is written there, “Still ( אך ), you must keep My Shabbos” (31:13). As Rashi explains there, “Every time the term אך or רק appears, it conveys limiting or excluding. And here, אך apparently excludes Shabbos from any work of the mishkon.” Thus, the question arises: why did Moshe not state this matter to Yisrael in the same way that Hashem had commanded him? Perforce, Moshe put [the section of Shabbos] first, in order to teach that the work of the mishkon does not supercede Shabbos.

ששת ימים, “during six days, etc;” the Torah repeats itself so as to make clear that this rule applies also to the work on the Tabernacle.

כל העושה בו מלאכה יומת, “anyone performing (forbidden) work on it will be executed.” This line is immediately followed by the prohibition of lighting a fire on the Sabbath. It is possible to interpret these two verses as examples of forbidden work on the Sabbath. First the Torah prohibits the performance of certain categories of activities called מלאכה; the Torah describes the lighting of fire as an example of such a forbidden category of activity. The expression מלאכה applies primarily to activities connected to the building of the Tabernacle which are forbidden to be performed on the Sabbath. This is the reason the Torah does not speak here of כל מלאכה, “any manner of work,” as it does on other occasions when the work-prohibition on the Sabbath is mentioned (compare Exodus 20,10). Following the prohibition to perform such work on the Sabbaths during which the construction of the Tabernacle was in progress, the Torah goes on to prohibit such activities on the Sabbath for all future generations also. This is the meaning of the additional words בכל מושבותיכם, “in all your dwellings” (as opposed to G’d’s “dwelling’). The example of lighting a fire is merely representative of all the other categories of activity which are prohibited on the Sabbath.
Making fire is an appropriate example of basic human activity seeing that most of the principal activities we are engaged in cannot be performed satisfactorily if one were not able or allowed to make fire. This is the reason that the sages instituted the benediction over fire during the הבדלה ritual at the end of the Sabbath to signify that this crucial activity (as well as other activities) which was prohibited on the Sabbath is once again permitted. Fire, i.e. light, was the first of the activities G’d engaged in when creating the universe (Genesis 1,2).
The ritual known as הבדלה comprises a total of four benedictions (wine, fragrances, fire/light, and the benediction reminding us of the difference between the holy and the profane). This number corresponds to the letters in the holy name of the Lord, the tetragrammaton. The benediction over wine is alluded to in Genesis 1,1 in the word הארץ, a reference to Gan Eden. The grape vine was one of the trees in that garden. The benediction over the fragrances is also alluded to in the word רוח אלו-הים, “the spirit (whiff) of the Lord” in the same verse. Fragrance is central to wind, i.e. the wind carries the fragrance, the odor. It represents the air man breathes through his nostrils, the organ of smell. Finally, fire is represented in that same verse we quoted from Genesis 1,2 where the word “light” has a dual connotation, also meaning “fire,” i.e. the source of warmth. In the ritual of the הבדלה we refer to the whole concept of fire and light as a separation between light and dark.

The Torah may also wish to remind us that performance of work on the Sabbath is prohibited regardless of whether it is performed by a Jew or by a Gentile on his behalf. The vocalisation of the word te-asseh (passive form), is intended to convey that whereas it is permissible for a Jew to have his work performed by Gentiles during the week, on the Sabbath it must not be performed at all. This would correspond to the opinion expressed in the Talmud that if one tells a Gentile to perform work for one on the Sabbbath, one violates a biblical prohibition (Mechilta Parshat Bo). The reason the Torah writes ששת instead of בששת, is to remind us that work performance during the six days of the week is a מצוה, a positive commandment.

There is also a lesson here that the success of the work performed during the six days of the week depends on the observance of the seventh day as a holy day. The reason is that the Sabbath is the soul of the world as we explained in our introduction to Genesis on Genesis 2,2.