Vayakhel (Exodus 35:1-38:20)
This Week’s Torah Portion: Vayakhel (Exodus 35:1-38:20)
Moses gathers everyone, he has a very important announcement:
We must observe Shabbat and we must build a Temple.
Why is observing Shabbat connected to building a Temple?
Shabbat means to consecrate a “piece” of time and make it sacred (different and unique from all other moments in time), a Temple is taking a piece of land and making it sacred.
In both “places” the temple and Shabbat we reach for the Divine, we search for holiness in our lives. We need them both, and we can combine both experiences and try and make our lives and ourselves holy.