LIVING WITH MOSHIACH, Parshat Vayakhel, 5755 B"H LIVING WITH MOSHIACH Weekly Digest About Moshiach PARSHAT VAYAKHEL 24 Adar I, 5755 Feb. 24, 1995 * Published Weekly By Lubavitch Shluchim Conferences On The Moshiach Campaign, Committee For The Blind * * * 5755 "Year of Hakhel" ********************************************* * TO RECEIVE THIS PUBLICATION VIA INTERNET: * * E-Mail: yys@dorsai.org * * FOR CHABAD-LUBAVITCH IN CYBERSPACE: * * E-Mail: info@chabad.org * ********************************************* THIS PUBLICATION IS DEDICATED TO THE REBBE, RABBI MENACHEM M. SCHNEERSON OF LUBAVITCH "I BELIEVE WITH COMPLETE FAITH IN THE ARRIVAL OF THE MOSHIACH. AND THOUGH HE MAY TARRY, I SHALL WAIT EACH DAY, ANTICIPATING HIS ARRIVAL." Maimonides, Principles of the Faith, No. 12 ********************* * TABLE OF CONTENTS * ********************* Introduction The Weekly Torah Portion The Rebbe's Prophecy Phrshat Shekalim **************** * INTRODUCTION * **************** We are pleased to present, to the visually impaired and the blind, the 19th issue of our weekly publication, Living with Moshiach. * Our sincere appreciation to L'Chaim weekly publication, published by the Lubavitch Youth Organization, for allowing us to use their material. Also, many thanks to our copy editor, Reb Mordechai Staiman, for his tireless efforts. * It is our fervent hope that our learning about Moshiach and the Redemption will hasten the coming of Moshiach, NOW! Rabbi Yosef Y. Shagalov Administrator Committee for the Blind E-Mail: yys@dorsai.org 20 Adar I, 5755, Year of Hakhel Brooklyn, New York *************************************** * THE WEEKLY TORAH PORTION * * Adapted from the Works of the Rebbe * *************************************** Parshat Vayakhel For the past few weeks we have been reading those Torah portions dealing with the commandments and preparations necessary for the building of the Tabernacle. This week, in Vayakhel, we read about its actual erection. Before the Tabernacle was built, Moses called together all of the Children of Israel and commanded them to keep the Sabbath. "Six days shall work be done, and on the seventh you shall have a holy day. A Sabbath of rest to G-d." The Talmud explains that the juxtaposition of Shabbat and the building of the Tabernacle teaches us which types of work we must avoid in order to keep the Sabbath. These are the 39 categories of labor that are prohibited on Shabbat, and from which are derived all other activities that may not be pursued on the holy day. Nothing in the Torah occurs coincidentally. The fact that the Torah chooses the building of the Tabernacle to teach us which labors are prohibited on Shabbat shows that there is a connection between these two subjects. Furthermore, the relationship between Shabbat and the building of the Tabernacle has another, deeper dimension. Every one of the 39 types of labor involved in building the Sanctuary is the prototype of the labors we perform during the six days of the week. And, because everything in the physical world reflects its spiritual source, all our physical labor is [transformed into] the building of the Tabernacle. All the work that we perform has the potential to be elevated and turned into holiness. But not only is the Tabernacle the source for the work in our lives, it also serves as our lives' goals as well. Every task we perform during our daily routine should be utilized to bring holiness into the world, the same function which the original Tabernacle served. The Torah states: "Six days shall you work." Our Sages explain that this is a positive commandment, not merely the granting of permission. Man is compelled to toil to earn his daily bread. We see that the prayers and Torah readings prescribed for week days are shorter than those read on Shabbat and holidays, to enable a person to go out into the world to perform his daily tasks. It is through one's physical labor that he molds and shapes the world into a "sanctuary" for G-d. How do we elevate our daily, mundane tasks? "In all your ways shall you know Him," explains the Torah. All of our activities, no matter how seemingly trivial, must be performed with the proper thoughts in mind. When we eat, drink, sleep and go about our business according to Torah law, we are cognizant of our Creator and transform our lives into sanctuaries to G-d. The basic difference between the Tabernacle and our own physical world is that the Tabernacle was an actual manifestation of G-dliness, whereas the physical world is still in a state of potential. Man's task is to transform that potential into actual realization, by living according to the dictum, "In all your ways shall you know Him." ************************ * THE REBBE'S PROPHECY * ************************ The Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson of Lubavitch, issued a call that "THE TIME OF OUR REDEMPTION HAS ARRIVED!" and "MOSHIACH IS ON HIS WAY!" The Rebbe stressed that he is saying this AS A PROPHECY, and asks us all to prepare ourselves for the Redemption, through increasing acts of goodness and kindness. LET US ALL HEED THE REBBE'S CALL. ******************************************* * IN LOVING MEMORY OF MY DEAR GRANDFATHER * * * * Reb Shmuel Pesach Ben Reb Yaakov Dovid * * Passed away on 3 Tishrei, 5755 * * Pais * ******************************************* *************************************** * PARSHAT SHEKOLIM * * Adapted from the Works of the Rebbe * *************************************** This Shabbat is the first of four weeks when we read a special portion during the Torah reading. The special portion for this week, "Shekalim," deals with the command to every Jew to contribute half a shekel toward the building of the Sanctuary in the desert. This half-shekel was not only a tax but served the additional purpose of being an atonement for the sin of the "golden calf." After hearing the command from G-d, Moses was perplexed as to how it was possible for a half-shekel to atone for such a horrendous sin. The requirement to give half of a coin, indeed, had significant meaning. It signified to each Jew who gave -- and every Jew did give -- that G-d and the Jewish people are one whole. We are not, as mathematicians might think, two separate entites that join together -- one plus one equals two. Rather, we are a half and G-d, as it were, is a half. It is only when the two halves are added up that there is one, unified, complete, whole individual. In addition, there is a more "down-to-earth" implication to this analogy of a half-shekel. Each Jew, as we mentioned before, is a half. Only when one Jew joins together with another Jew -- another half -- does either Jew become whole. Whether the mitzva of charity, Torah study, visiting the sick, hospitality, or numerous other mitzvot, it is only through connecting with another Jew that we become whole. ============================================================= = End of Text: Living With Moshiach, Parshat Vayakhel, 5755 = =============================================================