(Trans. Aryeh Newman in English version of Nechamah Leibowitz on the Parsha)
If it is true that Moses assembled all Israel to command them regarding the work of the Tabernacle, as the text has it: "these are the words which the Lord hath commanded that you should do them"--why did he begin with the commandment of the Sabbath: "six days shall work be done but on the seventh day there shall be to you a holy day"? This commandment had already been imparted on the descent of the manna and in the Decalogue on mount Sinai and in the course of the instructions concerning the Tabernacle. Why did it have to be repeated here again? It is alluded to in Ki Tessa after the Tabernacle instructions had first been imparted, and here again at the beginning of their implementation!
אֵלֶּה הַדְּבָרִים אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה ה׳ לַעֲשֹׂת אֹתָם שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים תֵּעָשֶׂה מְלָאכָה אָמַר אֵלֶּה הַדְּבָרִים אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה ה׳ לַעֲשֹׂת עַל מְלֶאכֶת הַמִּשְׁכָּן וְכָל כֵּלָיו וְכֹל עֲבֹדָתוֹ וְהִקְדִּים הַשַּׁבָּת לֵאמֹר כִּי שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים תֵּעָשֶׂה מְלֶאכֶת אֵלֶּה הַדְּבָרִים וְלֹא בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי שֶׁהוּא קֹדֶשׁ לַה׳. וּמִכָּאן שֶׁאֵין מְלֶאכֶת הַמִּשְׁכָּן דּוֹחָה שַׁבָּת...
THESE ARE THE THINGS WHICH THE ETERNAL HATH COMMANDED, THAT YE SHOULD DO THEM. 2. SIX DAYS SHALL WORK BE DONE. The expression, these are the things which the Eternal hath commanded refers to the construction of the Tabernacle, all its vessels and all its various works. He preceded [the explanation of the construction of the Tabernacle] with the law of the Sabbath, meaning to say that the work of these things should be done during the six days, but not on the seventh day which is holy to G-d. It is from here that we learn the principle that the work of the Tabernacle does not set aside the Sabbath...
(יב) וַיֹּ֥אמֶר ה׳ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃ (יג) וְאַתָּ֞ה דַּבֵּ֨ר אֶל־בְּנֵ֤י יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר אַ֥ךְ אֶת־שַׁבְּתֹתַ֖י תִּשְׁמֹ֑רוּ כִּי֩ א֨וֹת הִ֜וא בֵּינִ֤י וּבֵֽינֵיכֶם֙ לְדֹרֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם לָדַ֕עַת כִּ֛י אֲנִ֥י ה׳ מְקַדִּשְׁכֶֽם׃ (יד) וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם֙ אֶת־הַשַּׁבָּ֔ת כִּ֛י קֹ֥דֶשׁ הִ֖וא לָכֶ֑ם מְחַֽלְלֶ֙יהָ֙ מ֣וֹת יוּמָ֔ת כִּ֗י כׇּל־הָעֹשֶׂ֥ה בָהּ֙ מְלָאכָ֔ה וְנִכְרְתָ֛ה הַנֶּ֥פֶשׁ הַהִ֖וא מִקֶּ֥רֶב עַמֶּֽיהָ׃
וידבר ה׳ אל משה וגומר אך את שבתותי תשמורו וגו' עד ויתן אל משה ככלותו. לפי שצוה יתברך על עשיית המשכן וכליו שהיה מורה על דבקות הש"י ושרות שכינתו באומה. היה אפשר שיחשוב אדם שהפעל ההוא היה יותר נכבד מכל הפעולות התוריות וכ"ש מהשביתה בשבת לפי ששלמות כל דבר הוא בפעולתו. והמעשה בכלל הוא יותר שלם מהשביתה והמנוחה. וכ"ש המעשה הנכבד והקדוש הזה. ואולי שמפני זה יבואו ישראל לחשוב שמלאכת המשכן תדחה את השבת מצורף אל היות המעשה יותר מעיד על האמונה ממה שיעיד עליו הבטול והשביתה מהפעל. כי המעשה הוא מציאות והשביתה העדר והמציאות יעוד יותר מן ההעדר. ולכך יאמר האומר שיספיק מלאכת המשכן להעיר ולהעיד אל היות יתברך מקדשנו ושוכן בתוכנו ושהוא בורא העולם. והכל נבראיו ולא נצטרך לשביתה להעיד זה עצמו. הנה מפני זה אמר יתברך למשה שיאמר לישראל אך את שבתותי תשמורו רוצה לומר עם היות מלאכת המשכן דבר קדוש ונכבד לפני עם כל זה אתם לא תדחו את השבת אבל תשמורו אותו.
(Trans. Aryeh Newman in English version of Nechamah Leibowitz on the Parsha)
Since the Tabernacle and its appurtenances whose making God had commanded symbolized communion with Him and the resting of His Presence on the nation, we might have thought that this activity outweighed in importance all the other Biblical prescriptions, and most certainly the Sabbath rest. For perfection lies in action, and performance is more perfect than non-performance and rest. This is especially true when such a sacred and sublime performance as that of building a Tabernacle is involved. On account of this the Israelites might have thought that the work of the Tabernacle overrode the Sabbath. In addition, actual work is a more eloquent witness of faith than cessation from work, since action is positive and inaction negation. Something existent is a more eloquent witness than the lack of it. It might well have been argued that the work of the Tabernacle would have sufficed to draw attention and testify to the existence of the Divine Presence in our midst, to His omnipotence as Creator of the world and all the creatures therein. The resistance from work would therefore no be required, in this instance, to testify to these principles. On this account, the Lord told Moses to say to Israel: verily you shall keep My Sabbaths, i.e. though the work of the Tabernacle is sacred and of great importance in My eyes, nevertheless you must not override the Sabbath, on its account, but observe it.
הֲדוּר יָתְבִי וְקָמִיבַּעְיָא לְהוּ: הָא דִּתְנַן אֲבוֹת מְלָאכוֹת אַרְבָּעִים חָסֵר אַחַת, כְּנֶגֶד מִי? אָמַר לְהוּ רַבִּי חֲנִינָא בַּר חָמָא: כְּנֶגֶד עֲבוֹדוֹת הַמִּשְׁכָּן.
אֲמַר לְהוּ רַבִּי יוֹנָתָן בְּרַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר, כָּךְ אָמַר רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בְּרַבִּי יוֹסֵי בֶּן לָקוֹנְיָא: כְּנֶגֶד ״מְלָאכָה״ ״מְלַאכְתּוֹ״ וּ״מְלֶאכֶת״ שֶׁבַּתּוֹרָה אַרְבָּעִים חָסֵר אַחַת.
תַּנְיָא כְּמַאן דְּאָמַר כְּנֶגֶד עֲבוֹדוֹת הַמִּשְׁכָּן. דְּתַנְיָא: אֵין חַיָּיבִין אֶלָּא עַל מְלָאכָה שֶׁכַּיּוֹצֵא בָּהּ הָיְתָה בַּמִּשְׁכָּן. הֵם זָרְעוּ, וְאַתֶּם לֹא תִּזְרְעוּ. הֵם קָצְרוּ, וְאַתֶּם לֹא תִּקְצְרוּ. הֵם הֶעֱלוּ אֶת הַקְּרָשִׁים מִקַּרְקַע לַעֲגָלָה, וְאַתֶּם לֹא תַּכְנִיסוּ מֵרְשׁוּת הָרַבִּים לִרְשׁוּת הַיָּחִיד. הֵם הוֹרִידוּ אֶת הַקְּרָשִׁים מֵעֲגָלָה לְקַרְקַע, וְאַתֶּם לֹא תּוֹצִיאוּ מֵרְשׁוּת הַיָּחִיד לִרְשׁוּת הָרַבִּים. הֵם הוֹצִיאוּ מֵעֲגָלָה לַעֲגָלָה, וְאַתֶּם לֹא תּוֹצִיאוּ מֵרְשׁוּת הַיָּחִיד לִרְשׁוּת הַיָּחִיד.
The Gemara relates that those same Sages who sat and discussed the issue of hides, sat again and they raised a dilemma: That which we learned in the mishna: The primary categories of labor, which are prohibited by Torah law on Shabbat, are forty-less-one; to what does this number correspond? That is to say, what is the source of this number? Rabbi Ḥanina bar Ḥama said to them: They correspond to the labors in the Tabernacle. All types of labor that were performed in the Tabernacle are enumerated as primary categories of labor with respect to Shabbat. However, other labors, even if they are significant, are not enumerated among the primary categories of labor since they were not performed in the Tabernacle.
Rabbi Yonatan, son of Rabbi Elazar, said to them that so said Rabbi Shimon, son of Rabbi Yosei ben Lakonya: They correspond to the instances of the words labor, his labor, and the labor of, that appear in the Torah a total of forty-less-one times...
With regard to the matter itself, it was taught in a baraita in accordance with the opinion of the one who said that the thirty-nine labors of Shabbat correspond to the labors performed in the Tabernacle. As it was taught in a baraita: One is only liable for performing a labor to which there was a corresponding labor in the Tabernacle. They sowed in order to grow dyes for the Tabernacle, and therefore you may not sow on Shabbat. They reaped, and therefore you may not reap on Shabbat. They lifted the boards from the ground in the wilderness, which is a public domain, and placed them into the wagon, which is a private domain, and therefore you shall not carry objects in from the public domain to the private domain on Shabbat. They lowered the boards from the wagon to the ground, and therefore you shall not carry objects out from the private domain to the public domain on Shabbat. They took boards and other objects out and passed them from wagon to wagon, i.e., from one private domain to another private domain, and therefore you shall not take objects out from one private domain to another private domain on Shabbat.
To set apart one day a week for freedom, a day on which we would not use the instruments which have been so easily turned into weapons of destruction, a day for being with ourselves, a day of detachment from the vulgar, of independence of external obligations, a day on which we stop worshipping the idols of technical civilization, a day on which we use no money, a day of armistice in the economic struggle with our fellow men and the forces of nature--is there any institution that holds out a greater hope for man's progress than the Sabbath?
The solution of mankind's most vexing problem will not be found in renouncing technical civilization, but in attaining some degree of independence of it.
In regard to external gifts, to outward possessions, there is only one proper attitude--to have them and to be able to do without them. On the Sabbath we live, as it were, independent of technical civilization: we abstain primarily from any activity that aims at remaking or reshaping the things of space. Man's royal privilege to conquer nature is suspended on the seventh day.
What are the kinds of labor not to be done on the Sabbath? They are, according to the ancient rabbis, all those acts which were necessary for the construction and furnishing of the Sanctuary in the desert. The Sabbath itself is a sanctuary which we build, a sanctuary in time.
In arriving at his interpretation of melakhah [work], Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch starts with the basic idea that the Sabbath testifies to God as the supreme Creator of heaven and earth and all they contain. Man, however, is engaged in a constant struggle to gain mastery over God's creation, to bring nature under his control. By the use of his God-given intelligence, skill, and energy, he has in large measure succeeded in this. He is thus constantly in danger of forgetting his own creature hood--his utter and complete dependence on the Lord of all things. He tends to forget that the very powers he uses in his conquest of nature are derived from his Creator, in whose service his life and work should be conducted.
In a world increasingly forgetful of God, Israel was entrusted with the task of preserving this all-important truth for the future salvation of all mankind. God willed therefore that the Jew, while subduing and controlling his environment like every other human being, must recognize, and show that he recognizes, that his powers are derived from One higher than himself. This recognition he is to express by dedicating one day in every week to God, and by refraining on this day from every activity which signifies human power over nature.
On this day we renounce every exercise of intelligent, purposeful control over natural objects and forces, we cease from every act of human power, in order to proclaim God as the Source of all power. By refraining from human creating, the Jew pays silent homage to the Creator....
...Any act, however small, which demonstrates man's mastery of nature in this way is a melakhah, be it striking a light or washing clothes, tying a knot or building a house.
We have thus arrived at the definition we have been searching for. A melakhah is:
an act that shows man's mastery over the world by the constructive exercise of his intelligence and skill.
Since [the Torah] just wrote “do not do any work” and never explained what would be considered “work,” the Torah was given to the sages [to decide]. And it seemed to the sages that only that which was performed in the [construction of] the Tabernacle should be considered work…
And in the book “Divrei Chayim” of the holy rabbi Rabbi Chayim of Sanz, may his memory be blessed, it is written regarding the need for the categories of work to derive from the Tabernacle: It is because resting on the Sabbath commemorates G-d, may He be blessed, resting on the Sabbath after the creation of the world. As is shown in the early commentators, the Tabernacle is considered its own small world, in which all of existence is included. Therefore, those forms of work that were done in the Tabernacle were thus those forms of work used to create the larger world, and it is thus from them that it is required to rest.
The rest of Shabbat and its holiness is a sign of the blessing and holiness in the world as it was found originally, from the Master of All, Blessed is He, Who is completely perfect… Just as the first point of existence is the point of holiness, the centrality of life of all existence… certainly this is the purpose of the higher consciousness, that the higher purpose of all existence should be complete and fit, not requiring any further work or preparation, which comes from…loss and lack of perfection. Thus, in setting the central sacred space of the Jewish people, it required work in all of its aspects. For the downfall of the world caused it. For without the victory that comes through power over the stumbling blocks that conspire to destroy the higher life, the life of holiness and closeness to God, Who is the absolute purpose of existence, the community could not come to its purpose.
However, Shabbat lifts us up to the highest of the future, to the day that is completely Shabbat, when a person will no longer teach their brother or their fellow to know God, since all will know Him… If so, the rest from all work perfectly corresponds to the work that was used for the Tabernacle.
וַתֵּ֕כֶל כׇּל־עֲבֹדַ֕ת מִשְׁכַּ֖ן אֹ֣הֶל מוֹעֵ֑ד וַֽיַּעֲשׂוּ֙ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל כְּ֠כֹ֠ל אֲשֶׁ֨ר צִוָּ֧ה ה׳ אֶת־מֹשֶׁ֖ה כֵּ֥ן עָשֽׂוּ׃ {פ}
וַיְכַ֥ל מֹשֶׁ֖ה אֶת־הַמְּלָאכָֽה׃
When Moses had finished the work,
(א) וַיְכֻלּ֛וּ הַשָּׁמַ֥יִם וְהָאָ֖רֶץ וְכׇל־צְבָאָֽם׃ (ב) וַיְכַ֤ל אֱלֹקִים֙ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔י מְלַאכְתּ֖וֹ אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָשָׂ֑ה וַיִּשְׁבֹּת֙ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔י מִכׇּל־מְלַאכְתּ֖וֹ אֲשֶׁ֥ר עָשָֽׂה׃