Today we continue with Torah and Tea for the portion of Vayakhel. As we usually do, we will learn from Likkutei Sichos, Volume 26, the first and second sichos on this parsha. Some years Vayakhel and Pekudei are read together, but this year they are separate, so Vayakhel stands on its own. There is a very important lesson in the second sicha, especially one that applies to women, and we will try to cover as much as we can.
The opening of the parsha is unusual. Normally, the Torah says that Hashem spoke to Moshe, and then Moshe conveyed the message to the Jewish people. But here it begins differently: “Vayakhel Moshe” — Moshe assembled all the Jewish people together. That itself tells us this was something especially significant. It was not just a regular transmission of Torah. Usually Moshe would teach in the normal order, first to Aharon, then to his sons, and then onward. But here he gathered the entire nation together at once.
And what does he tell them? First he tells them about Shabbos: six days work may be done, but the seventh day is holy, a complete rest to Hashem, and one may not do melachah. Only afterwards does he tell them about building the Mishkan and all of its details.
Rashi explains that Moshe mentioned Shabbos first in order to teach that the building of the Mishkan does not override Shabbos. Even though building the Mishkan is an extraordinarily important mitzvah, Shabbos is greater, and one may not violate Shabbos even for the sake of the Mishkan.
That already contains a very powerful lesson. Sometimes a person is so eager to do a great mitzvah that he may think he can overlook something else in the process. Here the Torah teaches that no matter how great the mitzvah is, one may not violate Shabbos in order to accomplish it.
At first glance, it seems that the order itself proves the point. Since Moshe mentions Shabbos first and the Mishkan second, it sounds like Shabbos is being placed ahead of the Mishkan in importance. But the Rebbe points out that earlier, when Hashem first spoke to Moshe about these matters, the order was reversed: first the Torah speaks about the Mishkan, and only afterward about Shabbos. There too Rashi explains that even though the Mishkan is important, it does not override Shabbos. So why there is the Mishkan first, and here Shabbos first?
The Rebbe explains that there is a difference between the two settings. In the earlier parshiyos, Hashem is giving Moshe the command itself. There the central theme is the Mishkan. According to Rashi, the command of the Mishkan came after the sin of the Golden Calf, as a sign that Hashem had forgiven the Jewish people. That is why the Mishkan is called Mishkan HaEdus — it was testimony that the Divine Presence once again rested among them. So over there, the Torah is primarily talking about the Mishkan, and therefore the Mishkan is mentioned first. Shabbos is then mentioned to caution that even so, it may not be overridden.
But in our parsha, Moshe is speaking practically to the Jewish people. Moshe knew the people and understood their state. They desperately wanted to build the Mishkan, because it represented atonement and restoration after the sin of the Eigel. When a person is so intensely committed to doing a mitzvah, he can become so focused on it that he may overlook other boundaries. Therefore Moshe had to begin with Shabbos. He knew that if he first aroused their enthusiasm for the Mishkan, they might become so eager to build that they would not sufficiently appreciate the limits. So first he tells them: remember, Shabbos remains absolute.
There is another point as well. The very fact that Moshe gathered the entire people together showed that this command had unusual urgency and significance. Even Moshe himself could have thought that this command perhaps carried exceptional force. After all, the Mishkan was directly tied to the restoration of Hashem’s presence after the sin of the Golden Calf. So the caution regarding Shabbos had to be stated very clearly and very early.
The second sicha develops another contrast in the parsha. In the earlier parshiyos, when the Torah first speaks about the contributions for the Mishkan, the language is one of taking: the gifts are to be taken from the people. But in our parsha, the language shifts, and it speaks of the people bringing the offerings.
The Rebbe explains that this difference is meaningful. There were really three kinds of contributions associated with the Mishkan. One was the half-shekel used for the sockets, another was the annual half-shekel for the communal offerings, and the third was the voluntary contributions of materials — gold, silver, copper, wool, skins, and the rest. In the earlier parshiyos, the Torah speaks from the perspective of command and collection: the appointed people are to take what is required. But here, after the sin of the Golden Calf, the parsha emphasizes how the Jewish people themselves came forward to bring their gifts.
That is the mark of genuine teshuvah. If attendants have to go collect from a person, then even if he gives, you do not yet see the same inner transformation. But when the people themselves come forward and bring their possessions willingly, this demonstrates their desire to repair what they had done wrong. They had once given their possessions for the Eigel; now they brought their possessions for the Mishkan.
The Rebbe then points out something remarkable. In our parsha, when Moshe addresses the community and speaks of bringing the contributions, this includes the women as well. But in the earlier parshiyos, the command is phrased more in terms of the men.
The Rebbe explains that this is because the quality of bringing from within oneself is especially associated with women. Women possess a deeper, more natural receptivity to holiness. When Hashem gave the Torah, He addressed the women first and the men afterward. The women, the Rebbe explains, have an inherent openness and inner responsiveness to Hashem. They are not merely fulfilling something imposed from outside; they are bringing from within.
That is why here, where the Torah wants to stress the inner movement of the Jewish people back toward Hashem, the women are especially included. In the earlier stage, the language is one of taking; here the language is one of bringing. The women embody that difference in a profound way.
The Rebbe gives a powerful example. The mitzvah of pru u’rvu, having children, is formally commanded to men and not to women. Does that mean women are not connected to it? Certainly not. Rather, in this case the Torah does not even need to command them, because the desire is already there naturally and deeply within them.
So too here. Women are not second-class in Torah life. On the contrary, they are often the deepest foundation of Torah and kedushah in the home and in the Jewish people as a whole. The women’s natural faith, receptivity, and commitment sustain the entire structure.
This is also a practical lesson for today. Just as in Egypt it was in the merit of the righteous women that the Jewish people were redeemed, so too the strength, faith, and inner clarity of Jewish women continues to be a decisive force in bringing the Jewish people to redemption.
Summary
The first sicha explains why Moshe gathered the entire people and warned about Shabbos before speaking about the Mishkan: because practical religious enthusiasm must still remain within Torah boundaries. The second sicha explains the shift from “taking” to “bringing” and shows how women, through their natural receptivity to holiness, played a central role in the Mishkan and continue to play a central role in Jewish redemption.