Today’s Torah & Tea is on Vayakhel-Pekudei, a double portion, and also the conclusion of Sefer Shemos, the second book of the Torah. We will try to share part of the Likkutei Sichos on Vayakhel-Pekudei from Volume 16 and part from Volume 21.
We begin with the meaning of the word “Vayakhel.” Vayakhel means that Moshe gathered the people together. But there is more than one way to gather people. Sometimes you can gather many people into one room, and they remain just a collection of separate individuals. Hebrew has other words for that, such as “vaye’asef” or “vayikabetz,” meaning that people were collected or assembled. But “Vayakhel” means something deeper. It means that those who gathered became a “kahal,” a true community. They did not merely stand together physically. They became joined into one entity.
This raises an important question that appears often in life, in politics, and in many communal matters: what is the relationship between the individual and the community? Which takes precedence? How do we balance personal importance with communal belonging?
The Rebbe explains this through the vessels of the Mishkan. In our parsha, many details are given about the various vessels used in the Mishkan. Before these vessels became part of the Mishkan, they did not yet possess the sanctity of the Mishkan. Hashem instructed that they should be made, but as separate items they were still only individual vessels. Only once they became integrated into the Mishkan did they attain the holiness of the Mishkan.
Yet once they had become part of the Mishkan, something changed permanently. Even later, when the Mishkan was dismantled during travel, each vessel retained the holiness it had gained. So there are three stages: first, the vessels exist as separate objects without the sanctity of the Mishkan; then they become part of the Mishkan and gain holiness; and afterward, even when separated during travel, they still retain that holiness.
The Rebbe says that the same idea applies to the Jewish people. Every individual Jew is tremendously important. The Mishnah asks why Hashem created all mankind originally from a single human being, Adam, rather than creating many people at once. One lesson is that every individual is considered like an entire world. A single person is of such worth that the whole world could have been created for him alone.
At the same time, all Jews together form a kahal, a community, one unified body. Both truths exist at once: every individual matters immensely, and yet we are all part of something larger than ourselves.
I like to tell the story of a man on a boat who takes out a drill and begins drilling a hole under his own seat. The captain cries out, “What are you doing? The boat is going to sink!” The man replies, “This is my seat. I bought it. I have the right to do whatever I want in my own area.” The captain answers, “But we are all in the same boat. Yes, it is your seat, but what you do there affects everyone. If you make a hole beneath you, all of us will go down together.”
That is exactly the point. We are individuals, but we are also part of a community. What affects one Jew affects others as well.
The first step in serving Hashem is therefore to place our individuality within the כלל. That is why before davening, many have the custom to say, “Harei ani mekabel alai mitzvas asei shel ve’ahavta lere’acha kamocha”—“Behold, I take upon myself the mitzvah of loving my fellow as myself.” Before a person begins to pray as an individual, he first includes himself with all the Jewish people.
This is also reflected throughout the prayers themselves. We do not usually say, “Grant me wisdom.” We say, “Grant us wisdom.” The prayers are written in the plural. We ask as part of the people, not merely as isolated individuals.
The same thing is true when making a Mi Shebeirach for someone. We do not ask only that this individual be healed. We say that Hashem should grant healing “among all the sick of Israel.” The reason is that when a person stands completely alone, perhaps he is not worthy on his own merits. But when he includes himself within the כלל, then he is no longer an isolated individual standing under strict judgment. He becomes part of the people as a whole.
This idea appears in the verse, “Besoch ami anochi yosheves”—“I dwell among my people.” When Elisha offered to intervene on behalf of the Shunammite woman because of her kindness, she answered that she lived among her people. She did not want to stand out. She preferred to remain within the community.
So the beginning of avodah is to identify with the כלל. However, this does not mean that individuality disappears. On the contrary, once a person becomes part of the community, the strength of the community enhances the power of each individual. We do not give up our unique talents. Rather, our unique strengths are elevated and empowered through being part of the kahal.
It is like an orchestra. Each instrument has its own sound and its own role. A violin is not a flute, and a trumpet is not a drum. But all together they create one beautiful symphony. The whole does not erase the individual parts. Instead, the whole gives meaning and strength to each part.
So too with the Jewish people. We begin by giving up the attitude that “I am alone.” We recognize that we belong to כלל ישראל. But once we do that, the community itself gives added strength to each individual, allowing each one to fulfill his own special mission more fully.
There are systems in the world that say only the community matters and the individual has no value. That is not the Torah’s view. Torah says both are true. The individual has enormous worth, but the individual reaches his fullest expression דווקא through connection to the community.
The same idea can also be seen in a Sefer Torah. A Sefer Torah is made up of many individual letters. If even one letter is missing, the Torah is not kosher. If even one letter touches another improperly, the Torah is not kosher. So every single letter matters. Each must stand distinctly on its own, surrounded by parchment so that it remains clear and legible.
And yet, all those separate letters together form one Sefer Torah. So here too we find the same dual truth: every individual letter matters, and only together do they create the complete Torah.
That is also why the Rebbe encouraged every Jew to have a share in a Sefer Torah. Since every Jewish soul corresponds to a letter in the Torah, participating in a Sefer Torah expresses both one’s individuality and one’s belonging to the greater whole of the Jewish people.
The Rebbe ties all of this to our parsha. Vayakhel is not merely about assembling people. It is about creating a kahal. The many vessels of the Mishkan were necessary to form one Mishkan. But once they became part of that larger whole, each vessel also acquired and retained its own sanctity.
The second sicha touches on a very interesting Rashi. The Torah describes the wise-hearted women who spun the goat hair for the Mishkan. But the verse sounds unusual. It says that they brought the goats, not just the spun material. Rashi explains that they performed an extraordinary craft: they spun the goat hair while it was still attached to the goats.
The Rebbe asks: why do it this way? It would seem much easier to shear the hair first and then spin it. Also, it must have been done quickly, because otherwise it would cause pain to the animal, which would not be appropriate. So what was gained by spinning it while still on the living animal?
The Rebbe explains that when something is brought to Hashem, there are different levels from which it can come. Something can come from the inanimate, from the plant world, or from the animal world. If the goat hair had already been removed and then spun, what was being brought would be like inanimate material. But when the spinning is done while it is still attached to the living goat, then the offering is being brought from a higher category—from the living itself.
In that sense, the women were elevating the contribution to a higher level. It was not merely spun wool or hair being brought to the Mishkan. It was a contribution still connected to the level of the living being. That made it a greater and more refined offering.
The Rebbe develops this idea further with many additional details, but this gives us the central point. Vayakhel teaches us both the power of being gathered into one holy community and the importance of every individual part. Each Jew matters. Each contribution matters. And when all are united in holiness, both the community and the individual are elevated.
Summary
Vayakhel teaches that true gathering means becoming one kahal, not just many people in one place. The Rebbe explains that every Jew is precious as an individual, yet gains added holiness and strength through belonging to the community, just as the vessels of the Mishkan and the letters of a Sefer Torah are each distinct yet form one sacred whole.