This week we read Parshas Vayakhail and Pekudai.   The parsha deals with the counting of the materials used in the mishkan, the tabernacle, but before that, the Torah tells us that Moses gathered the entire Jewish people and instructed them about the laws of Shabbos. Why was it necessary for him to tell them about the laws of Shabbos at this particular time?
 
Rashi quotes the famous words of the Sages, that Moses was concerned that people may think, since building the tabernacle is being done in order to serve Hashem, one may push away Shabbos in order to build it. Therefore Moses gathered the entire Jewish people to make sure that every single person understood that Shabbos can’t be pushed away for any reason, unless it is to save a life. How sad is it that such an obvious lesson, that is so clear in the Torah and the Talmud, is ignored by so many thousands of Jews who allow themselves to drive to shul on Shabbos, not realizing that this is a terrible sin. Worse than that, they are encouraged by people who call themselves “Rabbis”, who allow this.
 
In his classic work “The 39 Melochos”, Vol. 4 page 1216 and 1217, Rabbi Dovid Ribiat explains that every spark that’s ignited when turning on or  pressing the accelerator in a car, is a separate Torah prohibition. If a four cylinder car has 4,000 r.p.m. (Rotations per minute), each one is caused by a separate spark. Thus even when idling, the 4 cylinder car has 4,000 Torah prohibitions happening per minute!!! This is increased when the accelerator is used, or when the car has more than 4 cylinders.
 
 The clear lesson that Moses taught us, is that even for the noble purpose of serving Hashem, one can’t break the Shabbos. This covenant between us and Hashem is so strong that we must make sure to keep it, even if we will have to pray at home or without a minyan as a result.
The Shelah adds a beautiful thought to this. When Moses told the Jewish people not to kindle a fire in their homes on Shabbos, he didn’t just mean a physical fire. He also meant to add the fire of arguments. Too often, in the rush to get ready for Shabbos, we lose our temper, or get upset. We must make an extra effort as Shabbos comes to avoid machlokes, to avoid and argument, and make sure that our home is a bastion of peace.
 
 
    Please enjoy this link from the Travelling Chassidim with a short message on the Torah Portion:  
https://youtu.be/48V1WRLA-u0
Wishing you and your family a Great Shabbos!!!! 
Rabbi Moshe Travitsky

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