Week of March 7-13th

Vayakhel / Pekudei - ויקהל/פקודי : "He gathered/Countings"
Torah : Exodus 35:1-40:38
Haftarah : Ezekiel 45:16-46:18
Gospel : Mark 15-16

These last two portions are usually read together, except during certain leap years.

The portion begins with a short addendum to the celebration of Shabbat: Six days you are to work, and on the seventh day, you should rest. The punishment of death is added here. But the other addendum which we find in this passage is the command not to light fire on Shabbat. There are two common interpretations, which lead to very different applications. The first interpretation is more literal. One should not light fire, for cooking, for light, or for any other purpose. The only exception would be the fire that was kept lit at the altar for sacrifices. This is often interpreted by the more Orthodox Jewish to include prohibitions of cooking on Sabbath on one side, to not even turning on electrical appliances or light switches on another side. There are many reasonable explanations as to why this should be prohibited, but for many who are striving within the American context, this application of not cooking is neither easy to do nor does it really teach any particular Torah truth. Turning on or off a switch or pushing a button on an elevator does not exert a great amount of effort or work. At some point, it becomes more likely that this turns into a legalistic application whereby one who doesn't turn on and off switches holds his status higher than those who do not.

A more interesting explanation is that this "fire" (ESH, in Hebrew) refers to conflicts and fighting between men and women (and by extension, all family and community functions). The way that this was determined is by the letters that make up the word "fire" in Hebrew. The word man (ISH) contains an Aleph, Yod and Shin. The word woman (ISHA) contains the Alpeh, Shin, and He. When the yod and the he are removed (YAH, or Adonai) from the man and woman (which also means "husband" and "wife") then all that is left is the Aleph and Shin, which spells the word "Fire" (ESH). The application here seems to allude to a deeper meaning, which for all of us contains many more applications: Don't fight with people on Shabbat, especially your spouse and/or children.

I would love to say that this has been applied in my personal life, but in fact, the opposite has generally been true. Because of the pressures of the other six days, the Shabbat becomes a day in which my family can catch up. In turn, it is also the day that many of the conflicts which have remained undiscussed are at that time discussed. If they were not, then they never would be, either. Not only that, but I have seen this to be true in other families as well; and I have seen this problem in many of the Shabbat-meeting congregation as well. Whenever people get away from the Torah discussions, and other practical topics are discussed, there is often some heat or some fire.

Should we as congregations of believers try to uphold this standard of not fighting on Shabbat, and refrain from conflicts? Does this include heated, yet helpful Torah discussions? What would be the parameters of acceptable discussions or what would be outside these parameters? It is important to understand how these applications are determined within Judaism. If a beit din (a local Jewish court) existed within a Jewish community, these elders/judges would determine the boundaries as described by Torah. As a community, we would be bound by Torah to accept their decision. Without beit din, we as believers do not have this authority structure. Often, believers will say that "the Holy Spirit will guide me." However, in my experience, when people attribute their actions to the movement of the Holy Spirit or G-d, they most often are attributing whatever their opinion is to G-d and not really having any rationale for their statements. Let us be honest, when people say "the Holy Spirit told me____" they are usually lying for their own gain. This is not universally true, but it does seem to be more true than not.

The answer to such a discussion in and of itself is a discussion that will lead to some "fire." Nevertheless, it is an interesting practice of interpreting Scripture. Ultimately, we are each accountable for how we keep the Shabbat holy, and as we each are individually convicted of our need to be free from conflicts on Shabbat, then we must each take the first step: we must take apply our self-control, and fruit of the Spirit, and we must engage this person we have a conflict with in love. Does that mean there is not fight? Or does that mean that whatever the fight is, that the resolution will bring about peace (shalom) to each other? Each circumstance is different, but if we act in love, apply self-control, and the result is shalom, then we may be onto something about not lighting fire on Shabbat.

Continue having a good week!