On Shabbos one must refrain from making business transactions, and even talking about business. Some Jews, in their great creativity, have come up with what they believe to be a loophole for these laws. They preface their prohibited words with Nisht Shabbos geret…, “Not to speak of it on Shabbos, but…”

One Shabbos morning during services, Reuven taps Levi on the shoulder and whispers, ” Nisht Shabbos geret, I’ve got a car to sell.” Levi says, “Nisht Shabbos geret, how much?” “Nisht Shabbos geret, $2,500,” replies Reuven. “Nisht Shabbos geret, will you take $2,000?” asks Levi. Reuven starts looking into his prayer book and murmurs, “Nisht Shabbos geret, let me think about it.” Later at the afternoon Mincha service, Levi goes to Reuven and says, “Nisht Shabbos geret, did you think about my offer?” Reuven answers, “Nisht Shabbos geret, I already sold the car.”

* * *

Vayakhel: Shabbos–Intimacy with G-d

In this week’s parsha, Vayakhel, we learn the origins of the laws of Shabbos. It has been noted that, ‘more than the Jews have kept the Shabbos, the Shabbos has kept the Jews.’ This island in time has helped sustain the Jewish people throughout their many travels. The sages have extrapolated from our parsha that Shabbos is observed by abstaining from thirty-nine prohibited acts of creation. These prohibited acts are known as melachos.[1] The definition of ‘melachah‘ is any constructive or skillful “labor.” In this week’s parsha we also find that these prohibited labors are the same thirty-nine basic tasks involved in building the Mishkan, the Sanctuary in the desert. How is it possible that the very labor required to build the sanctuary is the same labor that is prohibited on Shabbos?

QUESTIONS
In the Mishna in the Tractate of Shabbos [2] it states, “There are ‘forty minus one’ categories of labor.” Why doesn’t the Mishna just say “thirty-nine”?

Another question: the verse in our parsha states, “These are the things G-d commands you to do,” the word la’asos, “to do”, is missing a Vav. What message is the Torah conveying?

FORTY MINUS ONE
To answer the first question, the Talmud states that the word melachah, “labor”, appears forty times in the Torah.[3] One of these appearances however, doesn’t really mean ‘labor’, rather it is a euphemism for intimacy.[4] Thus we use the unconventional term, ‘forty minus one’.

NOT TO SPEAK OF IT ON SHABBOS
Toras Shmuel explains:[5] in truth, there are forty types of labor. The fortieth kind is in the realm of speech. Speech can be considered a form of labor, since G-d created the world with it. This is why we should refrain, according to Rabbinic Law, from speaking about business on Shabbos. Only with difficulty did our sages allow us to speak at all on Shabbos.[6] However, to utter words of prayer, Torah study or song, is not only permitted, it’s applauded. This hints to the fortieth kind of work, which is permitted on Shabbos. It’s called “the labor of tzaddikim“.[7] The sacrifices and incense that were offered on Shabbos in the Holy Temple represented spiritual intimacy with G-d. So does the labor of the tzaddikim. Since the Holy Temple was destroyed, prayer is a substitute for the sacrifices. This is the work of spiritual intimacy.

The purpose of the thirty-nine activities is to raise their corresponding domains to the fortieth level, the melachah of “intimacy with G-d”. As the Lubavitcher Rebbe explains,[8] the mere fact that we derive thirty-nine forms of labor from the Mishkan teaches us that 1) all types of work in the world are rooted in holiness, and 2) the objective of every kind of work is to create a dwelling place (literally, mishkan), where we can create intimacy with G-d.

ONE
In truth, all types of worldly activity are ‘forty minus one’: externally, they lack ‘one’-ness with the One G-d. Our one real task is to bring the One into all our activities, to make the whole world one. On Shabbos we purposely forget about the world and focus all our energy on the work of unification and intimacy with G-d. When imbued with this intimacy, we actually bring G-d into every day of the week and into all areas of our life.

FILLING IN THE VAV
In light of the above, one can also understand the mystery of the missing Vav in “to do”. The letter Vav represents connection and hamshacha, drawing G-d down into our world.[9] It’s our job to fill in the missing Vav. To paraphrase: G-d commands us “to do” the thirty-nine categories of labor for His sake, and thus draw Him down into the World.

JUST ONE SHABBOS
The Jerusalem Talmud states that when all Jews keep just one Shabbos, Mashiach will come.[10] G-d rewards all of our efforts measure-for-measure. Very soon, when Mashiach does come, our investment in Shabbos will pay off: every thing we do will be permeated with tranquility, holiness, and Divine intimacy. We will all be tzaddikim, basking in the light of G-d’s Presence. May we merit this now.

A STORY
In the city of Riga, in the 1930′s, it was very difficult to make a living. Many Jews felt they had to work on Shabbos. One teenager went to the Previous Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Y. Y. Schneerson, to receive a blessing for making a living. The Rebbe asked him, “Do you put on tefillin?” “Yes,” the boy replied. “Do you wear tzit-tzis?” Asked the Rebbe. “Yes,” the boy replied. “Do you keep Shabbos?” The boy admitted that currently he did not. The Rebbe said, “There will come a time when you will be able to do Shabbos. Make sure that you keep Shabbos.”

Soon after, he moved to America and started a successful business. He remembered the Rebbe’s heartfelt words, which strengthened and encouraged him. He began to keep Shabbos. To this day this man and his family are still keeping Shabbos.

ACTION: Review the thirty-nine forms of melachah in footnote [1], below. Choose one melachahthat you can begin to observe–or whose observance you can improve–by resting from it on Shabbos. Make this Shabbos a special ‘one’.

FOOTNOTES
[1] The Talmud teaches that the number of melachos is derived from a verse in our parsha: Eileh ha-d’varim, “These are the things that G-d commands you to do…” The word eileh, “these”, has a numerical value of 36. Ha, “the”, is an ‘extra’ article, not grammatically necessary here, so it can count as ’1′. The word d’varim, “things”, is plural, so it can count as ’2′, bringing the sum to 39. The following are the thirty-nine types of labor prohibited on Shabbos:

1. Plowing
2. Sowing
3. Reaping
4. Sheaf-making
5. Threshing
6. Winnowing
7. Selecting
8. Sifting
9. Grinding
10. Kneading
11. Baking
12. Shearing
13. Bleaching (laundering)
14. Combing raw material
15. Dyeing
16. Spinning
17. Preparing a loom for weaving
18. Preparing threads for weaving
19. Weaving
20. Separating material into threads
21. Tying a knot
22. Untying a knot
23. Sewing
24. Tearing
25. Trapping
26. Slaughtering
27. Skinning
28. Tanning
29. Scraping
30. Marking lines
31. Cutting to shape
32. Writing
33. Erasing
34. Building
35. Demolishing
36. Kindling a fire
37. Extinguishing a fire
38. Giving a final hammer-blow or completing the production of a job or object
39. Carrying from one domain to another.

[2] Page 73a
[3] Shabbos, 49b
[4] Genesis, 39:11
[5] Toras Shmuel was authored by the Fifth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Shmuel Schneerson. On this particular teaching see also Sefer Ma’amorim 5630, pp. 242 and further
[6] Jerusalem Talmud, Shabbos, Ch. 15 Halacha 3
[7] See Bereishis Rabba, end of Chapter 11, and Sefer HaSichos 5751, p. 311.
[8] Lekutei Sichos, Vol. I, p. 193
[9] See Letters of Light, Letter Vav
[10] Ta’anis, Ch. 1, Halacha 1. See also Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Shabbos 1:18b and Likutei Torah, Behar 41a