Thought for the Day: We Learn the Malachos of Shabbos from the Mishkan; Its Construction or Its Functioning?

The Torah juxtaposes the commandment to build the Mishkan with the prohibition to violate Shabbos. This is the source, Chazal tell us, for us to know precisely what malachos would be a violation of Shabbos. Since the Torah was compelled to warn us about Shabbos violation when we were being encouraged to build the Mishkan, the essential activities involved with the Mishkan must be the activities by which one would violate Shabbos. As we all know, there are 39 categories of such labor.

There is a nice philosophical point that the observance of Shabbos -- something relevant to each and every Jew in each and every Jewish home, week and and week out -- apparently can bring us to the same level of closeness to HaShem as the holy work done by priestly caste in HaShem's own abode, so to speak, here on earth. That is one of the beauties of Torah observance: Obviously Klal Yisrael attains lofty spiritual heights by the service done by the kohein gadol in the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur. But Klal Yisrael also attains lofty physical heights by making kiddush and eating cholent in our homes.

We know us Jews, though. Beautiful philosophical ideas are beautiful, but we want details. Exactly what activities constitute violations of Shabbos? For example, Shprintze doesn't like onions in her cholent, but she knows many of her family members and guests do, and would even like extra. If she digs some onion out of her glop of cholent and says, "Hey! Who would like this onion?"  Oh, no... Shprintze... you have just violated a Torah prohibition. It's been good knowing you. On the other hand, if Shprintze digs some onion out of her glop of cholent and says, "Hey, Abba! Look what I have for you!" Nice, Shprintze; you just fulfilled the Torah command to honor your Father! I hope I can reach your levels in Gan Eden!"

Moral: It is very, very important to know precisely what creative labors -- and often the manner of their execution -- are permitted and forbidden on Shabbos. We know to learn from the Mishkan, but was the Torah telling us that the activities done in that once in the history of the world of building the mishkan are what is forbidden on Shabbos? Or maybe the Torah means those activities that are involved in the daily functioning of the mishkan are the forbidden one. On the one hand, the verse juxtaposes the decree to build the mishkan with the exhortation to guard Shabbos. On the other hand, Shabbos is weekly, so comparing it to the "one and done" activities of building the mishkan seems odd.

Which is it? Sit down, because I don't want the shock to throw you off balance. Ready? It is a machlokes. When I asked about the אבות and תולדות of הוצאה... The Rosh Kollel told me to go learn the Rashi on 92a, then learn the introduction to the אגלי טל; long, but an excellent use of my time.

Dear reader: you should do the same, but here is a taste to whet your appetite.

The mishna says that הוצאה can be with the right hand, the left hand, held against the chest, or on the shoulder, which we learn from the the manner in which the tribe of Khas performed their work. Rashi says that the verse actually mentions carrying on the shoulder, but carrying in the right hand, left hand, and against the chest are also normal ways of carrying. Great! Got it.

Wait... what? Rashi wants to add something? Really? Ok... seems pretty clear, but if Rashi wants to say something we ought to listen. Rashi continues that he found in the name of Rabeinu Yitzchak bar Yehuda says in the name of R' Hai [Gaon] that the Talmud Yerushalmi explains ... the kohein would carry one flask of oil (for the menorah) in his right hand, one flask of oil (for the offerings) in his left hand, the incense held against his chest, and the חביתין/pancakes of flour and oil on his shoulder.

What is going on here? The אגלי טל explains that Rashi is explaining to us a fundamental machlokes between Talmud Bavli and Talmud Yerushalmi. Talmud Bavli learns that the creative labors  are learned from the building of the mishkan. Lots of stuff had to be moved around, it doesn't really matter precisely how they were carried, just normal. Hence Rashi's first explanation that the mishna is simply listing examples of normal ways to transport stuff. Talmud Yerushalmi, on the other hand, learns the creative labors of Shabbos from the operation of the mishkan.That is why R' Hai Gaon has to explain why each manner of carrying listed in the mishna was associated with a particular עבודה/service in the day to day running of the mishkan.

Cool, no? But there is more! The gemara said that three of the labors -- זורה/winnowing, בורר/selecting, מרקד/sifting -- are essentially the same thing; just different ways of separating good from bad. There are two different ways to explalin the subtle differences. One way: winnowing uses the wind, selecting is by hand, and sifting is done with an instrument. Second way: winnowing separates chaff from wheat, selecting is to remove the stones from the grain, and sifting is to produce the proper flour for the offerings. The first explanation is all about getting the job done, so that is how the Talmud Bavli distinguishes them. The second explanation is about producing a product for the offerings needed as part of the daily services; hence, this is the way Talmud Yerushalmi distinguishes them.

I heard two chaverim arguing over how to understand a particular point. The one who finally admitted he was wrong said, "Well, you win this round." I respectfully disagree. The one who was right from the beginning to the end gained nothing. The one who was initially wrong now has an understanding in Torah that he was heretofore lacking. There is no bigger win than that!