Answers to Last Week’s Riddles
1) Parshas Vayakhel begins with a commandment not to do work on Shabbos (Shemos 35:2). Even if someone does permissible work, it is forbidden to pay him for it (Orach Chaim 306:4). Is the prohibition on the person who pays the money, the worker who receives it, or both?
The Tehila L'Dovid (306:7) rules that the prohibition does not apply to the employer. The Chayei Adam (60:8) agrees but adds that he does violate the commandment against placing a stumbling block in front of the blind by causing the employee to sin by receiving payment for work on Shabbos. Rav Shimon Sofer (Shu”t Hisorerus Teshuva, Orach Chaim 149:3) disagrees and maintains that because the employee can avoid sinning by donating his payment to the poor, the employer is not placing a stumbling block before him by paying him. All three sources assume that the prohibition applies to the worker, who may not receive payment for work done on Shabbos.
2) Parshas Vayakhel begins with a commandment to rest on Shabbos (Shemos 35:2). The halachah is, that it is forbidden to prepare for the week on Shabbos. Is a mother allowed to put her children in pajamas before the end of Shabbos if she only intends to put them to sleep after havdolah, or is it perhaps an issue of preparing on Shabbos for after Shabbos?
R’ Moshe Feinstein (Igros Moshe, Orach Chaim 4:105) has a Teshuvah in which he discusses this very question. He writes, that most children between the ages of 2 – 4, and perhaps a little older, don’t go to sleep for at least an hour or two after they are put into pajamas - they simply get into pajamas to wind down. Since this helps them wind down, even if the mother puts them in pajamas an hour or two before the end of Shabbos, it is considered the normal thing to do, and isn’t considered preparing for after Shabbos.
If, however, the children never get into pajamas so early, and the only reason the mother is doing it is so that she can rush out straight after Shabbos, or if they are the type of children that don’t need to wind down, and normally get into pajamas just before going to bed, then there may in fact be a problem of preparing for after Shabbos.
However, R’ Moshe says, even then it’s difficult to say it’s really ossur, as often children are dirty, and it’s late in the day, so the mother puts on pajamas, or the clothes they are wearing are too warm, and they get changed into pajamas, as the mother doesn’t want them running around naked. It’s very difficult to say that there is no gain happening now, however, if the mother has nothing to gain, and she is simply doing it so she can run out straight after Shabbos, then it’s likely that there would be a problem of hachonah [preparing].
3) The Medrash Rabbah (48:3) teaches:וימלא אותו רוח אלקים ולא זה בלבד אלא כל מי שנתעסק במלאכת המשכן נתן בו הקב"ה חכמה בינה ודעת שנאמר 'ויעשו כל חכם לב' ולא בבני אדם אלא אפילו בבהמה שנאמר 'חכמה ותבונה בבהמה' בהמה כתיב שנתנה חכמה באדם ובבהמה ולא נתפרסם מכלם אלא בצלאל - “Hashem filled them with the spirit of G-d. Not only these (Betzalel), rather, anyone who was busy with the work of the Mishkan, Hashem gave special wisdom, insight and knowledge as it says “He made them all wise hearted”. Not only people, but even the animals did Hashem give special wisdom, as it says ‘wisdom and insight in the animals’, the pasuk writes animals, as wisdom was given to the animals as well. However, the pasuk only stresses Betzalel”.
The question is, why did the animals need this special wisdom, were the animals building the Mishkan? They were used in the building, but they didn’t do the building, so why did they need special wisdom?
The Medrash Tanchuma (Terumah) writes: The tachash in the day of Moshe was a special creation ... they appeared to Moshe at that time in order he could make the Mishkan from it, וההזדזמנות הזאת נראה כאילו נכנסה חכמה לבוא ולסייע לבנין המשכן – “the chancing, seems as if the animals had special wisdom to know that they should come to help out with the building of the Mishkan”.
R’ Nossan Gestetner (L’Horos Nossan) says a similar thing. He asks: “How did the tachash animal suddenly appear in the midbar?” And he answers: “Perhaps when they heard that there skin was needed for the Mishkan they ran to the midbar so that they could be used. Like we find that oxen came to Eliyohu Hanavi asking to be offered up as a korban to Hashem”.
In Droshas Al HaTorah, R’ Yehoshua Iban Shoe’av in Parshas Pikudei brings a Medrash Pliah, which says that the goats would come by themselves to the women so that they could weave them, however, they wouldn’t come on Shabbos and Rosh Chodesh. For an animal to know when it’s Shabbos and Rosh Chodesh, takes wisdom.
The Kesav Sofer writes, that the women would weave the hairs whilst they were still on the goats, doing such a thing is difficult, and it must be that the animals helped out as well. Hashem gave the animals special wisdom, so they would be able to do so. We find a similar thing, with a certain calf which ran after Rabbi HaKodosh asking to be shected and eaten.
In the making of the Mishkan they used rams with red skin (oiros eilim madomim), various explanations are given to explain how the skins were made red. The Yerushalmi (Shabbos 7:2) learns that the rams would get hit when they were young, and the blood would come out into the skin, and eventually it turned red. Normally when an animal gets hit, it runs away to avoid being hit again. These rams, however, had special wisdom, and managed to somehow not feel the pain, and not only avoid being hit, they withheld and wanted to be hit again and again. This takes a tremendous amount of wisdom. (Succas Dovid)
R’ Chaim Kanievsky (Tama Dekra) points out yet another place that animal wisdom was needed. The Yerushalmi in Yoma (4:4) teaches, that one of the types of gold needed for the Mishkan was “refined gold”. The Yerushalmi explains, the way they would get this, was by wrapping gold in dough and giving it to a type of animal called a ne’imah to eat. The Korban Eidah explains, that these ne’imos swallow without chewing, and when food passed through them it got purified. When the gold would come out of the other side of the animal it would be purified.
R’ Chaim explains, that all the vessels for the Mishkan had to be made lishmah, and when these animals were swallowing the gold to purify it, it also needed to be lishmah, however, animals don’t have much wisdom, and normally they aren’t able to have kavonah lishmah, therefore, Hashem made a special miracle, that the animals had wisdom, and they were able to have kavonah lishmah.
4) We learn in this week’s parsha that the kiyor was made from:מראת הצבאת - “mirrors”. Why did the kiyor need to be made from mirrors?
The Moshav Zekeinim writes: “The kiyor was made from mirrors, because when a kohen offered up a woman’s korban, he needed to do it lishmah [for her sake], in order to do it lishmah, he had to look at her, however, it’s forbidden to look at a woman, therefore, the kiyor was made from mirrors and the kohen would tell her to stand near the kiyor and he would look at her reflection in the kiyor”. The question is, if it’s forbidden to look at the face of a women, what does it help to look using a mirror, is there a heter to look at the face of a women via a mirror?
The Munkatcher in Shu”t Minchas Elozor (3:25) asks on the Moshav Zekeinim, that if the kohen needed to look at the woman bringing a korban, then he should look at her straight in the face, what does the mirror help? He then answers: “In those days, people would come to watch the kohen doing his service. These young kohanim may not have known why the kohen was looking at the woman’s face and that it is a mitzvah, and they could accidentally come to being lenient at looking at women in general. Therefore, Hashem arranged it that the woman would look at the kiyor (made of mirrors), and the kohen would look at her face via the mirror. Since the kohen had a mitzvah to do so, no harm came as a result. And although there is no difference between looking in a mirror and looking directly, by looking in a mirror, the kohanim watching won’t see him looking at a woman, and no damage will come out as a result.”
However, on the peshat of the Moshav Zekeinim, R’ Chaim Kanievsky (Tama Dekra) already asks, that there is no such din that the kohen has to recognize the face of the one brining the korban, and as long as he knows the name of the one bringing the korban it’s enough. We find at the beginning of Zevochim that the kohen can even bring it without any specific intention. Moreover, even when it comes to witnesses by kiddushin, they don’t need to recognize the face of the kallah, so why here should the kohen suddenly need to recognize the woman bringing the korban.
