Parashat HaShavua Weekly Update-Vayakhel

 

Parashat Vayakhel

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"You shall kindle no fire...on the sabbath day" (Exodus 35:3).

 

 

For Preschool Parents:

Why would anyone do that to themselves?  Spend a whole day without heat, light, cooked food, and entertainment?  It's one thing to keep Shabbat and rest, but what are you supposed to do all day without fire?  The same is true today.  How are we supposed to keep our kids entertained with no video games, television, dvds etc...? Taking Shabbat as a family day, a time to unplug, get outside is an incredible way to benefit the family and the individual.  While we are so used to the electronics, taking some time away from them can only better ourselves as we build family time spent together.

 

 

For K-2^nd Grade:

Why do we light candles on Friday night?  We do it to mark the beginning of Shabbat and many spiritual explanations are also given for its practice, but in reality it started so that we could see.  Could you imagine eating Shabbat dinner with no lights? Food would be spilling all over the place, people would be tripping over each other, it would be madness. That is why we were told to light candles right before Shabbat starts, so that those lights would shine through dinner and allow us to eat and celebrate Shabbat.  Often times we think everything in Judaism has some spiritual reason, but this one also has an entirely practical purpose.

 

For 3^rd-6^th Grade:

While this teaching is probably meant to describe actual fire, some rabbis have also understood it to mean that Shabbat is a day where we should not argue and get angry with each other.  Shabbat is a day of rest and a day of peace.  That is why we wish people a Shabbat Shalom, a peaceful Shabbat.  We try to make this day a day of relaxation and loving.  In that spirit, we should not light a fire within ourselves and embrace what Shabbat is really about.

 

For 7^th Grade and above:

This commandment is the basis for not using electricity on Shabbat.  But those of us familiar with electricity know that there is no fire involved in many uses of electricity, so how come many say that something like turning on a light is prohibited?  One reason is because it feels like fire for rabbis who may not have understood how a circuit truly works may have thought that there must be some spark involved in the process.  For me, that is not the reason why I do not use electricity.  My reason is because what fire was to the ancients, electricity is to us.  What did they use fire for?  Cooking, heat, entertainment, light, etc... Today, that is exactly what we use electricity for.  Therefore, in order to keep the spirit of the law, I also do not use electricity to separate that day from the rest of the week and truly to make it a day of rest.