Parshat Vayakhel picks up on themes that have already been introduced and developed in previous
parshiot, specifically the precise dimensions and esthetic and iconographic character of the parts of the Tabernacle structure and its furnishings.
Seemingly out of the blue, and with no apparent connection to the bulk of the Parsha, Vayakhel opens with a reprise of the fourth commandment;
“Six days shall all work be done but on the seventh day you shall have kadosh, a day of complete rest to the Lord” (Exodus 35:2).
I have already belabored the point elsewhere and often, but it is worth mentioning yet again. Observance of Shabbat has two components. The first component is to labor for six days and the second component is to desist from labor on Shabbat. Someone who labors on Shabbat is given the death penalty. However merely desisting from labor does not make one “shomer Shabbos”, it only means he avoids execution. The reward for