The following is a brief summary of some of thoughts said over by R' Frand on the parsha this evening. I have attempted to reproduce these vorts to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Frand.
In Shemos 35:29, the Torah states at the beginning of the pasuk - "Kol Ish V'Isha Asher Nadav Libam..." -- every man and woman whose heart motivated them... At the end of the same pasuk, the Torah concludes "Havi'u Bnei Yisrael Nedava L'Hashem" --the Children of Israel brought a Nedava to Hashem.
The obvious question is - why does the Torah need to state that this was an act of Nedava at both the beginning and the end of the Pasuk? R' Frand answered by quoting R' Elya Baruch Finkel who stated that sometimes a person begins to act on behalf of a charitable cause solely out of the goodness of their heart. But later, that same person becomes so fully involved with the cause that the cause becomes "theirs"... and not in a good way. The person comes to view the cause as his personal mission and anyone else who tries to become involved is rejected.
In contrast, the Jews who were involved with this aspect of the Mishkan began in a selfless manner and continued and completed the task as a Nedava and without any person hubris or possessiveness.
R' Frand said a second vort related to the beginning of the parsha. In Shemos 35:3, the Torah identifies the one explicit melacha of Shabbos - stating "Lo Siva'aru Eish" - you shall not kindle a fire in any of your dwellings on Shabbos.
R' Frand quoted the Zohar which states that the Eish referred to in the pasuk is not necessarily fire - but anger. But since anger is prohibited all week long, why would the Torah specify that it is prohibited on Shabbos?
R' Frand answered by quoting R' Bentzion Kook who writes that Shabbos is testimony that Hashem created the world (this is the reason that most are makpid to say the Vayechulu on Friday Night with another person). When a person gets angry, he implicitly rejects Hashem's decisions and "feels" that what he desires is more "correct."
R' Frand answered by quoting R' Bentzion Kook who writes that Shabbos is testimony that Hashem created the world (this is the reason that most are makpid to say the Vayechulu on Friday Night with another person). When a person gets angry, he implicitly rejects Hashem's decisions and "feels" that what he desires is more "correct."
R' Frand quoted the gemara in Shabbos which states that anyone who gets angry it as if he worshiped idols. Why? Because when a person gets angry he says that he knows better than Hashem what should occur. R' Frand gave the example of a person who gets upset that there are traffic delays and he will not get where he wants to be when he wants to be there. This anger is the personification of thinking that his plan is better than His plan.
While a person should not get angry all week long, when he gets angry on Shabbos, it is antithetical to the concept of Shabbos and this is why the Torah mentions it explicitly.
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